the Byers are heading to MONKEY TOWN !

(update sent out on May 9, 2013)

Well if you haven't heard already...we are at 100% of our funds. We are leaving in July!  We will go to Singapore first for our orientation course and then to Lopburi, Thailand (the "monkey town") in the beginning of August to begin language school.

Thailand has been our dream  together since 2007.... 5 1/2  years later we are finding that dream realized.  In those years we've seen God strengthen us in His Grace, strengthen our marriage, and unite us for the coming ministry ahead.

We want to thank ALL of you for your prayers, your words of encouragement and support that you have given us.  We would love to see you before we leave.  We will be in Ephraim, UT, Park City/Heber, UT, Lake Geneva, WI and Mission Viejo, CA prior to leaving.  You are ALL INVITED to the commissioning service held at Ephraim Church of the Bible in Ephraim, Utah on Sunday morning, June 16th.

Please take a moment to read a short reflection called "The Smoke of a Thousand Villages," written by our Dutch field leader Marten Visser in Isaan (Northeast Thailand). He reflects on his plane ride over Isaan. He writes: “Lord, send people to this area to tell the thousands of villages in Isaan about you.”  Read his reflection by clicking here to read on the OMF Isaan team site.  We, like Marten, would love for many more to come to Isaan!

More to come!

-Jason, Jenn & Moriah

P.S.  If you want to receive regular, monthly prayer emails, please sign up to prayer partner at: www.omf.org/us/partner


PRAYER REQUESTS:
-For strength and endurance as we "pack it all up"
-That our minds would be "set on Him" always and especially as we will face new battles in leaving home
-For our family and friends that we will not see for awhile
-For Moriah and her new adventures ahead (she is excited about the Elephants!)



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Cultural Corner  
This last month in Thailand, Songkran was celebrated. It is the Thai New Year and also a Buddhist holiday. It is the hottest time of year in Thailand, and old and young alike throw water on each other to celebrate.  Many Christians participate in the fun of Songkran (ie the water throwing) but don't participate in the Buddhist rituals. On the Sunday around Songkran, many Christians will have different blessing ceremonies at their church. One missionary said, "We had a blessing ceremony after church today - pouring water on the hands of senior people in the church. In the process, people started washing each others' feet while blessing each other - including but not only for senior members. The bonding and emotions expressed for each other was profound. I love this group of brothers and sisters." - Tim Noble

Byers' April Newsletter - we are so close!

Dear Friends and Family,

I want to tell you a quick story about this elderly lady from the Northeast. This photo was taken in 2006 by my friend Naomi. Prior to this photo being taken, this old woman, with her large humpback(probably from years of bending over to plant rice) was sweeping the outside of the temple grounds with her little broom. It was a sad sight. Why would a woman of her age be doing such a thing? Probably to make merit. To make her afterlife better. Rather than resting in the love and eternal salvation that the Father has for her, she is still working, instead of resting in the completed work of Christ who is our salvation. This is our prayer: that God’s gospel of free, unconditional grace will sweep through Thailand and cut the cords of bondage. That women like this old lady, and men, will experience the exchanged life, HIS resurrected life given to us.

May 13^th Financial Deadline
We are currently at 87% of our support…only 13% to go! Praise the Lord! Please pray that we will be at 100% by our financial deadline (Monday, May 13^th). If we meet the deadline, we will leave for our orientation in Singapore in July, and then on to Thailand to begin language school in August. The next orientation course is in November of this year. Note to all of our financial supporters: We want to make sure that you know our school debt is included in our budget. Please let us know if you have any questions or would like us to email you our budget.

Prayer Points
~100% of pledges by May 13th
~Medical clearance
~The Lord will continue to prepare us and our families as we prepare to move overseas

Thank you for all your encouragement, prayers and support!

HAPPY EASTER!

Jason, Jenn & Moriah

March 2013 Newsletter

Greetings Friend,

“Lord, not my will, but your will” is the phrase we are learning to pray. A missionary that has intrigued both of us lately is Gladys Aylward (1902-1970). Because of her lack of education and a learning disability she was rejected by a missions agency to serve in China. But the Lord had a different plan for her. He took her through his own candidate course in the classroom of life. She was insecure of her calling because of her lack of education, she had no trade, and she was only a house maid. The Lord used Gladys just as she was. He used a willing person to express His life through her. As the British preacher Major Ian Thomas would say, “Any old bush will do,” meaning he will use any willing person who will let the indwelling Lord light up the world through them. As we continue to wait for the door to open for us, we are learning as well that we are in God’s candidate school of missionary preparation. We are learning that he will provide exactly what we need. He will send us when He decides we are ready, and in the meantime He will be our teacher, and teach us that we can depend on Him and rest in his love. Therefore, through this journey we are learning to delight and understand what it means to pray—“Lord, not my will, but your will.”

