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.
15.8.06
10.7.06
Pray for My Blogging Skills
Pictures are coming as soon as I learn more. Does not sound very reassuring does it??
3.7.06
A Miracle in our Midst
Wow, after years of believing God for our third child, we have a seventeen-month-old boy sleeping in our pack-and-play! How did this miracle happen? Adopting a Thai child is an unbelievable experience and many times during our recent trip I had this big "aaha" that we were living our own adventure/reality TV show. We caught a flight on Nok Air (Thailand's Southwest Airlines) on Sunday evening , June 25th, and headed to a small city in southern Thailand known as Nakorn Si Thammarat. From our hotel we could almost reach out and touch Thailand's highest southern peak, constantly covered with clouds. Needless to say, it was beautiful and somewhat surreal to meet Samuel Jakarin "Jak" for the first time.
After arriving late Sunday night, we woke up and had a 5 minute shuttle ride to Baan (house of) Si Thammarat Boys' Home where our son was waiting to meet us. That morning Kate's first groggy words upon exiting sleep mode where, "I get to be a big sister today" and Ben's were, "We get to see Little Jak today." We were all feeling the joy of greeting this day for which we had prayerfully anticipated for months.
We walked into the boys' home and following some kind greetings from the staff we were led to the building where Jak spent the past year. We turned the corner of the entrance, and he was standing there next to the kind lady who bathed him three times a day, fed him, slept in the same room as him, and diligently cared for him and five other toddlers. He was dressed and walking around so confidently. Could that be our son? Immediately everything any one of us had expected was thrown out and the reality of "Little Jak" was there before us. There was a group adrenaline rush and a spiritual intensity that is difficult to describe. All I know is that each one of us wanted to grab him and hug him and throw him up in the air while shouting, "hallelujah!" Of course he was the only one that really was not completely aware of what was taking place. Promptly, we got our wits about us and started the introductions. Julie stared and held his hand, I took pictures, Kate smiled at him and made fun faces, I took more pictures, and Ben watched and processed all that was happening. Immediately Julie started using every Thai word she has to find out as much from the caretaker about our new son. Kate steps up the funny faces and takes every chance possible to try to pick the little guy up (I am not sure Little Jak was informed that a big sister of Kate's joyful demeanor was in his future). Ben sits down and reads his book (this is his best way to deal with maxed out emotions. . . he had already broke down in tears when he realized that all the other kids with little Jak did not have a mother or father to look after them).
We spent the next hour playing with Little Jak and finding out everything about his life up to June 25th. They kindly fed us lunch and then told us that the head of the boy's home would be back tomorrow, so we should go back to the hotel and pick him up the next day. This ended up being a bump in the road (these bumps are not uncommon to our adventures in Thailand), but after reflection this was a good thing. The transition, for all of us, seemed to be made easier by getting to know him the first day and then taking him with us the next day. We went back to the hotel and everyone rested from all the excitement.
The next day, I noted some hesitation by the lady who was the head of the orphanage. This was concerning and we prayed. Later we realized that she was trying to figure out how to tell us that Jak had spent some time in the hospital during his first 6 months. She did not seem to know that the government agency had made us aware of these problems during his infancy. All of this to say, it really was clear to us that the people at the boys' home were concerned about Little Jak and about us. We feel like God used these people to care for our son in his first year. For these kind people and for their love for Jak, we are thankful to God. One lady who had cared for him while he was in the hospital was sure to stop by and say her goodbye to him as she had become especially close to him when he was an infant. Baan Nakorn Si Thammarat was good to Jak. God has been merciful to Jak and to us.
When we got in the hotel, Ben expressed everyone's feeling best by crying and was quickly joined by tears from everyone. When we asked him why he was crying he responded, "I am just so happy we have little Jak." Little Jak on the other hand was a bit distressed by his new surroundings. We won him over with a plate of rice and a bottle of milk. Food is most definitely an international language. And thus the bonding began. . .
We came home Wednesday June 28th, and I think it is safe to say that the transition has gone very well. He pretty much sleeps through the night (he has replaced Kate as our early riser), and he seems happy with our company for the most part. He is a bit hesitant in certain situations, but laughs and a sweet smile are frequent. So we are back in the throes of raising a toddler-- Praise God! He understands Thai as a 17 month old should, is full of energy and is entertaining us all with his attempts to speak and his playful personality. And Jak is particularly fond of his mother, thank you Lord!
Thanks to everyone who prayed. We know that we are living out a miracle everyday as we watch him express himself and as we function as a family of five. Please pray for us as the adoption is finalized over the next year. We have begun the six month process of oversight from the Thai Adoption Center including meetings with our social worker. Once the process is finalized in Thailand we go through the process of finalizing the adoption in the USA. Thanks for celebrating with us! Please pray that God blesses this process.
