October Update

 

Dear Friends,

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Hello from <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />Thailand again. Things are going very well here.  We are busy now as we head into the end of the year.  It seems impossible that is should be October.  Really what happened to this year.  The kids are in final exams here as they prepare for their midyear break.  Usually they get three weeks off but they have missed so much school due to teacher meetings that probably they will only get a week.  In the mountains now people are busy either harvesting or preparing for the harvest.  These are lean times in the villages as many families run out of rice until after the harvest. Every year there are families we help buy rice so they won’t go hungry.  Usually only 25 dollars can make sure a family doesn’t go hungry until the new rice comes. 

 

It has been an exciting time to see the fruit of all our work and mostly God’s work in the children.  One of the children’s mom was on the way to the hospital to have a lump removed from her breast and she stopped here for the night.  I was working with someone in my office and I looked out and all the kids were praying for this woman to be healed and the next day as she drove to the hospital she felt the lump growing hot and by the time she arrived at the hospital the lump was gone and the doctors sent her home without surgery.  We can’t thank God enough for all His goodness and His power working before our eyes.  The kids were so encouraged to step out an minister more and more.  They are getting bolder now to preach and teach God’s word and to testify to what God has done in their lives.  And of course I cannot watch them without dissolving into tears with pride and joy at the work God has done.  

 

We are planning an outreach to the border area of Thailand and Burma.  It is basically a human catastrophe over there with 20 years of war leaving people ravaged and destititute.  One of our friends has started a children’s home with only true orphans.  We are sending a team there to build two bathrooms for them as well as to minister to the over 150 children in the area.  I never thought the kids would give up their only one week to go home and visit their families to go on an outreach but right now we have 10 youth who want to go minister to this area.  It will be good for them to see people so much more poor than they are themselves and give some of what they have received.  They will also use some of their Christmas money to help these children this year.  Every year they (the children) give an offering from the money they get at Christmas to help other poor children have Christmas too and this year we have chosen this children’s home on the Burma border. Last year the kids alone gave $200 dollars of their own Christmas money to help buy a poor child a Christmas present.

 

This year we plan to give Christmas to 300 people.  We will be sending presents to this home in the borderland as well as buying presents for a village deep in the jungle where the gospel has yet to be preached.  We will be doing Christmas there and preaching the gospel in a big outreach crusade in December.  At Christmas we find people are more open to hearing about Jesus and want to know what Christmas is all about as Christmas in not a traditional Thailand holiday and the people are curious about it.  If you want to give to make Christmas special for a child – $1.50 buys one present. 

 

We have also been asked to do monthly youth meetings here in the town.  Once a month we gather all the youth together – over 300 kids for a big youth meeting.  We’ve had one already and the youth loved it and are excited for the next one.  Please pray for this – the youth are all in children’s homes and some of them are not really good and it is our one chance to reach these children with the love of Jesus.  This is my heart and my vision and I am so happy that God has opened this door into their hearts.  It is so humbling to get up before these precious young people to one more time try to express the inexpressible.  God- how do you put Him into words?  How can you convey how beautiful and wonderful He is?  But in those moments when God steps in and gives the words and they can really really see Him they are fascinated.  And that is what we want.  A generation fascinated by Jesus will not leave this world the same. 

 

So please keep praying for us as we make real progress here.  I feel so excited about my life.  I love it. I love my kids, I love the work God honored me by allowing me to do, I love Jesus most of all.  He continually woos me in unexpected and breathtaking ways.  I always tell Him – you don’t have to show out for me (but really I like it)– You already have my heart but He just continues to steal my heart just by how sweetly good He is and when He wants to bless He really knows how to do it in a big way.  I am always on my knees in fascination and very much enjoying the path.  I wouldn’t trade lives with anyone else in the world.  I think I have the best life.  Thank you so much all of you who give so faithfully.  We love you so much and admire you and appreciate you and pray your reward will be very great. 

 

Love much,

Candace 

 

PS: You can send a tax deductible donation to Rhema Missions PO Box 50126 Tulsa, OK  74150  Memo Rev Candace Smith  100% goes to the work in Thailand

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Sunflowers November 07

Our Trip to the Sunflowers!!