Home Ministry Team (HMT)
We had our first official Home Ministry Team meeting in Ephraim! There are 4 couples on our team, and they provide huge support and encouragement as we prepare to leave for the field. Their backgrounds are broad, and we are so blessed to have them assisting us and ultimately helping to get the Gospel shared to the unreached in Isaan!

Support Report
We are currently a little over 70% (includes pledged and verbal commitments) of our support! Praise God for raising up the funds. We have to be at 100% by May in order to leave in July. Please pray for the 30% to come in before then!

Note to monthly pledged supporters: Now would be a great time to turn in your paperwork to OMF if you haven’t done so already, mainly if you are doing an automatic transfer through your bank. Automatic transfers (EFT) through your bank take several weeks to get set up. You can definitely specify for money to not be withdrawn until the month we leave. Here is OMF's link on WAYS TO GIVE. (Note: They will not do recurring credit card donations, but you can manually go online each month and donate by credit card. Please know that because of credit card fees, a certain percentage of your gift will be deducted from our support and OMF does not send out a reminder for the next month. Checks, EFT or bill pay through your bank is preferred).

Kroger Store cards
On average, the money that is coming in from the Kroger cards is about $170.00/month! Our goal is to have $5,000.00 put on the cards each month (so that is $250.00 of support). If this is the first time you’ve received our newsletter, we have given out reloadable Kroger gift cards tied to our personal Thailand account. Friends put money on the card to buy their groceries or gas (at Kroger stores, ie. Kroger, Ralph's, Smith's, City Market, etc.), and 5% of the money put on the card goes toward our Thailand support. We have MORE cards so if you need one, PLEASE let us know! Also, if you received a card from us and have not put money on it at this point, that card is expired. We can definitely send you a new one!

Family update
Moriah turned 2 years old on February 9^th! We had a little family party in Park City to celebrate. She is talking more and more everyday, singing, loves chocolate, tries to tap dance like orphan Annie, every prince in every movie is still DADDY (and that’s the way it should be!), and she is becoming more independent (“No kissy!”).

Jenn will be officially done working for Park City Young Life at the end of the month. It has truly been a job that has prepared her for ministry in many ways, leaving is bittersweet! On the positive side, we look forward to having even more time to focus on leaving for Thailand.


Blessings on you and your loved ones,

-Jason and Jenn

 

Northeast (Isaan) Thailand Culture Corner
The official language of Thailand is Thai, but the Northeastern part of the country is full of Lao (Isaan) people. In Isaan, they speak Isan (a dialect of Lao), learn Thai in school, and some of the other people groups may even speak a 3^rd language (like Kui or Khmer).

Many of Isaans’ peoples are rice farmers and may also cut sugarcane to bring in extra money. Their music is country (Isaan style). There is always an element of sanuk or “fun” tied with almost every holiday. Here is a music video made in rural Isaan; there is so much culture shown in this video (their dress, music, rice farming, dance style, their goofiness etc.) CLICK HERE to see the video. We love these people and can't wait to be with them!

Prayer points

-new partners to join us in ministry

-provision

-rural churches in Thailand – that they would hold fast to the Truth found in the Word and turn away false teachers who try to add to the Gospel of grace

-new missionary singles and families to come to Isaan


Photos from Moriah 's Birthday:

Merry Christmas!

(Newsletter sent out early December)

Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving! Here's a quick update before the Christmas craziness begins!

We have moved!
Christmas cookies are welcome at:
96 E Center St
Ephraim, UT 84627

We are extremely blessed to live here by some dear old friends and we love our new place! Thank you to everyone who helped us with the move! With this rather mild fall we are having, Moriah is enjoying the SWINGS in the backyard. Jason is enjoying being out in the country and Jenn just loves the fact that there’s a coffee shop RIGHT NEXT DOOR!

