God Blows Us Away!

My precious husband was praying for our time in America for months before we even knew if we'd be able to come. 

He was asking God for specific things. A van to drive that would hold 9, gas for our itineration trip to the Northeast, an opportunity to visit D.C. since we'd be so close, these are just a few of the things he was asking God for. 

He said to me, "Honey, I've never prayed and been so specific like I am about our time in America. I feel like this trip is very prophetic and it's an Exodus out of Thailand for all of us and I really want our time in the northeast to be a history tour for all of our children. I want our time here to count." 

We arrived in America on March 20th. We had our trip all planned out and would need to leave by March 28 in order to meet Chase and his fiancé on the 29th and be in each place on time. Each day was planned out for an entire month.

However, it was now March 27th and we still didn't have a van and no sign of a van.

Clinton told everyone that night to pack their bags as if there was a van sitting in our driveway. So at 11pm we all began to pack our bags. When the job was done we lined them up in the garage and prayed in faith for our van.

Clinton woke up at 5 am and put all of our bags in the driveway and sat with his Bible and his coffee and prayed for a van.

At 7am, Bank (who we now call Jaeron) came outside and said, "Daddy, I'm gonna wait with you. I want to see a miracle."

By 8am we were all outside waiting for our miracle.

At 9:45am a friend called and asked if we had heard anything yet and if a van had come. The answer was "no"

She said that the day before, she told her husband to bring home two checks from the office for $2000. She told me to come get the money and they wanted to help us rent two vehicles as there were no vans in our city or anywhere in the surrounding region available.

I excitedly went and told Clinton and he said that was wonderful but that he wanted to wait until noon to see if God would bring a van so that we could all travel together.

In the meantime, I checked out the price to rent two vehicles plus gas and it was around $3000.

At 12:03 our spiritual mother called us and said, that she had called a friend and asked her to pray for us as we needed an miracle and were waiting for a van to travel. After prayer, the woman said, " I feel the Lord has told me to help them out with $1000."

Mrs. Phemia, called us and was super excited. The woman on the other end of the phone had no idea how much we still needed in order to rent two vehicles, but gave the exact amount we needed to be able to make the trip with two vehicles.

Shortly after that call, our friend Mark called and told us that we could use his vehicle and rent a vehicle.

We called the woman who had given $2000 and told her that we had been given on car and would only need to rent one, but she said, "It doesn't matter. We want you to have it! You're gonna need it for food and hotels. You're going a long way with a lot of people."

Just before leaving, one of Clinton's Aunts came over and brought us gas cards, cash, and some cards for Sonic and Chick Fil A.  The total of all of this was around $400!!

We were totally blown away by God's provision!!!

At 3:01 we hit the road.

As we all got into the cars and Colton and his family in their car, we could see clearly the hand of God in having Colton have his own vehicle. I think God set this up just for him. He's a man. God didn't want him in the back seat of his daddy's van for this long road trip.

Our first stop was in Hattisburg MS. We stayed at the MOST amazing hotel!!!! The beds were SOOOO comfy, the room was spotless, the price was good, and the breakfast was great. If you're ever in the area you need to visit Microtell Inn and Suites by Wyndam

I'm telling you it's a must!! I give this hotel a 10 out of 10!! I don't do that very easily. Although I'm a missionary and can stay anywhere, I had good "breeding" and know a good hotel when I see one. lol

The next post will be about seeing our son Chase for the first time in a year and meeting his fiancé.

Until then.....

Love,
Amber

Airports, Hotels, Tired Babies, Cute Babies, and Cake

Our trip to America was looooong!!!! We were so excited that we only had to stop once in China. We had never done this before.

We always stop in one Asian country, then Los Angeles, and then Houston. 

Clinton figured a 14 hour layover in China with a complimentary transit hotel would be a good deal.

Let me just tell you, it was the worst trip of our life.

Did I just say that?!?

When we arrived in China the entire airport was closed. It was midnight and it was dark and COLD.
It was 38 outside and probably close to that inside. There was no heater on and we didn't have jackets or blankets. WE. WERE. FREEZING.

All the troops did well without complaining. The only two that complained were Joe and Mama. Yes, I was miserable and wanted Daddy to know it. Poor guy.