November 07

Dear Friends,

 

Hello again from cool, lovely Thailand.  This is my favorite season – the cool season.  In the hot season it seems inconceivable that you would ever want to wear jeans and a light jacket here it is so sweltering hot but here we are in lovely cool weather again. If you ever want to come to Thailand I highly recommend this time.  I seriously advise NOT coming in April or May unless you like miserably hot weather.  Next weekend we are taking the kids to the state called Mae Hong Song where the mountains are full of sunflowers this time of year.  Fields and fields of wild sunflowers bloom for a few weeks in November.  It really is incredible and when you see it you can’t help but feel that God is just showing off for you.  Most of the kids have never been there so we will go and make a day of it. 

 

It’s so hard to believe that it is November and this year is almost over.  Last month the kids had their mid year break and 15 of our kids went to minister in the borderland near Burma.  I have attached our photo album from that outreach.  The big, gorgeous teenagers you see are our kids just giving out all they have to help children less fortunate than themselves.  You can see them teaching the children and praying for sick people and leading worship.  I think this trip changed them more than anything – to see God use them to help someone else and also to see that they have so much to give.  Some of children here came up with the idea of sponsoring a child over there. I couldn’t believe it.  They have so little but they want to give what they have – to send 50 cents to a poor child on the border or buy them a present.  They always deeply humble me with how utterly unselfish they are.  So often I give out of my abundance but they give out of their need.  So from this grassroots movement we came up with the idea to sponsor a children’s home over there and allow the kids to give monthly to help support that poor children’s home and I will match what they give.  From the pictures you can see the bathroom we built and we hope to help more in the future. 

 

We also got a call from a friend who has a children’s home inside Burma in the jungle.  He asked that we please pray as his 55 kids had no food.  Of course we pray for them but also we sent money to buy at least a month of food and rice.  God has been so good to me here and I know the times when I was praying for money for the kids and God sent a miracle so this time I wanted to be someone’s miracle.  I can’t stand to hear about hungry kids – it is a horrible thought.  The situation with all these kids in Burma and on the border is heartbreaking – they are victims of the Burmese government’s war to eradicate the Karen people.  So many are orphans, others have parents but they are in hiding in the jungles, unable to come to Thailand and unable to return to their villages for fear of being killed or conscripted by the Burmese army, some have had their villages and farmsburned.  It is overwhelming problem but we pray and do what we can.  The good thing is now the world is more aware of what is going on in Burma so we pray the situation will change soon.

 

We are also continuing our work here ministering to more and more youth and children all the time.  My primary goal is to be able to minister to all the kids in the 8 children’s homes in this area on at least a monthly basis and that has started to happen.  Last Friday night we had an awesome service with about 120 kids. God really touched them all and two wanted to be born again.  I have noticed that even my kids have changed since that night.  They are getting so hungry for God – every night they just all end up on their knees crying out for God with tears and worship.  This is what we work for and pray for and have to model in our own lives.

 

We are preparing for Christmas now and we have several outreaches planned to bring Christmas to those who wouldn’t have it otherwise.   On a sad note I had a personal tragedy in my life.  My puppy Cookie died October 17.  I was alone because of the school break and he was hit by a car or motorcycle – I am not sure what happened really.  But he died about 15 hours after I realized he was sick.  We don’t have a vet here so I didn’t know what to do.  I just prayed for him but he died in terrible agony.  I don’t remember a more horrible day in my life.  Cookie was my best friend and mysunshine and we adored each other.  He understood when I told him I was plumb tuckered.  My heart was broken but God was with me and sent someone to help me bury him.  My mom stayed up all night because I kept calling her and she helped me through it.  God has helped me learn a lot about how to accept His comfort and what to do when bad things happen.  I don’t believe for a second God took my Cookie I know the devil did it and while I don’t understand why it happened I don’t have to.  I know God is still good and has ministered to me in a special way during this time and I know Him in a way I didn’t before.  I love God when things are good and when they aren’t, when I understand and when I don’t.  Just like He loves me in good and bad.  One of the things I have hammered in to my kids heads is that God just loves them and they can’t change it no matter what they do or what happens. But it is a wonderful thing to get to a point in your life when what happens in this world doesn’t change your love for Him and your faith in His goodness.

 

I will be returning to America for 5 weeks for the holiday.  During that time I will be setting up my schedule for when I return to the States in April and May (school term close) to travel around to speak to churches and groups about our work in Thailand.  If you would like me to come and speak at your church or group please contact me and I would be happy to come.  Thank you to all the sponsors who are doing so much over here.  You are as much apart of what God is doing here in Thailand as I am and we couldn’t do it without you. You are all always my miracle.  Enjoy the pictures.  God Bless.

