Where are we now?
Our month 8-9 of the World Race has included Thailand, Abu Dhabi, and the United States
What a whirlwind these past 3 weeks have been. As most of you know, we are back in the United States due to covid-19. While our hearts were sad to not get to stay in Thailand for the rest of our month and also continue on to South America for the final 3 months of our journey, we believe wholeheartedly in a sovereign God and know that He knew this would be our reality before we even left in August. We feel a deep, unexplainable peace. We are so thankful for the time we did have on the field and know that was just the foundation of a lifetime of involvement in what the Lord is doing amongst the most unreached and neglected places on earth and our ministry continues at home. We are still praying, asking, and waiting on Him to guide us in this next season. One day at a time.
*The mighty Mekong river*
We want to update all of you on a few important items.
First of all. Celebrate with us that in one week we were able to raise $4,000+ for our local ministry partners in Laos!! We serve such an amazing God and those of you who gave to them are playing a VERY important role in continuing to bring Kingdom to the unreached people of Laos. Your faithfulness allowed them to be able to pay their rent for the next two years and further their pioneering ministry there! We are so grateful for you all. Words are not sufficient. They were beyond overwhelmed and felt the Lord’s provision so tangibly. Thank you!
Laos was another ATL month for our team. The Lord made clear to us we were supposed to stay in the Vientiane area of the country for our time there. Laos is a very closed country and we prayerfully reached out and connected with some amazing local believers doing phenomenal Kingdom work there. One of those partners was the couple you helped support. They are both locals who came from Buddhist families and have amazing testimonies of how they came to know Jesus during their college years. They are now in their early 30’s. They work underground under the umbrella of Campus Crusade for Christ. They build relationships with students through weekly outreach events such as painting, music lessons, English classes, a bi-weekly free dental clinic. These events open the doors to student’s lives, get them inside the ministry house and provide a safe environment to share about Jesus and develop discipleship relationships. We helped with all of these events while we were there. Being a part of what the Lord was already doing there was really powerful.
*sterilizing tools at the free dental clinic*
One powerful story I will share was the day Austin and I taught a singing/music/English hybrid class. We had about 20 students present for our class. We had freedom to teach whatever song/music we wanted to teach. We decided to teach the song “Forever” by Kari Jobe. This song shares the gospel so simply. Here are some lyrics. Most of these English words were completely new to students.
“The moon and stars they wept
The morning sun was dead
The Savior of the world was fallen
His body on the cross
His blood poured out for us
The weight of every curse upon him
One final breath He gave
As Heaven looked away
The Son of God was laid in darkness
A battle in the grave
The war on death was waged
The power of hell forever broken
The ground began to shake
The stone was rolled away
His perfect love could not be overcome
Now death where is your sting
Our resurrected King has rendered you defeated
I mean, come on! What powerful lyrics. Through that song, we were able to share with them who Jesus was, what the cross signified, what it meant for all of us that He rose again from the grave, that death was defeated. We were just in awe of how the Lord opened this beautiful door and to hear them singing the song at the end of the class along with us was so powerful. Praying those seeds of truth make deep roots in their hearts. One of the most beautiful parts was that we had a student translating for us, she was a newer believer, and to see her empowered with the words to communicate with her peers, answer their questions and tangibly be the one sharing with them about Jesus was just so cool.
We also had the chance to partner with a group that teaches English to doctors and nurses at a local hospital. Austin and I really enjoyed that and got to delve deeper into English medical terminology with them, proper grammar in assessment questions, and further the relationships this group has with the hospital. Additionally, we labored a handful of days with another team in the area working on building a place for believers to safely gather.
*Our English class of nurses and doctors at the hospital*
*mixing concrete at the construction site*
I also had the honor to returning to the hospital for 4 days to work in the NICU and labor and delivery wards. I was able to work with 4 beautiful midwives, assist in the delivery of 4 sweet babies, start lots of IVs in the NICU, and provide practice recommendations to the administrative staff after my time observing and participating in care on their units. This was a sweet gift from the Lord to fuel my heart for nursing ministry to mama’s and babies.
*the midwives I worked with*
*Sweet, strong mama I delivered shortly after this picture. Taken with consent*
At the start of this month, Austin and I had the sweet gift of taking a married weekend to spend time together. This was such a blessing. Little did we know we would be heading home so soon. This gave us time to dream, pray, seek the Lord, and begin the conversation about what is the plan after the race. We have 4 months left, but that quickly became 1. We had the chance to be in the mountains and hike, swim, and just enjoy the beauty of the country of Laos.
*At the end of our trek/climb*
*the view from our campsite*
I have been making videos for my mom’s kindergarten class while we’ve been gone and here is the link to the Laos video for those who want to see some more videos and pictures from this month. There are also short kiddo videos from months 1-6 on the channel as well. Feel free to check them out!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ycjgx59YCSo
We loved Lao. We would be honored to return in some capacity. To empower those on the frontlines amongst the unreached. Thank you for being the first to join with us in this partnership by supporting our friends.
What is next for us? Many are wondering. We are waiting on the Lord. Praying into dreams and what He has placed on our hearts. In the meantime, enjoying seeing our families. Soaking up quarantine games and walks here in WA so far. We will be driving to Utah soon to be with Austin’s family as well. Looking at jobs. Seeing what the Lord opens.
One word the Lord gave me the other day come through the book of Acts and I would love to share it with you, as I did our squad/team.
Acts 8: 4-8 “ Now those who were scattered went about preaching the Word…and crowds with one accord paid attention to what was being said when they heard and saw the signs that they did. For unclean spirits, crying out with a loud voice, came out, and many who were lame and paralyzed were healed. So there was much joy in that city.”
We are the scattered disciples in this season. Scattered from our community, friends that had become family, the world turned upside down as we knew it and had planned. Many of you as well, scattered from what was your normal as well. However, as the scattered disciples did in Acts, as everything in their community and world changed and shifted after the stoning of Stephen, one thing remained the same. They went about preaching the Word. Our job and greatest honor is go and continue on in ministry in any and all contexts. Interceding for our friends and families, sharing about Jesus to the many living in fear right now, praying for healing, ushering in the Holy Spirit to our homes and neighborhoods as we walk/run around them more than we have in a long time. My prayer for you all is that this season becomes a sweet time of just sitting in the Presence of the Lord. Rest. Listen. And continue on preaching the Word. He is sovereign and so good to us.
We would love to share more specifics on where the Lord is taking us next, as He reveals it. Please reach out and we would love to talk personally! Let’s have a Zoom date. We’d love to connect and also share more about our time on the Race.
We are thankful for you all. We will have a blog on our time in Thailand soon as well.
Love,
Austin and Ally
