(dramatic music)
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- Hello and welcome
to "Jesus for Asia Now."
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I'm Natalie Wood and my husband
Jon, is joining me today,
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as we once again travel to
the Northern Plains of Thailand
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to visit a missionary
family living by faith.
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Hello love.
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- Hi, darling.
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- So we're going to the
Plains of Northern Thailand?
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- That is correct,
we're going to Sukhothai.
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- Okay.
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- A small town, city, 35,000
people, in Northern Thailand.
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- Okay.
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- It's a very unique city
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because it's about 400 miles
north of the bay, of the ocean,
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but it's only about
100 feet in elevation.
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So it's a big,
flat, broad plane,
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that entire
central part of Thailand,
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from Bangkok all
the way to Sukhothai.
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Sukhothai is in the north,
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you go a little bit
farther than Sukhothai
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and you get up
into the mountains.
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- So what are we
learning about there today?
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- Well, many years ago, we
would travel through Thailand
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and look at all
the different cities
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that had no
Adventist presence whatsoever.
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- Right.
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- And we'd always
felt overwhelmed thinking,
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how in the world will we
ever reach all these places?
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And just a few years ago,
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the Lord led us into a new way
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to enter into unentered cities.
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- Right, and that is by prayer.
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- Yeah.
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- Asking God to send
someone, to open doors,
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to send His spirit
there, to help the people
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to have hearts
that are ready to hear
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when He sends someone there.
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- Exactly.
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When we started
praying like that,
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especially claiming Joshua 1:3.
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- Right.
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- It says, wherever you
place the sole of your foot,
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that have I
already given unto you.
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So it's like
wherever you're going to place
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the sole of your foot, I
have already given to you.
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And the definition of
faith is taking God's word for
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and believing what it says,
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and depending on that word
to do what it says it will do.
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- That's right.
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So I know we've talked
about this on other shows,
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so people may
remember the stories.
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We did some prayer walks,
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we've prayed there
are a number of times,
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when we just stopped
at the bus stop there.
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And we would get
off and we would pray,
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and then we'd get
back on and keep going.
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So all of those
types of things we did,
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and just asking God
for his plan for this city.
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And then God sent a family,
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and we've talked about them,
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we've interviewed them on
here before, the Norton family.
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- Yeah.
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They sold their
home, they sold everything,
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moved over to Thailand.
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The husband had been to Thailand
once just to check it out,
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but, and he grew up
in the mission field.
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But the wife, Kasey, never
been outside the United States.
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- So there were a
number of challenges,
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and we'll cover some of
those in our next episode
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that we do about them.
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But in this one,
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we wanna talk about
all the different types,
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or several different
types of the ministry,
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that God is raising
up through this method,
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which is by prayer.
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So once they got there,
their job as missionaries there,
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was to talk to
God, listen to God,
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connect with God,
and see what he did.
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- Yes.
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- And so step-by-step,
he began leading them.
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- Right.
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And so when they
moved to Thailand,
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the plan was for
them to stay in Chiang Mai
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for at least six months
and do language training.
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But one of their
sons had some asthmatic
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type of condition in his lungs,
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and he didn't do
well in Chiang Mai.
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And so he ended up
in the hospital a lot.
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And so they decided
to go down to Sukhothai
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just to check it out.
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Jonathan and Hannah
took them down there,
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because they'd
been there before,
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because Jonathan's
parents were thinking about
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coming to Sukhothai,
but a decided not to.
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But when they had come,
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they had found a
house that was being built,
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it wasn't ready,
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but it was being built with
the plan for it to be rented.
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- And Jonathan and
Hannah, who are they?
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- They are JFA
foreign correspondents.
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In fact, they're the
ones that took all the video
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in Thailand that
you're gonna see in this show.
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- Right.
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So Jonathan and
Hannah took them down there,
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and they drove around and
they drove past this place,
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that hadn't
been finished before,
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but now it was finished,
and then they rented it.
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- [Jon] Right.
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- And they moved there.
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- [Jon] Yeah.
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And what was amazing is the son
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that had been
having the health problems,
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all those health
problems cleared up.
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- Right.
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- And so they took that
as this is God calling us
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into this place.
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Now, it's a
unique kind of approach
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because usually
there's lots of training
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that takes place
beforehand, language learning,
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culture
learning, all these things.
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But this time,
they went in weak,
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and amazing
things started to happen.
