Dear (your name here),
Hey, how’ve you been? Josh and I miss you so much! We are a little over half way done~ and while we know this is exactly where God wants us, we also can’t wait to come home and give you a huge hug and just spend time with you again! These past two weeks have been crazy.. Once again we headed back into the jungles, but this time in Malaysia.. The ministry contact sheet said we would be working at an organic farm to help provide support for a local Pastor and his ministries, but little did we know that this organic farm was on a mountain side of a jungle and we would play a part in turning it into an organic farm… Boy were we in for a surprise! It’s been probably the hardest manual labor yet.. But it’s been good to persevere through it, even when I’ve felt at times that I had nothing left to give. The first few day we would hike down a mountain and then we literally chopped down bamboo to clear it out, and then carried the bamboo almost a mile.. Here are some pictures~
and here were a few of the piles of some of the bamboo we moved..
Once we were done with that we moved to the mountain side, to clear the debris so a little bamboo house could be made for the workers and so in the future crops can be planted there~
Here is the bamboo house in the making.. It came up quick!
When we weren’t at the farm we worked on clearing this land by a house that they are going to fix up. We chopped down trees and stuff, it was crazy! (This picture is after we did most of the work, but before there were trees and plants in that empty area…)
and then we got creative as we cleared the debris… We’d use two bamboo sticks as the handles, and then lay big leaves across them, and then throw the little stuff on top.
It was so cool, while we were working we saw this.. Right above us!
While I’m on the topic of wild life… I’ll show you a few other things that we saw… 1st off, it was LEECH CITY in there…
So GROSS! We were all getting leech bites… yuck, I really believe that leeches were created after the fall.. Thankfully I only got 2 leech bites, and I only noticed them after the leeches were no longer on me. I think God knew that if I actually found one on me I’d probably be done for the day..lol, so He graciously spared me of that. Phewph! Then, we saw this big Millepede~ he almost looked like a snake.. We did see a snake too, but it slithered away before we could get a picture.. 
and last of my wildlife pictures~ we saw the HUGEST spider we have EVER seen.. It was the size of Josh’s hand.. CREEPY!
After a long day of hard work, we’d come and drink some delicious Chi Yen (milk tea) that I learned how to make in Thailand! I cant wait to make it for you guys.. You’re gonna love it when you try it..=D (This is me and Krystle making it, together we have learned to perfect it!)
Josh and I have been learning so much! Our team has been growing in unity, and love for one another, so that has been awesome, and Josh and I are really beginning to get the hang of prioritizing. (Learning to balance our time with God and I time; God, Josh and I time; Josh and I time, Team time, Alone time, etc..)
God is also continually teaching me that it’s not about what I’m doing for Him, but it’s about my relationship with Him.. I can “do” all day long, but if I’m not spending time with Him, I’m missing the whole purpose.. Kind of like the story of Marry and Martha in Luke 10. I don’t want to get caught up in “doing all this stuff for Him,” that I’m so busy that I don’t draw near to Him.. I want to be madly in love with Him, and so in love with Him, that that is the very reason I do all these things for Him.. It’s been good~
Oh this race, I hate it, but I love it.. It’s the worst, best thing ever! God is continually refining us through the fire, and while that is never fun, it is exactly what Josh and I truly want deep down in our hearts. To live a life that is recklessly abandoned to Christ.
Well, I hope the pictures made you feel a little like you were there with us, and I hope you are doing well.. Again, we miss you guys like crazy, and know that you are in our thoughts and prayers.. Speaking of which.. Do you have any specific things that we can be praying for you? (I’m serious! write it in the comment box!) A request for us would be continual growth in our intimacy with God, to continue to practice prioritizing, and to continue walking in step with the Spirit more and more.
We love you, Josh & Bri
P.s. It’s been so hot here that we buzzed our heads! =D