New departure goal and quick update!
Our target departure date is now July of 2013. Based on the official and verbally committed pledges we have right now, we are over 50% of our monthly pledged support! Praise the Lord! We are asking God for more monthly partners. God has surprised us by adding old friends, new friends, and friends we have never even met to join us in reaching the Thai/Isaan people with the love of Christ!

After prayer and much discussion, we decided to drop our Member status with OMF (our mission organization) and change to Associate. Basically, what that means is that our first term in Thailand will be for 3 years instead of 4, and we only save for a 3 month home assignment instead of a year. So now we are raising funds for 39 months instead of 60 months. We will still be in language school for a full year and plan to serve in Thailand for long term. After our first term with OMF, we will decide if we will reapply as Members with the organization or join another mission agency.

Kroger cards
Thank you to everyone who is using a Kroger card to purchase your groceries! If you do not have one and would like one, please let us know!

Thankful
We are so thankful for the Abundant Life that Jesus promises anyone who believes in Him and the abundant life He has given us personally. Doing missions, raising support, making disciples on the field, raising a kid…it is all HIS WORK. We are in an awesome place of just trusting in Him to meet our needs. Not a bad place to be in!

Prayer
1. Please be in prayer for the missionaries who will be sharing about Jesus in the schools in Thailand this Christmas!
2. More partners on our team!
3. Jason is speaking at Roosevelt Christian Assembly this weekend, please pray that they'll be encouraged by his message!
4. For the country of Thailand (use graphic below if you would like!)

Have fun celebrating Jesus this month with family and friends!

-Jason, Jenn and Moriah

Fall 2012 Deputation update

Fall in Heber City/Park City is BEAUTIFUL this time of year. We are constantly reminded of God’s goodness and grace, both in what we see outside and in the work He continues in our lives. We want to thank you again for your ongoing love and support!

Ministry Update
Since our last update, we have shared the vision for Thailand in California, Missouri, Arkansas and Utah…we have been busy! The churches we have shared with have been so gracious to us. At this time, there are 3 churches that have verbally committed, and 3 more that are considering support. God is so good!

Kroger Reloadable Grocery Cards
Monthly support is still our greatest need. There is a new way that friends can partner with us financially at no extra cost…through buying gas and grocery shopping at Kroger stores!
(aka Smith’s Food & Drug, Ralph’s, Food4Less, Dillons, Fred Meyer, QFC, Kroger, Turkey Hill, etc.).

How it works:
1. Receive a reloadable Kroger card from us (0.00 balance)
2. Pre-load your Kroger card (w/credit card, debit, cash @ customer service)
3. Shop!
4. Pay for your groceries/gas with your Kroger card.
5. 5% goes to our mission support!

For example, if someone commits to spending $400.00 a month on groceries/gas, $20.00 would then go toward our monthly support!

We are really excited about the opportunity. Please email Jenn (mrs.jenn.byers@gmail.com) or just "reply" to this email if you are interested or have questions. Click here to find a Kroger store near your zip code.
Monthly Support Report
We are currently around 33% of our pledged monthly support. This has postponed our departure to Thailand to sometime in 2013. One of our biggest challenges with deputation has been our lack of time. We both have jobs (Jenn part time) and take turns caring for Moriah. We have been praying that God would open the door for us to live in cheaper housing and for Jenn to work less.

He heard our prayer…moving!
We are moving to Ephraim, Utah, the city that we met in back in 2004. Jason was hired at a boys’ home in a town nearby, and the staff at the “The Rock” is graciously allowing us to rent the upstairs for a very low amount. Praise God for this amazing answer to prayer. This will free us up to focus on Thailand and sharing our vision.

Moriah update
As some of you already know, at about 2 months old, Moriah started developing a hemangioma (benign, vascular tumor) that grew in her nasal cavity. We have some GREAT news! At her last appointment, the doctor decided that she does not need to wear her glasses at this time as her eye is doing very well! Thank you for all your prayers!

Moriah is now 20 months and a blond, curly top. She calls every prince she sees on t.v. “Daddy”, loves bananas, her baby dolls, dresses, “talking” on the "foo" (phone), and noodles of any kind (called “loo loo”).

Prayer requests

-Monthly supporters
-Personal family finances
-The missionary families in Northeast Thailand, that they would be encouraged in their work and not give up on the task
-Thailand and its unreached provinces. Click here to view the Christian presence map. We will probably end up in Khon Kaen, Kalasin or Sakon Nakhon

Please let us know how we can be praying for you!

-Jason, Jenn and Moriah

July 2012 - Oregon + 1st quarter done!