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- Yeah, their neighbors
saw that they needed help,
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knowing where the markets were,
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communicating with
people, getting furniture,
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their landlord
brought them a table,
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we've talked about that before.
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And just they needed help,
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and so people
came and helped them,
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and then they were
able to make friends.
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- Exactly.
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- And so their weakness,
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actually became a
connection creator.
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- It's their connecting point.
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And so I remember being there
once and they were asking me,
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can we open our
gate on the front yard,
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because everybody
else has their gate closed.
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And Hannah says, yeah if
the holy spirit leads you,
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open the gate.
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And so they opened the gate
and they've got a bunch of kids.
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They came with five kids.
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And so the kids
started playing on the street,
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and before long,
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all the gates in the
neighborhood were open.
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- And all the kids
were playing together.
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- Exactly.
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And some of the
kids would come over
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and eat with them all the time.
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And so it was a
beautiful situation, a beautiful
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experience, the
way the Lord led.
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And we had always told
them your main job there,
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is to host the
presence of the holy spirit.
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- Find out what
God wants you to do.
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- Don't try to do a ministry,
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don't try to plant a church,
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don't do all that kind of stuff.
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Just stay connected with God,
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you'll be the
beachhead of the holy spirit,
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in a place that's dark
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and has only known
evil spirits for centuries.
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And what that does is that,
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that connects them with the
God that knows what to do next,
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better then we do.
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- Because he knows the hearts
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of all the
people that live there,
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he knows their hearts
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and he knows the
hearts of the people
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that he's trying
to reach through them.
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- Yeah and if we say
you need to plant a church,
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or you need to do
this kind of ministry,
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then their focus is
gonna be on doing the ministry,
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planting the church.
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And then the
personal connection with God
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is going to be less important.
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So when we emphasize and
make of primary importance,
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the spiritual side,
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because what we're
trying to accomplish,
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is a spiritual.
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- Spiritual warfare.
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- Exactly.
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And so as they
focused on Christ,
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Christ led them into
accepting a couple of kids
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that were from the slums.
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Long story, we've
already told it before,
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it's an amazing miracle story.
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And then they
started to have opportunities
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to accept more kids and
they started to envision.
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Actually from the beginning
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they were
envisioning a children's home,
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because they love kids.
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- And they had an idea from God,
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from several
texts in the scriptures,
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that God had
impressed upon them,
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that they would have
more children in their care.
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And during this whole
time when they had a few kids,
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and they started being
asked to take more kids,
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they also were
asked to teach English.
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- Yes.
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- And also
wanting to learn Thai,
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they wanted to have a place
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where they could
meet with people.
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- And so downtown,
right about 150 feet
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away from where we had prayed.
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- And one of the places.
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- Yeah and we had
claimed Joshua 1:3,
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they rented a three-story,
what they call a mission post.
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- Right, it's an office building
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or a storefront
type of building,
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but it has three floors.
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And we have a
little video about that,
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and in it, they talk about
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what the different
floors are used for.
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- Yeah.
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- All right,
let's watch that now.
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(dramatic music)
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- [Robert] So at
the mission post,
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we initially wanted to
place to where we could have
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a church in the city.
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Then we called the landlord
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and they set the
terms and everything.
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And the building was in
a really great location.
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It was big enough for
what we were looking at doing,
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though we didn't have the money,
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the down payment or
the rental payment for it.
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But we decided Kasey
and I prayed about it,
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and we decided that we
were just gonna go ahead
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and step out in faith.
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And 24 hours before
we signed the contract,
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somebody donated a
lump sum of my money,
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and it was enough for
us to pay the down payment
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and buy all the furniture
to go into the admission post.
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(soft music)
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- So the
mission post is in town.
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It's about a 20 minute
drive and it's our church plant,
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and initially it was gonna
be an English language school,
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but COVID kept
shutting that aspect of it down.
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We do a food ministry out of it.
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We employ a cook and her
son who prepare vegetarian food
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for us to take out to
people in the community.
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(dramatic music)
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It has been
probably, I think in many ways,
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the most stretching
aspect, as far as frustration,
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because there's
so much potential.
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It's a building in the
business district of Sukhothai,
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and so much could be
happening from there,
00:10:05.57\00:10:07.97
and yet it feels
like so little is,
00:10:07.97\00:10:09.60
because we feel like
we're spread too thin.
