Dear Friends,
Thanks for wanting to keep up with us. We have enjoyed having Jak as part of our family for almost two months now. It is hard to believe that the trip to the South and the adoption went so smoothly. Now he is enjoying family life with the Penningtons. What does that look like? He is usually most excited about being with Mom and enjoying the books she reads to him and games she plays with him. Maybe there is nothing more joyful for them both than when they worship Jesus together and watch each other dance about. Ben is in charge of working with him on kicking and throwing and playing chase. Kate can’t help but grab him and squeeze him and pick him up every chance she gets. In her pure joy and excitement she can be a bit rough, so we figure that she is in charge of teaching him that the best type of love can sometimes hurt a bit (quite literally). Dad enjoys taking him on bike rides and carrying him in the pack while working. If Dad cannot calm his cries any other way, the bike seems to always work.
Here is the big news. Most of you know this already, but the details might be interesting. We are moving to Chiang Rai in northern Thailand at the end of the month. After praying and discussing this with many people here and in the states we believe that Chiang Rai is a place where God is blessing and encouraging us to focus our work. There are many advantages to this area for our family. First, Chiang Rai Rajaphat University is a place with many opportunities to connect and share Jesus with students of Chiang Rai and the northern cities. Our team will focus our efforts on this university with 10,000 plus students, and we are praying that God will show us ways to serve these students, provide opportunities for these students, and mentor leaders on this campus. Second, Chiang Rai has opportunities for us to continue mastering the Thai language. Generally the people here are considerably less apt to speak English, so this ought to also provide more “sink or swim” type opportunities for everyone. Third, Chiang Rai Family Learning Center is a homeschool co-op that is soon to be an international school. We believe that God connected us with this school when we were doing our language immersion trips last year. This school will provide an excellent education for Ben and Kate this next year. We have been praying about and searching for ways to make the kids’ schooling more doable for everyone. Ben and Kate are excited about new friends and opportunities to study new subjects including reading and writing Thai. Julie is excited about more support in her responsibility of providing education for the kids, and she is also excited about how the school will allow her to focus on the hefty needs of little Jak and time to study Thai. Finally, there are many other reasons why Chiang Rai is the right place for us now, but more than anything we believe that God is going to do something with students and families in Chiang Rai. We want to be a part of what He is doing.
Here is the sad news. Our teammates the Presleys are not going to return to Thailand to be a part of our move. It has become clear over the past two years that Erik has the call and desire to use his business for the glory of God and the advancement of God’s kingdom. During our furlough, it became evident that my focus on entering a university community as a teacher and Erik’s focus on entering the business world were two different visions. As we recognized this, we all felt that the Presleys needed to focus on establishing their “marketplace ministry” vision and not be held back by a different vision. Right now this is requiring that they build his business stateside prior to establishing his business in Thailand. All of this means that we are sad at the loss of working alongside some very dear friends who have great maturity in the way of Christ, uncompromising love for our family, and passion for Thai people to know Jesus. This is a great loss for us indeed and tears come as I write this even many months after this decision has been made.
Here is what our life looks like now. Presently we are talking to a “builder” in Chiang Rai about fixing up a house for us to live in which is close to the university and the kid’s school. It is need of a lot of work like a kitchen, additional space and other “little” things like western toilets (all of this I am sure will be of little importance some day when I meet Jesus but they seem kind of important for our family right now). One of the great things about the house is the price of the rent (I will not say the price in this newsletter for fear that the other SLNI workers around the world paying huge sums of money for rent may have a seizure if they ever find out). Anyway, we are in the process of fixing it up so it is a peaceful place for our family to live. As we transition to Chiang Rai we are in the process of saying some hard goodbyes, again. Many of you have prayed for our friends and our neighbors and Mahidol University where I worked last year. While we feel confident about moving on, we continue to have a great desire for our friends in this place to know Jesus. I told my friend Eck (we bike together every weekend) that we were leaving and he was noticeably disturbed. I am very sad about leaving him. His words (in Thai), “I am going to miss you talking about Jesus all the time.” This was encouraging and difficult to hear all at the same time. I have felt in my spirit that he needs some kind of push in order for him to enter the kingdom. I believe that our leaving may force him (and many of our other friends here) to consider our lives and what we have said more seriously. I believe Eck will come to Jesus. There are many people in this neighborhood that will be hearing more about Jesus through the open doors that come with saying goodbye. Please pray for this. We also need prayers to stand up under the pressure of transition once again.
Please pray these three things:
Pray that our goodbyes will draw people to Christ and be seasoned with His grace.
Pray that our transition to Chiang Rai will be smooth and joyful. Ask God to make us ready for the people we encounter.
Pray that Jesus would soften the hearts of the students and people of Chiang Rai to accept the life of Christ and His desire to transform this community.
Thank you for partnering with us. We are thankful for you.
Brent, Julie, Ben, Kate, and Jak
Please send all future correspondence to our new address. (Our email will stay the same.) Our new address is: Penningtons
P.O. Box 27 Bandu Post Office
Chiang Rai, Thailand 57100
We will send along a phone number once we get there.
