Graciously Tenacious

The other day was Halloween, for everyone in America that's obvious but here in Thailand it was just another ordinary day...or I thought it was. It was nothing like my previous Halloween experiences, I didn't dress up like a witch or superhero and go door to door asking for candy. There wasn't a Halloween party or decorations in sight. Instead there was flooding, water filled houses, hungry people and the holy spirit doing work. Let me back up and explain what that means. This weekend we had youth camp for the kids it the neighborhood, the theme of the camp was serving God. We had an awesome opportunity to serve God at the National Stadium which for the last month has been the headquarters for the flooding relief. People were donating clothes, cooking food, making sandbags and lots of other stuff. So with the kids we got to walk the walk after we talked the talk. It really was great and the kids learned alot. Once camp was over,we saw that we had a lot of food leftover, al

This weekend was the first time I sincerely referred to Samaki as "home". We had a long weekend of youth camp, which included lots of kids running around, playing games, volunteering at the flood rescue relief center and all the prep that needed to be done to get through this weekend. On the last day, tired and wanting to get back to Samaki the thought rolled into my head, "I just want to get home, sleep in my own bed and use my own shower". I never thought I would say that because my shower is a bucket, my bed is about two inches thick and above all...I live in a slum. But after two months I now call it home. So there's this verse that has been popping up alot lately, its Jeremiah 29:4-7 which says, "This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says to all those I carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce. Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and give yo