To sum up our journey so far we would
have to use the title of Joy Boese's book, Adventures in Learning
to Trust God. These words really capture the theme of our last
several years. For those of you who are unfamiliar with our journey
to this point, I will do my best to catch you up.
For the last five years or so, we have
been working hard in school and work to get where we are today. After
finishing at Simpson University with a B.A. in cross-cultural
studies, Keith went on to get his Masters of Arts in Theology from
Fuller Seminary. He has since been working as Assistant Pastor at
Redeemer Alliance Church in Fullerton, California and was ordained
in February 2012.
My path has been a bit different. After
leaving Simpson University in 2006 to pursue nursing, I finally got
my R.N. degree in 2010 from Glendale Community College. I
then began working as an Intensive Care nurse at Glendale Adventist
Medical Center and also began working toward my Bachelors of Science
in Nursing (BSN). I graduated in December 2012 from Crown College
with my BSN. It was also necessary that we be completely debt free,
which praise God our debt was miraculously eradicated. There were
numerous exams and medical tests for the Alliance that we needed to
complete as well and now we are DONE!
With all the the necessary requirements now finished
we have officially been offered a position to work as missionaries
to Thailand. And we have gladly and eagerly accepted. It has been an adventure,
one in which we are just beginning.
In May we will begin a month long
training process where we will learning various language acquisition
techniques and cross-cultural adaptation. From there we will have a
few short weeks with family and friends and will leave for Thailand
on July 1st. When we arrive there we will be living in
Bangkok at the Alliance guest house and will begin the two year
challenge of learning the Thai language. After our two years of
language study we will be working to plant churches in the Bangkok
region. Our heart is to see the gospel proclaimed and people
restored.
For those of you who desire to follow
us in this journey, we would first like to say thank you. Thank you
for your prayers, thank you for your interest in our ministry, and
thank you for the overwhelming support you have shown us.
Please pray:
- That God would continue to give us (Keith, Sarah and little Lauren) good health and wellness.
- For the transition overseas to go smoothly (it is going to be really hard to say good-bye to our family and dear friends).
- That God would use the time that we still have here in the States to be productive and glorifying to His kingdom.
- And that God would begin to prepare the hearts of the Thai people that we will be ministering to.
Our desire is that God would use us all
as his body to encourage and uplift each other. Although you may not
be leaving your homes to travel abroad and work as missionaries, we
could not be embarking on our calling without your support and
prayers. We must all play a part on the team. Thank you for doing
your part.
-Sarah