"Sing to God, sing praise to His name, extol Him who rides on the clouds-- His name is the Lord-- and rejoice before Him. A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows is God in His holy dwelling. God sets the lonely in families. . ." Psalm 68:4-6
After arriving late Sunday night, we woke up and had a 5 minute shuttle ride to Baan (house of) Si Thammarat Boys' Home where our son was waiting to meet us. That morning Kate's first groggy words upon exiting sleep mode where, "I get to be a big sister today" and Ben's were, "We get to see Little Jak today." We were all feeling the joy of greeting this day for which we had prayerfully anticipated for months.
We walked into the boys' home and following some kind greetings from the staff we were led to the building where Jak spent the past year. We turned the corner of the entrance, and he was standing there next to the kind lady who bathed him three times a day, fed him, slept in the same room as him, and diligently cared for him and five other toddlers. He was dressed and walking around so confidently. Could that be our son? Immediately everything any one of us had expected was thrown out and the reality of "Little Jak" was there before us. There was a group adrenaline rush and a spiritual intensity that is difficult to describe. All I know is that each one of us wanted to grab him and hug him and throw him up in the air while shouting, "hallelujah!" Of course he was the only one that really was not completely aware of what was taking place. Promptly, we got our wits about us and started the introductions. Julie stared and held his hand, I took pictures, Kate smiled at him and made fun faces, I took more pictures, and Ben watched and processed all that was happening. Immediately Julie started using every Thai word she has to find out as much from the caretaker about our new son. Kate steps up the funny faces and takes every chance possible to try to pick the little guy up (I am not sure Little Jak was informed that a big sister of Kate's joyful demeanor was in his future). Ben sits down and reads his book (this is his best way to deal with maxed out emotions. . . he had already broke down in tears when he realized that all the other kids with little Jak did not have a mother or father to look after them).
We spent the next hour playing with Little Jak and finding out everything about his life up to June 25th. They kindly fed us lunch and then told us that the head of the boy's home would be back tomorrow, so we should go back to the hotel and pick him up the next day. This ended up being a bump in the road (these bumps are not uncommon to our adventures in Thailand), but after reflection this was a good thing. The transition, for all of us, seemed to be made easier by getting to know him the first day and then taking him with us the next day. We went back to the hotel and everyone rested from all the excitement.
The next day, I noted some hesitation by the lady who was the head of the orphanage. This was concerning and we prayed. Later we realized that she was trying to figure out how to tell us that Jak had spent some time in the hospital during his first 6 months. She did not seem to know that the government agency had made us aware of these problems during his infancy. All of this to say, it really was clear to us that the people at the boys' home were concerned about Little Jak and about us. We feel like God used these people to care for our son in his first year. For these kind people and for their love for Jak, we are thankful to God. One lady who had cared for him while he was in the hospital was sure to stop by and say her goodbye to him as she had become especially close to him when he was an infant. Baan Nakorn Si Thammarat was good to Jak. God has been merciful to Jak and to us.
When we got in the hotel, Ben expressed everyone's feeling best by crying and was quickly joined by tears from everyone. When we asked him why he was crying he responded, "I am just so happy we have little Jak." Little Jak on the other hand was a bit distressed by his new surroundings. We won him over with a plate of rice and a bottle of milk. Food is most definitely an international language. And thus the bonding began. . .
We came home Wednesday June 28th, and I think it is safe to say that the transition has gone very well. He pretty much sleeps through the night (he has replaced Kate as our early riser), and he seems happy with our company for the most part. He is a bit hesitant in certain situations, but laughs and a sweet smile are frequent. So we are back in the throes of raising a toddler-- Praise God! He understands Thai as a 17 month old should, is full of energy and is entertaining us all with his attempts to speak and his playful personality. And Jak is particularly fond of his mother, thank you Lord!
Thanks to everyone who prayed. We know that we are living out a miracle everyday as we watch him express himself and as we function as a family of five. Please pray for us as the adoption is finalized over the next year. We have begun the six month process of oversight from the Thai Adoption Center including meetings with our social worker. Once the process is finalized in Thailand we go through the process of finalizing the adoption in the USA. Thanks for celebrating with us! Please pray that God blesses this process.
"Sing to God, sing praise to His name, extol Him who rides on the clouds-- His name is the Lord-- and rejoice before Him. A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows is God in His holy dwelling. God sets the lonely in families. . ." Psalm 68:4-6
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