 

Love,

Candace

 

August 07

 

Dear Friends,

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Hello from rainy <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />Thailand.  I have been back from America for several weeks.  I had a wonderful time at home.  God did so much for me.  I had pneumonia for over two months and when I went home I was so blessed by having all my medical care provided free of charge and the rest did me a lot of good.  I am now fully recovered and am back hard at work.  It is so good to see the children grow and change.  I think about when I started our first children’s home and there was only me to teach and train the children and how slow it was to see them change and grow in God, the second home was easier because by then  I had trained staff to help me teach and live by example and now with this new batch of children they have been transformed in just a few months because we have such excellent staff teaching them as well as the children who have been with me for years now showing them the way.  It makes my work so much easier – it seems things I want to happen just happen now with out my having to work at it.  So now I can turn my attention outward to the other youth around the city.  We are just praying for opportunities to minister to them beyond what we already do in our weekly youth meetings.  On Sunday I have been invited to teach a big children’s home nearby with about 175 kids.  I am excited about this opportunity.  Youth are so hungry for God I find.  But you have to give them something real.  You can’t give them a stale religion or tradition because they are not interested.  They are interested in a real God that loves them and can help them with their lives.  So above all things we make sure that we keep things real and never let our worship or our teaching become irrelevant to their lives.  We as Christians have something real and powerful and something to offer the world that matters and makes a difference we just sometimes forget that we do. 

 

This month Thailand celebrated Mother’s Day and I was sooverwhelmed by 30 little homemade cards from all my children.  We have this new boy who is about 13 who comes from DEEP in the jungle.  His family is extremely poor but his mom is about the spunkiest lady I think I have ever met.  She didn’t have the money to send her kids to school so she would drive her motorcycle down the mountain on roads that have knee deep mud ( I know because I saw her boots) to make money for her kids school.  We paid for his school but she insists on paying what she can so we let her because it is important they take responsibility for their kids.  The first day of orientation this boy didn’t have a uniform for school so he ran away because he was so ashamed and went back to his village.  But that mother of his brought him right back and we bought him a uniform so now he is in school. Also a few weeks into the term I saw he was wearing the same thing everyday so we took him shopping and you should see how proud and happy and handsome he is in his new clothes – the first he has ever had.   His card touched my heart the most he gave me for mother’s day.  He said because of you I know God loves me and now I have peace and he drew a picture of me and him.  How many people in the world don’t have peace?  Just peace.  Isn’t that all we really want anyway?  Sometimes I wonder why I am here and why didn’t God send someone who could do a better job and sometimes I don’t mind telling you I want to go home but in times like that when a little jungle boy gives?  What if I wasn’t just here available to Go me something so lovely I thank God I am here and I think what if I didn’t come?  What if I’d stayed homed?   God is awesome – He can take something so small and make so much out of it.

 

I had a funny cute experience with another of our little girls.  She is 7 and an orphan and has the worst mouth you have ever heard.  When we first got her she would say the most shocking things in the world, things she learned from her mother before her mother abandoned her.  But she is just as cute as she can be and now she is learning what she can say and what she can’t.  Any way I took her shopping for new clothes too cause she had nothing that wasn’t horrible to wear and nothing for church for sure.  So she was picking out her clothes and when it came time to buy the clothes she wouldn’t let them go so the clerk could ring them up and put them in a bag.  She clutched her new skirt and jeans so tight to her chest and I am like “honey you have to let them go just for a minute” and the whole time the clerk is processing the order she is watching that lady like a hawk and kept pointing saying “give them to me, give them to me” – she was so afraid some thing was going to happen to her new clothes.    I always pinch her cheeks and tell her I love her and now she pinches my cheeks back and tells me the same thing.  She is a doll and I am excited that we will have her with us until she grows up and I can’t wait to see what God will do with her life.

 

So that is some of what’s going on here.   I just do a lot of preaching and teaching - 3-4 times every week in addition to teaching English.  Fortunately it is what I love to do and I can’t imagine doing anything else.  Sometimes it is hard but the kids make everything worthwhile.  Thanks for all your wonderful love and support. It’s you who help make everything we do here possible and nothing is a small thing in the hands of God.  I am attaching two pictures – one of me and the Orawan the little girl I told you about and a group shot of the kids who got scholarships so you can see the young boy I was telling you about.  He is in the back row on the end.  He is tall and skinny with light hair.  Enjoy!  God Bless you all.