00:10:09.60\00:10:13.24
(soft music)
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- [Robert] It's a
three-four building,
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so we wanted the
apartments on the top,
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so any missionaries coming
to visit could stay there.
00:10:22.32\00:10:25.65
Or we eventually found somebody
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that would take
over the program,
00:10:27.86\00:10:30.73
that could stay in the
apartment that was upstairs.
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And the second floor is
the church which we utilize.
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And the first
floor is the dining area
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and the place we set up for
English class to go on at night.
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And unfortunately, we have
tried three different times
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to start up an English program,
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and do English
tutoring for the kids and stuff.
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But every time we
really start going,
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COVID would hit and it
would shut everything down.
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The students would quit coming,
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and everybody would be scared.
00:11:09.50\00:11:11.53
So we wouldn't have any
students and everything.
00:11:11.53\00:11:14.00
So as of right now,
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we don't have an
English program going on.
00:11:15.74\00:11:18.24
But COVID is
actually lightening up here,
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so we probably will start
looking into starting back up.
00:11:20.94\00:11:25.45
But at the same time,
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it's gonna
stretch me pretty thin
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to try to run things here
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and tried to run
things at the mission posts
00:11:33.46\00:11:36.56
for the English class.
00:11:36.56\00:11:37.76
So we need prayer for that,
00:11:37.76\00:11:39.93
because we would really like
to get that program growing,
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and we'd like to have
somebody there full time,
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that can actually
do the work there,
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so that I don't have to
go back and forth every day.
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(dramatic music)
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- Over the course of the year
00:11:53.71\00:11:55.61
that we've been
renting the building,
00:11:55.61\00:11:57.28
our landlord has come
in on various occasions,
00:11:57.28\00:12:02.15
and almost every time
she picks up literature
00:12:02.15\00:12:05.02
that's in there,
00:12:05.02\00:12:06.52
and she's just very excited
and enthusiastic about it.
00:12:06.52\00:12:10.03
So when we had to go back
and sign the new contract,
00:12:10.03\00:12:14.00
she informed Robbie that she's
read all of this literature,
00:12:14.00\00:12:18.67
all of the books, and
she knows she wants more.
00:12:18.67\00:12:21.00
And she ended up saying
she wanted to come to church.
00:12:21.00\00:12:24.04
And so she showed up
for the church service,
00:12:24.04\00:12:27.58
and it happened to be on a week
00:12:27.58\00:12:29.21
where we had additional guests.
00:12:29.21\00:12:32.18
So there was a Thai lady
who was able to sit with her
00:12:32.18\00:12:36.22
and make her feel
comfortable and welcome.
00:12:36.22\00:12:38.95
So a really nice introduction
00:12:38.95\00:12:41.59
to what it is to
sit in a church service.
00:12:41.59\00:12:46.33
I'm really excited to
see what will come from that,
00:12:46.33\00:12:50.03
and just how God will grow that
00:12:50.03\00:12:52.10
as we're settling
into a better routine here
00:12:52.10\00:12:55.70
on the children's own property,
00:12:55.70\00:12:57.37
what God may then open
the doors for in town as well.
00:12:57.37\00:13:02.34
(dramatic music)
00:13:02.94\00:13:05.61
- Exciting isn't it?
00:13:20.43\00:13:21.56
- Yeah, it's really neat to see
00:13:21.56\00:13:23.03
and to hear the
story of the landlady.
00:13:23.03\00:13:24.90
- I loved how when
they were getting ready
00:13:24.90\00:13:26.57
to rent the place.
00:13:26.57\00:13:28.37
They made the decision by faith,
00:13:28.37\00:13:31.64
then the Lord provide the means.
00:13:31.64\00:13:32.91
- Right, right.
00:13:32.91\00:13:34.18
And the land lady
that keeps coming,
00:13:34.18\00:13:35.74
and taking literature and
tells them she's read at all.
00:13:35.74\00:13:38.61
I just, I love that.
00:13:38.61\00:13:40.08
So then in addition
to the mission post,
00:13:40.08\00:13:42.95
they started
having the children come,
00:13:42.95\00:13:44.89
and they realized very quickly,
00:13:44.89\00:13:46.29
that the house that
they had rented in town,
00:13:46.29\00:13:48.42
was not gonna be big enough.
00:13:48.42\00:13:49.99
- That's for sure.