Dear Friends,

First and foremost thank you so much for all that you do. Your heart, passion and sacrifice toward missions truly amazes us. Your prayers for the gospel to radically transform lives amazes us and encourages us to continue to preach the glorious gospel of God’s grace to all people. We appreciate and thank our Lord for you.

A little Family Update
In June, we took a trip up to Oregon to see both sides of Jason’s family. We spent time with the Barnharts on their logging property and Moriah loved playing with her cousins and seeing all the animals! We then traveled down to Creswell, Oregon and stayed with Grandma Byers. More time with cousins, aunts and uncles, a “tea party” with Great Grandma and the kids, it was a blast!

 

We are loving Heber City, Utah and have had opportunities here to share Christ so we are very thankful. Moriah is our main source of entertainment these days. She is 16 months now, has curly blonde hair and is cutting molars (ouch!). She confidently speaks a language that we don’t quite understand, mimicks “real words,” loves to kiss (mostly daddy!) and to imitate animal sounds like “mooooooooo.”

Getting-to-Thailand update
We were able to speak at Heber Valley Baptist Church (The Worship Center), which was a great opportunity and awesome to see old friends again (Jason was a Youth Pastor here). Also, we had an opportunity to speak at Provo Baptist Church, again this was a privilege and it was great to meet such wonderful believers in the Provo Valley- they are an amazing group!

On June 23rd, Creekside (our home church in Park City) organized a HUGE garage sale for us. What a great God we have and what great people He has to organize things like this. The Lord brought in a little over $4,000.00, our pre-Thailand expenses are most likely covered!

As for monthly support, we are at 25%! In football terms: the 1^stquarter is over with, or in a mile race, the first lap is complete. Like in football, the first quarter is used to find your rhythm and plug into it. Therefore in the second quarter, you can go into it confident and focused on what needs to get done. We feel like we have found somewhat of a rhythm during this 1^stquarter, so let’s approach this next quarter focused on Christ and His global Kingdom and move forward with confidence that God will provide.

Things to pray about:

1. Pray that more churches will open up for us to share our vision and God will lead more monthly financial partners our way.

2. That we communicate our vision well (please see where we will be sharing the vision these next couple of months).

3. God will prepare hearts in Thailand and here in North America to receive the gospel of Christ.
 

“Jesus Christ laid down his life for you, so that He could give His life to you, so that He could live His life through you!” (Bob George).

You all are so dear to our hearts!

Standing in Grace,

Jason, Jenn & Moriah Byers

Birthdays + Hello Heber!

Hello from Heber City, Utah!

Just a few a days ago we moved in to our new apartment in Heber, Utah! We are very excited to live down here and are excited to get involved in the community. We are only 20 minutes from where we were living in Park City, so we are keeping our same jobs. We signed an 8 month lease as we are hoping to leave for Thailand in November. We are keeping our old PO Box as well.

Birthdays! Moriah turned 1 year old on February 9th. WHAT A FUN and CRAZY YEAR! She just started walking, and her favorite words are daddy, baby and ba-ba (but really, she says daddy ALL THE TIME!). Her favorite things in this last month: pulling off her glasses, wearing sunglasses, playing with her cousins, blowing her nose (and yours), and looking at herself in the mirror. Jason turned 27 in February and my birthday is on Easter Sunday this year.
On a sad note, I returned home to Mission Viejo (with Moriah) in early February to attend a funeral for Amanda (Hoffman) Gordon, one of my best friends from middle school/high school. So hard to believe she is gone. The memories are countless, and I know I will hold her memory in my heart forever. She left behind her parents, husband, and two kids.

Thailand is on our minds and it is so hard to be patient! God has raised up some amazing partners in the last few months and we are very grateful. We are still praying for more individuals and churches to become monthly financial partners and prayer partners with us for our first 5 year term. Financially, we are about 1/5 of the way there! Still a long way to go, but we can only trust Him and not ourselves!

We see this waiting time as amazing preparation for the field. In the last few weeks, we have really felt the opportunity to trust Him in a way that we haven’t trusted Him before. All I know is that knowing Jesus is freeing, He takes away fear and gives undeniable courage. He is so good!

Would love to know how you’re doing!

Lots of love,

-Jenn, Jason and Moriah

Pigtails!

Cousin Caleb!

The Three Jenns with their babies

Cousin Addy, Jason, and Moriah