 

Love,

Candace

June 07

Dear Friends,

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Hello from <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />Thailand.  I know it has been a long time since I have updated everyone.  I had pneumonia for 4 weeks – 3 weeks of it I had no idea I even had it.  Walking pneumonia they call it – all I knew is I was very sick but I wasn’t smart enough to stop and rest or call a doctor.  Anyway I am much better now- I just have to rest more and get tired easily.   Things have been going well with the children.  We have 30 children this time – all in one location which is very nice.  We spent a lot of time and money getting set up here – building rooms and renting a boys home.  But things are nice and roomy now.  The children seem happy.  We bought a truck to transport the kids.  Last year the high school kids had to walk about a mile to school and while in the dry season that is no big deal – in the rainy season it is difficult – especially since it rains almost everyday around 4 PM when they get out of school.  So the truck was a big blessing and very much needed.  Now when we go somewhere we can transport ALL the children. 

 

We have been very blessed.  We were able to offer full scholarships including uniforms to 12 children who were not able to pay for school and would not have been able to go without help.  Thanks so much to a pastor in Ohio who wanted especially to pay for this.  It meant so much.  One or our girls – her name is Julie – she stood up in worship and wanted to give a testimony thanking God so much that He prepared a way for her to go to school.  She was so worried about it because she is an orphan and has no one to help her.  She is one of our best students and loves to study.  She was so blessed and says now she knows God will prepare everything for her – even university when the time comes and now she has so much hope for her future.  Her school cost about 125 dollars.  Can you imagine?  That is not very much to pay to give someone so much hope.

 

It is always so fun to get new children and see them so skinny and overwhelmed by everything and know what will happen to them.  I love to see them get fat and healthy and start to change as they come to know God loves them.  This year God has led us to preach and teach them again and again – God loves you.  I want them to KNOW it – not just believe it but KNOW it so deep inside them that no one or nothing can ever take it from them.  When they know this truth then they can love God back and face the world without fear but with unending hope and faith.  We have only just started but already the children are changing and growing.  God does so much with the little we give Him.  I see the light starting to shine on their faces, a light that comes only from spending time with God.  I was standing beside our little 6 year old girl Stella who has been with us more than a year now and during worship she was lifting her little hands worshipping God and unbeknownst to her she kept hitting the little girl next to her.  She didn’t even notice in her enthusiasm.  The other girl was a little annoyed but I guess she will learn to give Stella some room when she worships.  I was trying hard not to laugh.

 

I have included some pictures at the bottom so you can see the new kids and our old ones too.  We have 10 brand new children,  two of them are orphaned or abandoned children (little ones) and some from extremely poor families who could not feed their children and then a couple of older kids who needed to go to school and there was no school for them anymore in their village.  We believe God sent each and everyone to us and has a plan for them.   I also have a new addition to my family – God gave me a special present – a little dog named Cookie.  He is just like my dog in America who recently died.  He is really a miracle dog because God sent me the exact same breed of dog I have in America two days before I found out my dog was dying in America.  I had never seen this particular breed of dog here in Thailand and my staff just showed up with the little bundle of white fur as a present for me.  Every time I look at my Cookie I KNOW God loves me and cares about my heart and knows what I need and is MORE than able to get it to me.  He has brought me so much joy and laughter and I had no idea how lonely I was until I got him.  I talk southern to him and he understands.  To everyone else around here I have to talk Thai or broken English.  He has brought me no end of comfort and the kids love him.

 

We are doing a lot here – working with the kids, we have a weekly youth meeting with the other youth in town and on Sunday I teach Sunday School for the teenagers.  We are studying about the promises of God.  It has been so fun.  I think I was just enjoying myself so much I didn’t notice I was getting desperately ill until I simply couldn’t breathe anymore.  But God healed me and has been blessing our work here as He always does.  Our new staff is great and they are doing an awesome job.  I am coming home for the month of July.  I want to attend our Rhema Campmeeting and it was just a good time to come home as there has been a lot going on for me personally with my family and my health.  I have been here 6 months and that is about the time I usually need a break.  My family decided to give me a plane ticket home for my birthday.  I am excited and I feel confident that even when I am gone everything will keep going here.  I am not a good missionary if everything falls when I leave.  My ultimate job is to train the national people here to NOT need me and do everything themselves.  So thanks so much for all your prayers and continued support.  We are blessed and I pray that all of you are too.    Don’t forget to look at the pictures below!