00:13:49.99\00:13:51.26
- So then they
started looking for property,
00:13:51.26\00:13:52.66
and God miraculously
led to a piece of property
00:13:52.66\00:13:57.37
out in the country.
00:13:57.37\00:13:58.80
And how big is it?
00:13:58.80\00:14:00.64
- There's 11 acres.
00:14:00.64\00:14:02.00
- Okay.
00:14:02.00\00:14:03.47
- But thankfully God provided
buildings already existing
00:14:03.47\00:14:06.94
on that property,
00:14:06.94\00:14:08.44
so they didn't have to
build a lot of buildings.
00:14:08.44\00:14:10.78
- Okay well, we have a
video about the children's home,
00:14:10.78\00:14:13.78
so let's watch that now.
00:14:13.78\00:14:15.05
- All right.
00:14:15.05\00:14:16.75
(soft music)
00:14:16.75\00:14:19.15
- [Kasey] So we arrived in
Sukhothai on October 1st of
00:14:26.23\00:14:30.67
2019. And we came
really very clueless,
00:14:30.67\00:14:34.47
having no idea at all what
we were supposed to be doing.
00:14:34.47\00:14:38.07
We sort of
expected that we would have
00:14:38.07\00:14:40.58
a period of time where we
could adapt to the culture,
00:14:40.58\00:14:43.28
to the language.
00:14:43.28\00:14:44.51
And very quickly
God made it clear that
00:14:44.51\00:14:48.32
he was going to put things
before us to do beyond just
00:14:48.32\00:14:52.59
that. And so two weeks
after we moved into Sukhothai,
00:14:52.59\00:14:57.33
we were asked to
take into children.
00:14:57.33\00:15:00.73
And we had those two
children alone for the first,
00:15:00.73\00:15:05.70
I believe it was nine months.
00:15:06.57\00:15:08.07
And then we started getting
more children fairly rapidly.
00:15:08.07\00:15:12.67
We ended up with six
00:15:12.67\00:15:13.98
by the end of the
first year in Thailand.
00:15:13.98\00:15:16.85
So the odd thing is that,
00:15:16.85\00:15:18.58
though we really
felt like at that point
00:15:18.58\00:15:21.58
God was asking us to
move forward in establishing
00:15:21.58\00:15:24.79
some type of children's home,
00:15:24.79\00:15:26.76
we've never been fully convinced
that a children's home,
00:15:26.76\00:15:31.46
like was the end all
be all of our ministry.
00:15:31.46\00:15:35.80
And so this idea was
planted to simultaneously
00:15:35.80\00:15:40.10
have sort of a
discipleship program,
00:15:41.17\00:15:43.51
where we would bring
largely existing believers,
00:15:43.51\00:15:47.24
and bring them into a
setting where they could
00:15:47.24\00:15:50.75
be discipled in
living Christ centered lives.
00:15:50.75\00:15:55.45
And we saw that happening in
conjunction with the children.
00:15:55.45\00:15:59.52
So the children being
a part of this ministry,
00:15:59.52\00:16:03.86
and we didn't have
like a full clear picture
00:16:03.86\00:16:06.66
of what that would look like,
00:16:06.66\00:16:08.13
but we move forward with
what was right before us,
00:16:08.13\00:16:10.50
which was the children's home.
00:16:10.50\00:16:11.93
So we moved to this
property in December of 2020,
00:16:11.93\00:16:15.90
and then by the
middle of this year, 2021,
00:16:15.90\00:16:20.71
we had an
additional five children.
00:16:20.71\00:16:23.85
But still, even
though we could see
00:16:23.85\00:16:27.15
the whole children's
home concept taking shape,
00:16:27.15\00:16:30.45
almost without us trying this,
00:16:30.45\00:16:32.62
we weren't looking for children,
God brought staff to us.
00:16:32.62\00:16:36.99
And so we just
watched God bring believers
00:16:36.99\00:16:40.60
who were coming from sort
of a different perspective
00:16:42.03\00:16:44.47
of Christianity and also a
new believer in our teacher.
00:16:44.47\00:16:47.74
And all of this
gave us an opportunity
00:16:47.74\00:16:50.21
to do this idea
that God had planted,
00:16:50.21\00:16:53.31
that didn't seem
like it had anything to do
00:16:53.31\00:16:55.08
with the children's home.