At around 6 am, when the information counter opened and we can ask how in the world to get the the Transit Hotel, we made our way there.

After a train, and then a bus we were finally at our Transit Hotel. Just in time to sleep for three hours and then back to Airport.

Once we arrived in Houston, and stood in the immigration line for an hour, the Immigration Officer, said to Clinton, "You go to soft" and he said to Colton, "You go to hard"

I had NO idea what all of that meant, but I knew it wasn't good.

So I waited with Chan and Cayden. And waited. And waited.

After an hour and a half of interrogation, they let them pass. I can't tell you what was going through my mind.

"We've finally made it to America and now they're going to send us back."

We will never be able to come to America with our Thai family."

I was a wreck waiting.

But in the end, they let all of them pass, and gave each of them a 6 month visa.

God is so good to us.

Words can't even begin to express how blessed we are that our WHOLE family is in America!! Wow!!

Three days after arriving, my Aunt Dee Ann had a party for us. We had three cakes made.

One for Cayden's 4th birthday.

One for Joseph, welcoming him to America.

And one for Bella's 1st birthday.

We had a great time fellowshipping with family and friends.

And the kids played and played and played.

Nitcha loves America!

I haven't had a picture with these guys (my handsome nephews) in years! My how they've grown!

We're on the road and we're having so much fun!!

We were able to see Chase and meet his fiancé and now we're in NJ where Clinton preached for a men's breakfast, and two services on Sunday.

God showed up!!

More on that later.

Love you,
Amber

A Day in Our Life....in the Mud

We had a super fun encouraging week this week when the Acts Team from IHOP Atlanta came to visit us!

We prayed and worshiped for four hours a day and it was wonderful!! They were a breathe of fresh air in a dry and weary land. 

We were so blessed to have some one else come in and lead worship and pray over our people. 

Our prayer sets in the morning were in English and it was sooo good. The evenings we had some Thais attend so we did an hour of English and a hour of  Thai. 

This picture shows our Sunday morning service. (excuse my Christmas banner still up... it is February and I'm aware and have no excuse.) 

All the pictures on the wall my sweet husband painted. 

After church some of our disciples asked if we wanted to go catch some fish. They didn't say, "Do you want to go fishing?" They said, "Catch some fish.... with your hands." 

This got me interested and I thought I must go see what they were talking about. I thought it would be a wonderful experience for some young excited interns too.

So we pull over to the side of the road and get out. I'm like, "Where's the water? I didn't even see a lake or a fishing hole or anything like that." 

My Thai friend pointed to the ditch filled with water and mud. 

It takes me a while to catch on sometimes, but I was totally stumped this time.

As I got closer I saw everyone bent over with their hands in the mud pulling cat fish out of the mud hole. HILARIOUS.

Bang and Pii Akom

This area has man made ditches for the water to run through when it rains and floods. As the water begins to dry up the fish, clams, shrimp and any other sea/water creature buries themselves in the mud. Perfect for dinner, right?

This is Kevin. What a precious young man! He played the violin the five days they were here and it was such a treat!! He's graduated with a major in Engineering, but wants to serve the Lord in full time missions in some capacity.

This is Lorien, she graduated with a major in Elementary Education with a focus on TESOL. (teaching English as a second language). She also has a heart for missions.

Lorien

This is Dana a sweet southern girl from Georgia. It was so fun to listen to her talk!

Dana

 Here's Nan, she's a precious Thai girl that is like a daughter. She calls us Mom and Dad. She graduated from our Bible School and is a missionary to her people. She'll be the one living at the church and taking care of the two Thai girls that we took in as well as watching over the church and the cell groups. We love her!

My sweet baby

So this canal, is full of water and they blocked the water off and began to use buckets to drain the canal of water. Once all the water was drained, they all began to dig the fish out of the mud with their hands........ little fish, big fish, it didn't matter.

I asked them, "Are you going to keep all the fish? What will you do with them?" They said they would keep all of them. With the small ones they'd make a curry cake they they wrap in banana leaf and steam, with the big ones they'd fry them or make a curry with them. 