 

God Bless,

Love,

Candace

April 07

Dear Friends!

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I hope you all had a very nice Easter.  Things are going well here in <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />Thailand.  It is miserably hot but we thank God for air conditioning.  The school is closed now and some of the children went home to be with their parents.  We have been having special intensive English classes for those who wanted to stay here and study.  We structured it so they can go home on weekends.  We had about 15 children the first week.  Last week some of the children were unable to come because right now it is extremely dangerous in the mountains around here due to the fact that there are a band of men kidnapping children from the villages and roads to sell into the human trafficking trade.  One man was murdered and several children are missing.  The parents of our children wisely decided to keep them home because the roads are dangerous right now.  Sometimes it is easy to forget the kind of world we live in and the real danger for our kids if they don’t get education and have someone who cares for them and can help them – they fall easy prey to these sort of people. 

 

Anyway the English classes have been going well and this is our last week.  I have been traveling a little bit to do seminars as March and April is “seminar season” around here for some reason.  I did a woman’s seminar and this weekend I pack up for about 10 days in the village to do two seminars – one woman’s seminar and one pastor’s conference.  I have gotten spoiled to the town life so I am having to put my flesh under again for village life.  No air or fan in this 100 plus degree weather, no electricity, no bed, semi-weird food.  Yes I am asking for sympathy.  When I look back at the year I lived in the village I marvel at the grace of God because I truly really loved it.   That is God for you.  For everything He has asked me to do He has given me such incredible grace and I have really not minded any of it.  God is way more than good. 

 

We have been doing the frustrating and sometimes heartbreaking task of sorting out which children will be coming to live here with me next month.  We had about 17 teenagers that needed to come study high school and it seems that for many their parents think that they have had enough school.  High School starts to get a little expensive for the parents (they have to pay uniforms and book fees) and plus they see their big almost grown girl or boy and think he/she can work now and make money. Short term thinking is a big cultural problem here in Thailand.  They are not conditioned to think about the future and plan for it.  It doesn’t occur to them that their kids can make so much more money for them if they finish high school.  It has been such a fight to keep them in school.  I have ended up having to pay for many of their school fees because their parents will not help them anymore.  Especially the girls.  But many are coming so for that I am thankful and for the ones that aren’t for whatever reason we just believe God is with them and all the things we taught them will stay with them and continue growing in their hearts. 

 

We are also getting new children.  One is a little orphan girl that is so cute.  We hired two new staff and rented a boys home and are building new rooms in our existing children’s home.  I have prayed and believed God that through all this transition of losing children and losing staff and getting new children and new staff that God will bring to us those children and staff that He has chosen and now I believe we have the right kids and the best staff and now we can really start to grow and see God do amazing things this next year in all of our lives.  I expect Him to take my breath away everyday with His beauty and goodness.   God has been teaching me so much and changing me at such an incredible rate these last two months. I tell you truly I have never changed so much so quickly in all my life.  I know it is because I needed to grow and be more and know Him more and grow in faith and power so that He could do more and give us more this next year.  Whatever I am the children will be also.  I believe God is planning something breathtaking for us and I just wait in expectation everyday for the new beautiful thing God will do.

 

Every morning I pray with my staff and before they come for staff prayer at my house I put on my makeup and after prayer everyday I have to put it on again because I always end up crying my eyes out at how beautiful God is and how lavish His love is for me.  Everyday I am overcome by my Lord.  So then I think tomorrow I will wait till after prayer to put on my makeup but I never do.  I always think today I won’t cry but I always do.  Every time.  But I don’t learn.  Explain this to me.

 

Thanks to all who love me and pray for me and the kids.  Thanks to all you who give.  You are so faithful.  We love you and pray for you and believe God for beautiful things to happen in your lives as well.  God Bless you!