00:16:55.08\00:16:56.58
And so now those two concepts
are kind of working together
00:16:56.58\00:17:01.35
to create the
ministry that is here.
00:17:02.42\00:17:04.89
(soft music)
00:17:06.02\00:17:08.46
- [Robert] I would
really love to see this place
00:17:11.99\00:17:14.73
actually fill up with more kids,
00:17:14.73\00:17:17.27
all the beds that we have
with the rest of the dorm rooms,
00:17:17.27\00:17:21.50
and the empty beds we
have with the other dorm rooms.
00:17:21.50\00:17:24.04
Then that's a lot more kids
00:17:24.04\00:17:25.57
that we can bring into
this place once we're certified.
00:17:25.57\00:17:30.58
And there's
probably a lot more than what
00:17:31.78\00:17:34.35
we're going to be
able to handle on our own.
00:17:34.35\00:17:36.55
We had envisioned a school here,
00:17:37.82\00:17:40.99
but in talking with the
local government and everything,
00:17:40.99\00:17:44.56
I don't know if
it's feasible for us
00:17:44.56\00:17:46.96
to be able to do a school.
00:17:46.96\00:17:48.46
So it's gonna
take a lot more prayer
00:17:48.46\00:17:53.40
and see what God wants us to do.
00:17:53.40\00:17:56.30
But we do envision
the ability to continue
00:17:56.30\00:18:00.28
bringing in more kids,
00:18:03.28\00:18:05.21
kids that really need
help and having a place
00:18:05.21\00:18:09.72
where they can be safe.
00:18:09.72\00:18:11.45
(soft music)
00:18:11.45\00:18:14.59
- [Kasey] Moving forward,
00:18:14.59\00:18:15.99
what I think that we are
praying about most specifically
00:18:15.99\00:18:19.43
is moving beyond this property.
00:18:19.43\00:18:22.76
So God has brought
children and staff here,
00:18:22.76\00:18:27.17
but instead of seeing
the children as the ministry,
00:18:27.17\00:18:30.97
seeing them as part of the team,
00:18:30.97\00:18:33.78
the ministry team that
God is establishing here.
00:18:33.78\00:18:36.58
And so really trying to instill
in each person, each of us,
00:18:36.58\00:18:41.58
adults and children alike,
00:18:42.45\00:18:43.69
this passion for
taking the gospel out there.
00:18:43.69\00:18:47.39
(dramatic music)
00:18:48.36\00:18:51.09
Big vision wise for the future.
00:18:52.69\00:18:56.10
However long it is
that that we have to work,
00:18:56.10\00:19:00.24
would be just
that we would do that,
00:19:00.24\00:19:02.30
that we would be
sensitive to God's leading,
00:19:02.30\00:19:04.87
and that we would be
praying for these people.
00:19:04.87\00:19:07.44
That even before we would go out
00:19:07.44\00:19:09.38
and talk with
them or pray with them,
00:19:09.38\00:19:11.05
or put anything into their hands
00:19:11.05\00:19:12.48
for them to read.
00:19:12.48\00:19:13.68
That we would be
asking for the spirit to go
00:19:13.68\00:19:16.35
and do the
softening of the hearts,
00:19:16.35\00:19:17.95
and the preparatory
work that needs to happen,
00:19:17.95\00:19:20.26
for them to sort of
have those divine encounters,
00:19:20.26\00:19:25.26
that God wants but that
we tend to shy away from.
00:19:26.70\00:19:30.07
(soft music)
00:19:31.23\00:19:33.64
- So this concept that she has
00:19:40.31\00:19:42.41
of discipling disciple makers,
00:19:42.41\00:19:45.31
that's a concept that has
developed since they've been.
00:19:45.31\00:19:47.95
- Right and it's so neat
that they have the concept
00:19:47.95\00:19:51.35
that not just are
they disciple makers,
00:19:51.35\00:19:54.96
but not just are the
staff disciple makers,
00:19:54.96\00:19:57.79
but they want the children
to learn to be disciple makers.
00:19:57.79\00:20:00.80
Also as they're
learning to be disciples,
00:20:00.80\00:20:02.86
that it's our ministry,
00:20:02.86\00:20:04.73
it's not our
ministry. - Exactly.
00:20:04.73\00:20:06.63
- You know it's not
us doing ministry to you,
00:20:06.63\00:20:08.74
it's all of us doing
ministry to all of the people
00:20:08.74\00:20:11.57
we see and we meet.