Thais are super resourceful. Especially the Thai from eastern Thailand. Because there's very little work up there except farming, they eat whatever they can find.  

Even ants.

As I was walking around taking pictures, I saw some old Thai men with a bag up to a tree shacking it.  I know that Thais love to eat ant eggs, so I assumed that's what they were doing. I walked up closer and asked them what they were doing and if I could take some photos.

They were obliged.  But they weren't catching the eggs... there weren't any. They were catching the ant! A large ice cooler full of red ants!

They were gonna take them home, fry 'em and eat 'em!

This was the team when we got back to the church... a dirty mess! But they had FUN!

If you went on a missions trip, would this be something you'd like to experience?

What are some of the adventures you've had?

Until next time!

Amber~

What's Been Going On This last year??

In December 2008, God moved us from a tiny 900 sq. ft. house to this house! It was a blessing from God in a time of great pain and sorrow. I wrote a post about what was going on in my life back in 2009, you can read it here I had just had a miscarriage and felt like I was in a fish bowl. After taking in several street children, the small house was caving in on me. God was so good to give it to us for just the right amount of time.

The Big House

I brought home two babies in this house, saw a son married in this house, finalized an adoption in this house, and sent a son off to college in this house. I have very fond memories and am so grateful to God for letting us stay there as long as He did.

But when you feel the cloud moving, you must go with it. Mid summer, Clinton began to feel the stirring to go back to Ban Pru, where we have our church plant.

We have a huge building (that's like a townhouse) were we have church and the upstairs wasn't being used at all.

When he first presented it to me, I was like, "Are you kidding? No way! We could never live in the upstairs of the church!! We would never have any privacy!!"

But the more I thought and prayed about it, I really felt that I was to honor him and what he was feeling and move if that's what he thought we should do. He wasn't going to push me, so the decision was really up to me.

It was going to save us a great deal of money.. the first four and a half years in "the big house" were paid for by a loving supporter, but this last year we were having to pay for it ourselves and it was a struggle. Although the rent was only $400 a month it was still more than we were used to.

Also, Clinton's heart was to be closer to our disciples and more hands on.

So be began to move.

And move.

And move.

Asian style of course. lol

He refused to get a moving truck. He wanted to save money, but after four days of moving he told me he will never do that again.

But I wouldn't dare say, "I told you so, honey."

So this was what it looked like on the side of our church/house before we moved in. But after finding several snakes Clinton decided that the land must be cleared.

After days and days of clearing and getting a digger like thingy house here, the land was cleared.

You might be wondering, "Where is the grass?" Well, there is none. Yes, you heard me. There is none. 

We live on 30 acres of concrete. This land used to be a rubber factory where they would buy rubber from the rubber farmers, process it, and load it on trucks to be sold. 

But on the bright side, our kids can ride their bikes for days and days and days. 

Here's my kitchen. Well kitchen #1. This is where I prepare the food, and wash the dishes. It's also where we eat. We pull the table out from the wall and put the kids table at the door of the bedroom (there are two bedrooms to the left of this picture) and we can fit all 11 of us. It's a tight squeeze but it works.

Preparing food takes place on that white cupboard on the right. There's about 2 ft of space to work with. It's a good thing I've been in Thailand for 13 years or I might be a little flustered about this kitchen situation.

 This is kitchen #2 and also my laundry area. This is where do the actual cooking and my laundry. It outside on the balcony. I know, you're thinking. Wow! She's so lucky! She gets to cook outside... in the rain, in the heat. Well, not all women can be as lucky as I am.

To left is the rest of the balcony which you can see in the picture below.

 Here's the front of the church in all it's glory. The top window is my living room. The door there goes into the worship area of the church and then up the stairs to my apartment.

We're currently in the process of painting the church, so I'll have those pictures soon.

I have so many more pictures to share with you, but I'll leave you with these for now. Soak it in. Then go to your kitchen, bend down and start kissing the floor, then kiss the counters, then kiss your thermostat on the wall that gives you central air, then... oh well I'l stop there.

Next, I'll share my homeschool room which is glorious and a definite plus to living here. I mean it! It's amazing. It's the nicest homeschool room I've ever had. I can't wait to share pictures with you!

Love you guys!!
Amber~