 

Love,

Candace

 

Feb 07

Dear Friends,

 

Hello everyone!  I have been back in Thailand over 3 weeks now. I had a nice time in America though I am a little annoyed that Ohio waited until I left to have the snow I wanted.  Now they are just taunting me as I hear they had over a foot.  Not fair I tell you.  But we have plenty of cold here in Thailand though I still think Thailand is just strange with it's weather.  We have freezing cold mornings and sweltering afternoons. It's not healthy I think and presents a wardrobe challenge let me tell you.  When I got back I had to immediately move!  I mean immediately!  It was like "hi kids great to see you can you pick up this chair for me?  But I moved into a much bigger house than the bungalow at the hotel where I was living.  I moved because they drastically increased my rent.  The bungalow no kidding was ten steps from the door to the back and probably ten steps across if that.  My new house even has a kitchen and as I walk around I feel like I must be getting my exercise going from room to room.  It has been fun to actually cook for myself again.  So many blessings.  There is something just lovely about cooking spaghetti in your own kitchen singing badly with Frank Sinatra in the background.   It does a girls heart good.  There is so much joy in the little things. 

 

I have been getting back in the swing of things. We have been working on moving the children's home from one town to the other and have rented a boys home across the street.  We hope to have at least twelve boys when the term opens again in May.  We have been accepting new children and I have been attempting to hire new staff.  Believe with us that we will get the right staff and the right children as well.  After the 2nd week of March when the term ends for the year we will have only ONE children's home and for that I am thankful.  It is too hard to be so spread out.  I am excited to focus on just one thing for the first time in 3 years.  I think it will be so great.  And last year was extremely difficult but now we are through it all and the problems have been worked out so we can start a new on a much stronger foundation.  I wouldn't change anything that has happened because it gave me the opportunity I have now. 

 

We are continuing to work with the youth in the town and this last Friday night we had an additional children's home join us - they had heard about the great services we had and wanted to come.  We are believing for open doors into all the children's homes in the area.  We want to minister to all the youth we can possibly find! 

 

This year my focus will be in building these young people God has given me. More will be coming as the term opens - one children's home has asked me to help them develop their children spiritually as they expand their home from 12 to over 50.  We conservatively expect to minister to over 150 youth each week.  So my goal is to teach these young people to be passionate about God because I know this is God's heart for them.  He is so in love with each of these young people and He wants them to be so in love with Him too.  This is the gift I want with all my heart and life to give to my Lord.  These kids are what He wants most.

 

The second thing we must do this year is build our new children's home.  We have the money for the land which we have yet to buy but we believe soon the beauracracy involved will be done and we will have it.  Then we will begin building and we are believing God for the 50,000 dollars it will take to build it.  God is faithful and this is His vision so He will do it.  I know He has raised up people to give so this plan of His can be built.  I can't wait to see all the wonderful surprises He has in store for us this year.

 

We are going into the hot season now in Thailand and the children are going home for two months.  During this time I will be studying the Thai language as well as teaching some English.  Also I have some opportunities to travel and conduct seminars in various places.  I would like to thank Living Word Church in Jonesboro Arkansas who gave me money last year to buy a clothes dryer.  It turns out I didn't need it so desperately here in Mae Chaem - it is not nearly so damp as the village so I saved it and I bought an AIR CONDITIONER which you have no idea what a beautiful thing that is in the hot season in Thailand.  Thank you thank you thank you!!!   Thanks to all you who give so faithfully.  God is using you powerfully in Thailand.  I feel nothing but excitement about this year.  We are going to grow and expand inways I can't even dream of right now.   I can't wait to see the kids change and grow and myself change and grow as God continues to reveal Himself to us.  I am so overwhelmed by His love and goodness and beauty now that I am often speechless.  Really He takes my breath away everyday and yet He whispers to me that there is MORE,  new vistas of His love for me to see.  That is what I want.  All these other things I tell you about - the ministry, the kids they are His Dream, His heart, MY dream is to see God and those new vistas He tells me about. That is the thing I want most this year for myself.  Keep us in your prayers.  We love you. 

 

Candace

Sept 06

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Hello everyone!  Well it is the loveliest season of all here in <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />Thailand - the cool season.  I wear my jacket and long sleeves now though I don't really need them and pretend it is fall.  Though the trees are not cooperating with my fantasy and persist on being green.  Oh well!  It is nice that it is not sweltering anymore and the monsoon is over.