00:20:11.57\00:20:13.04
- Exactly, and so this is
the way that seeds get planted
00:20:13.04\00:20:16.68
and then multiplied.
00:20:16.68\00:20:18.51
So it's a beautiful
thing that they're doing.
00:20:18.51\00:20:20.48
- Right, and we
have another video
00:20:20.48\00:20:22.65
that talks more
about the property itself,
00:20:22.65\00:20:25.89
that we wanna
share at this time.
00:20:25.89\00:20:27.56
(soft music)
00:20:28.89\00:20:31.29
- As these
children had begun to come
00:20:39.20\00:20:42.00
and we were
living in a house in town
00:20:42.00\00:20:43.81
and there was very
little place for them to play,
00:20:43.81\00:20:46.91
it was mostly concrete.
00:20:46.91\00:20:48.71
We knew that we
needed to be praying
00:20:48.71\00:20:50.68
that God would
provide us a country,
00:20:50.68\00:20:52.91
a home in a country
setting to raise them.
00:20:52.91\00:20:55.52
We know that
the council is that,
00:20:55.52\00:20:57.75
that we should have
these types of things
00:20:57.75\00:21:00.72
in a country setting.
00:21:00.72\00:21:02.16
The benefits to the
children are exponential.
00:21:02.16\00:21:04.16
I mean there's no comparison
00:21:04.16\00:21:06.53
between the lives
that they're living here
00:21:06.53\00:21:08.83
and what they
were living in town.
00:21:08.83\00:21:10.67
And they have opportunity for,
00:21:10.67\00:21:13.77
you know, physical
exercise and the fresh air.
00:21:13.77\00:21:16.57
They have creative
outlets and so much of society.
00:21:16.57\00:21:21.58
Young children in society
today are addicted to screens
00:21:22.98\00:21:25.81
and to, you know,
of all different kinds,
00:21:25.81\00:21:29.72
and whenever you put
them in a place like this,
00:21:29.72\00:21:33.02
they don't even ask about that.
00:21:33.02\00:21:34.39
There's not, they
have no desire for it,
00:21:34.39\00:21:37.56
they want to be in nature.
00:21:37.56\00:21:39.26
So you can see just a
significant difference
00:21:39.26\00:21:42.30
in the behavior of the children,
00:21:42.30\00:21:44.93
the language that they use,
00:21:44.93\00:21:46.97
the way they
communicate with each other
00:21:46.97\00:21:48.74
and with the adults,
00:21:48.74\00:21:50.04
The types of things
00:21:50.91\00:21:52.07
that they engage
themselves in naturally,
00:21:52.07\00:21:55.91
just a tremendous difference,
00:21:55.91\00:21:58.28
and the only real
change being the location
00:21:58.28\00:22:01.98
of where they're living.
00:22:01.98\00:22:03.22
So it's, we are so
abundantly thankful
00:22:03.22\00:22:06.05
for the provision of
this piece of property.
00:22:06.05\00:22:09.32
(soft music)
00:22:09.32\00:22:11.83
We entered into a two
year purchase agreement
00:22:11.83\00:22:14.66
for this property
in December of 2020.
00:22:14.66\00:22:19.13
And so that in
itself has been a blessing
00:22:19.13\00:22:22.94
because that has allowed for us
00:22:22.94\00:22:24.27
to develop the property
00:22:24.27\00:22:25.57
before it's actually paid off.
00:22:25.57\00:22:28.01
(soft music)
00:22:28.01\00:22:30.91
- When we first moved
here onto this property,
00:22:30.91\00:22:34.95
we had a vision of a building,
00:22:34.95\00:22:39.42
a dormitory,
building a classroom,
00:22:39.42\00:22:42.39
and a chapel meeting hall area.
00:22:42.39\00:22:46.13
With the kids in our house,
00:22:46.13\00:22:47.60
our house was really
small, pretty quick too.
00:22:47.60\00:22:50.30
And we had 14 children in
our house at one point in time.
00:22:50.30\00:22:55.27
(soft music)
00:22:57.94\00:23:00.61
As we were
continuing to develop the place,
00:23:00.61\00:23:03.08
we got the classroom done,
00:23:03.08\00:23:05.35
but we decided
halfway through the project,
00:23:06.51\00:23:08.92
that we were doing a
chapel and a classroom into one.