 

We are preparing now for Christmas - we have a big Christmas outreach in the city here scheduled for the middle of next month.  We are helping to give Christmas to 6 children's homes here in the town where we live.  We will also be taking gifts to some of the poor villages in the mountains to give some very poor children their very first Christmas present as well as  to share the gospel in some unreached villages.  If you would like to help buy gifts for this effort it would be much appreciated as we try to give Christmas to as many children as possible.  This year I am encouraging my children to give some of their Christmas money to buy gifts for these poor children who have never had Christmas.  I want to teach them about giving so they can be blessed in their lives. 

 

In the last few months we have been very busy.  I have gotten roped in to doing something I don't like to do - travel to preach.   I preached and lead worship in a seminar at a place that has been in revival for 2 or 3 years and itwas an intimidating experience. The last day we had around 400 people come.  It was awesome to see revival in Thailand on that scale and it gave us vision for what God is getting ready to do here in our town.  

 

We had a big seminar for all the children sponsored by Compassion Int'l.  The children came from all over the mountains surrounding us for two days of preaching and worship.  I taught two hours the last day on the Holy Spirit.     The best part was praying for the children at the end.  We had about 250 children attend.  Some of them had to walk 5 kilos through mudslides because the road was unpassable for trucks so they could attend.

 

The most exciting thing we have done has been the weekly youth meetings we have been having for several months.  We got a lot of opposition when we first started but we were persistent and finally we have a good steady group of about 50 youth that come every week from 4 different children's homes.  They have changed so much.  I can see that they are hungry for more of God.  One girl testified that all her life she knew she had to read her bible and pray but it was so boring and she didn't enjoy it at all but since we started teaching her the word of God and how to worship God from her heart now she is excited about God and the word of God and loves to come to our youth night.  The great thing for me is to see my youth leading the worship and how passionate they are.  Their friends are learning from them - they are certainly very bold leaders at such a young age.  I have one girl – her name is Holly – she is an awesome worship leader.  I watch her and see how passionate she is for God and how pure her heart is and I know already that girl will surpass me soon if she hasn’t already in her ability to usher the presence of God into a room in worship.  She is fantastic.  She comes from an extremely poor family and her mother had 10 children and she is the only one who survived infancy.  She has had to overcome illness and the shame that comes from being the poorest family in your village but she knows God loves her and chose her and she has suffered but God brought her through and you can see her passionate love in her worship.  It is impossible to express how proud I am of my children and I know that if God called me home right now I will have left something that will last and my work will carry on for years to come. It is a good feeling.

 

I am enjoying working not just with my own children but with other children’s homes.  The staff from the children’s homes in the area pray together every week and it gives me an opportunity to teach them as well as see what their needs are so we can help.  We have been helping another children’s home buy food as the children were all malnourished.  I am so thankful that this has never been a problem for us because of you my wonderful sponsors.  Our kids have more than enough to share and we are happy to be able to bless other people as well.  I can’t imagine what it would be like to have all these kids and not be able to feed them.  Unfortunately this is a common problem here in Thailand.  Our children have the unheard of extravagance receiving shampoo and soap and toothpaste every month from us.  We are the only children’s home around that does this. I hope in the future to be able to help more and more – financially as well as providing training for these other homes.

 

I am also preparing to come home for Christmas soon.  Time flies so fast.  It has been an extremely difficult time as the devil does everything he can to destroy our work.  It encourages me that he is so frightened – it makes me expect God to do incredible things ahead.  And God has been so good.  Just when I think I really can’t take it anymore God does something so fantastic for me that I am speechless.  Just blessings upon blessings.  Dreams that I had forgotten come true.  We may forget our dreams but He never does.  And through suffering and rejection and betrayal God says I am still here and I am still God and I will handle it – you just keep your heart right.  I have learned some of the most valuable lessons of my life these last few months.  Lessons about love and forgiveness and the tenderness of God.  It seems to me that the most simple lessons are the most important.  One day when I was worrying about something God whispered to my heart – I am real.  Just that.  I’m real.  God is real!  Why do we live our lives like practical atheists? Thinking we have to handle everything ourselves?   I think if we really believed these three things our lives would be so different.  1) God is real  2) God ADORES us  3) The God of the universe lives inside of us every minute of every day.  I am so hopeful about the future.  God is going to do great things and we get to watch and be apart of Him changing the world.  I feel it.  It is always the darkest before the dawn but joy comes in the morning.  And it is almost dawn.  Keep us in your prayers and thank you so much for your love!

 

Love,

Candace

August 2006

 

Dear Friends,

 

Hello from Thailand.  I am writing you from the internet that is now actually in my office at the children's home.  High Speed no less.  Gone are the days of no electricity.  I am renting a bungalow at the hotel nearby so I have air conditioning (albeit it is actually older than me I think), hot water in the shower.  I can wash my clothes and dishes in hot water now if I do it in the shower and the first time I realized I could actually wash my dishes without boiling the water I almost sang the hallelujia chorus.  My hotel even has a funny little gym where I work out everyday (okay lets say often).  Our new little children's home is shaping up to be pretty nice.  My new director has been doing a great job. 

 

I am attaching two pictures of our new little girl and all of our big girls.  I bought them their new clothes they are wearing.  They needed some nice new clothes for church because we travel so much doing outreaches.  The skirts are traditional for their tribe.  I think you will agree with me that they are beautiful. 

 

This last month has been full of blessings and heartache.  God is continually blessing us because we obeyed God even when it was difficult but nothing is without opposition it seems.  I have had one of the most heartbreaking things happen of my ministry.  I found out that my most trusted staff member and leader of the original children's home (he is also our worship leader) has been trying to keep the children from moving with me next year.  They are trying to buy a truck so they can drive them 40 minutes one way to highschool rather than let them go live with me in our new place.  The hardest part was that he was lying to me the whole time while trying to steal my children.  The children were so hurt and confused.  Anyway even now I don't know how many will actually come here next year.  The little ones definately will not but the older ones who have to leave to go to highschool (unless can commute) probably will come.  If all goes well we will have 35 children here next year.  Keep praying about this situation especially for my kids. I hate to see them so troubled but now I think they are okay.  I have been talking to them and comforting them.  We leave it now in God's hands.  God willsend us the children He wants us to have.  I am not going to fight anymore.  It is not good for the children.  Only love can make something good out of this so I am trying to be love.  However needless to say I am hiring new staff for the next year. Pray for this as well as I really will be needing a new worship leader.  I know God will provide. 

 

The good news is that we found our land.  It is a fruit orchard at the moment.  We are buying two lots - one has a house on it.  It is less than half price because there is no road to the orchard.  So we have to build a road.  It will cost around $18,500 for about an acre and a half and a pretty good house.  This is very cheap though of course it seems outrageously expensive to me.  Land is not cheap even here.  But I feel like this is our land.  It is in a perfect location and is very beautiful.   Keep praying about this as we try to buy it this month.

 

We have two big events coming up - our monthly youth revival which will have between 300-500 youth and children and I am doing a big seminar for Compassion In'tl.  The Compassion seminar will be for more than 500 youth.  Please pray for these that the children will have an encounter with God during this time.

 

So that is what has been happening.  A lot for sure.  But there are so many new opportunities opening up and I can just feel that God is getting ready to do something big here.  I understand this because I have never felf such warfare for me - my body, my emotions, my heart,  I think to strike me so hard and so relentlessly the devil must be really afraid of me and what God is going to do through our ministry.  So it encourages me strange as it sounds.  Whatever the devil can do God can do more and has done more.  He prepared me for the betrayal of one of my best friends and when it came I was okay.  God is more real and more close to me than ever in my life and that is really all I want.  The ministry is God's - my dream is Him and that dream has been coming true as I learn to love Him more and know Him more especially when things are so hard and all hell is breaking loose against me.  I have changed profoundly in the last month.  I had an experience as I was fasting that changed my whole life.  I was worshipping at church with my kids and all of the sudden I could just see God and how much He loves us and all He does for us and then I saw how much we don't care, how we disrespect him and how He longs for us just to look at Him and how often we don't.  And it broke my heart and made me literally sick to my stomach.  I cried so much I couldn't preach or anything - just cried for more than an hour.  And I got up from my knees a changed woman.  With a true hatred for mediocrity and lukewarmness in the church and a profound appreciation for the holiness and majesty of our God as King.  It frightens me sometimes what I feel and what God put in me but it is good.  Because what you don't hate you will never change and only people with passion change the world..  I think my mom must wonder what happened to her gentle daughter sometimes on the phone when I start telling her now everything I think. I am not the same.

 

So as you can see we need much much prayer.  Thank you all those who do pray and give to help us.  We need it now as we are preparing to buy the land and start to build.  We are planning now for it to be two years before we will complete the new home.  Right now we are renting.  Thanks for everything. 

 

Love,

Candace