00:23:08.92\00:23:12.25
And got that down,
00:23:12.25\00:23:14.42
and got the three additional
bathrooms done completed.
00:23:14.42\00:23:19.29
And then we
started on the dormitories.
00:23:19.29\00:23:21.26
Seney, myself and Malee,
00:23:22.10\00:23:23.87
we couldn't work fast
enough to get all this done,
00:23:23.87\00:23:26.70
so we actually had to
contract a lot of it out,
00:23:26.70\00:23:30.84
so that it would actually
get completed fast enough.
00:23:30.84\00:23:34.14
So we got the dormitory is done,
00:23:34.14\00:23:37.48
and then we moved
the kids to the dorms,
00:23:37.48\00:23:40.38
and each dorm room
will hold six children.
00:23:40.38\00:23:43.32
And right now we
have four Thai boys,
00:23:43.32\00:23:45.85
and six Thai girls,
00:23:45.85\00:23:48.46
actually seven Thai girls,
00:23:49.89\00:23:51.36
but the littlest Thai girl
is still living in our house.
00:23:51.36\00:23:54.63
We've figured
that she's too little
00:23:54.63\00:23:56.46
to be on our own
in the dormitory.
00:23:56.46\00:23:59.60
(soft music)
00:23:59.60\00:24:02.57
God has been amazing because
all the money that we needed
00:24:02.57\00:24:05.17
for every project,
00:24:05.17\00:24:06.91
has come in just as
we needed that money
00:24:08.11\00:24:09.98
to complete certain
parts of the project.
00:24:09.98\00:24:12.81
Now that the projects are done,
00:24:12.81\00:24:15.08
our money has been slowly
diminishing back to where it's,
00:24:15.08\00:24:19.29
like just enough for the
month to furnished our food
00:24:19.29\00:24:23.46
and the little bit of
necessity that we need
00:24:23.46\00:24:27.36
to keep things going.
00:24:27.36\00:24:28.86
God has been amazing.
00:24:28.86\00:24:29.96
(soft music)
00:24:31.00\00:24:33.20
- [Kasey] If we
had one prayer request
00:24:33.20\00:24:34.90
regarding the property itself,
00:24:34.90\00:24:36.37
it would just be
for the provision
00:24:36.37\00:24:38.21
to complete this
purchase agreement ahead of time
00:24:38.21\00:24:42.21
if it was his well.
00:24:42.21\00:24:43.18
(soft music)
00:24:44.18\00:24:46.58
- And that's what's so beautiful
00:24:54.02\00:24:55.02
about putting God in charge,
00:24:55.02\00:24:56.66
and your primary
task being to lean on him,
00:24:56.66\00:24:58.96
because this becomes his
project, not our ideas, his
00:24:58.96\00:25:03.63
ideas. And as he leads,
we can have that confidence,
00:25:03.63\00:25:06.37
yeah, this is what
God has asked us to do,
00:25:06.37\00:25:08.20
we know that even if
we have difficulties,
00:25:08.20\00:25:10.47
it'll be for a good purpose.
00:25:10.47\00:25:12.41
- Right.
00:25:12.41\00:25:13.91
Right and we don't have
to stress over the money,
00:25:13.91\00:25:15.34
we don't have to
stress over the details.
00:25:15.34\00:25:17.18
You know, how
are we gonna do this?
00:25:17.18\00:25:18.38
How are we going to do that?
00:25:18.38\00:25:19.58
We pray and give it to God,
00:25:19.58\00:25:21.38
and then God
provides step-by-step
00:25:21.38\00:25:24.09
exactly what we need.
00:25:24.09\00:25:25.35
- And you know,
this isn't the experience
00:25:25.35\00:25:26.82
of just the Norton's.
00:25:26.82\00:25:28.09
- [Natalie] No.
00:25:28.09\00:25:29.46
- All of the
missionaries that we've seen
00:25:29.46\00:25:30.29
going under this plan,
00:25:30.29\00:25:32.03
have seen God do
miracles to provide for them.
00:25:32.03\00:25:35.76
And we've seen their
faith grow in leaps and bounds.
00:25:35.76\00:25:39.27
- And it's so beautiful.
00:25:39.27\00:25:40.27
- [Jon] Yes.
00:25:40.27\00:25:41.20
- It's been a delight to see.
00:25:41.20\00:25:43.64
- It has, it has.
00:25:43.64\00:25:45.07
And even that's how we
started camping on Matthew 6:33
00:25:45.07\00:25:48.58
for the last 15 years.
00:25:48.58\00:25:50.81
And we've seen God provide,
00:25:50.81\00:25:52.21
and we worry less
about our finances now
00:25:52.21\00:25:55.52
than we did when
I had a regular job.
00:25:55.52\00:25:57.65
- Yeah.
00:25:57.65\00:25:59.05
- So God is faithful.
00:25:59.05\00:26:00.72
And what this does is
it calls everybody in.
00:26:00.72\00:26:02.92
This can be done by anybody,
00:26:02.92\00:26:04.53
it isn't some special
person or with certain skills,
00:26:04.53\00:26:08.80
or training or
something like that,
00:26:08.80\00:26:10.37
anybody can start
serving God right now.
00:26:10.37\00:26:14.34
- [Natalie] Connecting with God.
00:26:14.34\00:26:15.54
- By making that step,
00:26:15.54\00:26:17.04
by taking that time in private
prayer with their families,
00:26:17.04\00:26:20.51
and say, God, what is your
biggest vision for my life?
00:26:20.51\00:26:23.91
- Right, right.
00:26:23.91\00:26:25.38
And one of the things I
love about Robbie and Kasey,
00:26:25.38\00:26:27.62
is they recognize that
so much, they need God.
00:26:27.62\00:26:31.45
- They're not
trained for this, they're,
00:26:31.45\00:26:33.49
you know, he's a firefighter
and good at what he does.
00:26:33.49\00:26:36.83
Apparently they loved
him at his previous job.
00:26:36.83\00:26:39.66
And she's a
housewife and mother,
00:26:39.66\00:26:42.33
and they feel like, I
mean in over their heads,
00:26:42.33\00:26:46.03
but they, then they
throw themselves at God's mercy
00:26:46.03\00:26:49.70
and depend on him.
00:26:49.70\00:26:51.01
- And say God, what
do you want us to do?
00:26:51.01\00:26:53.11
- Right.
00:26:53.11\00:26:54.34
And then they're like,
okay, hang on, hang on.
00:26:54.34\00:26:57.61
- Yeah.
00:26:57.61\00:26:59.11
So when I asked Jonathan
and Hannah to do an update
00:26:59.11\00:27:01.75
on the Norton project, we
were planning to do one show.
00:27:01.75\00:27:05.75
And they went up
and Jonathan says,
00:27:05.75\00:27:08.46
I've got nine segments,
00:27:08.46\00:27:10.69
so much is happening here.
00:27:10.69\00:27:12.79
And so we're gonna
have to split this one show
00:27:12.79\00:27:15.80
into three shows.
00:27:15.80\00:27:17.60
And so this is part
one of a three-part series,
00:27:17.60\00:27:20.30
about the updates of what
God is doing in Sukhothai.
00:27:20.30\00:27:23.84
And remember it was
only a couple of years ago,
00:27:23.84\00:27:25.61
there was no
Adventist presence whatsoever
00:27:25.61\00:27:28.41
in the entire city.
00:27:28.41\00:27:29.61
- Right, there was nothing.
00:27:29.61\00:27:31.01
- There was nothing.
00:27:31.01\00:27:32.31
So God is doing amazing things
00:27:32.31\00:27:34.48
and we're so excited.
00:27:34.48\00:27:35.62
- Yes he is.
00:27:35.62\00:27:37.15
And if you would like to
be a part of what God is doing
00:27:37.15\00:27:39.62
in Sukhothai with
the Norton family,
00:27:39.62\00:27:42.16
and all this discipleship
and discipling that's going on,
00:27:42.16\00:27:45.29
you can contact
us at Jesus for Asia,
00:27:45.29\00:27:48.26
PO BOX 1221,
00:27:48.26\00:27:50.40
Collegedale, Tennessee, 37315.
00:27:50.40\00:27:54.04
Call us at 423 413 7321,
00:27:54.04\00:27:58.54
or visit our
website at jesus4asia.org.
00:27:58.54\00:28:02.34
May God richly bless you
until we see you next time
00:28:02.34\00:28:05.81
on "Jesus for Asia Now"
00:28:05.81\00:28:07.28
(dramatic music)
00:28:08.45\00:28:11.22