OUR HOME ASSIGNMENT IS
4 MONTHS AWAY!!
DETAILS BELOW!
Please scroll all the way to the end!
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He Has shown
His light on Us
Lukas: Light
Hesed: Loyal Love
For many, the past year has been dark times. Pandemics, protests, and politics have been sore subjects. We pray that our son will be a light in dark times. We pray that during times of so many disasters and deaths, he will remain to be loving and kind.
The birth was extremely difficult for Ingrid. During the labor, Terence was led to read from Isaiah 40, the chapter that has been in our hearts since the beginning of the year. He was led by the Holy Spirit to change some words to her name to make it more personal. Ingrid said the first two verses struck her the most.
Comfort, comfort my people,
says your God.
Speak tenderly to [Ingrid],
and proclaim to her
that her hard service has been completed,
that her sin has been paid for,
that she has received from the Lord’s hand
double for all her sins.
- Isaiah 40:1-2
Thank you to everyone who was praying for us through the recovery process. We are glad to report that Ingrid is 90% better. She is able to move around normally but we are still cautious. We want to thank Pi Pai for taking care of Jubilee while we were in the hospital. We are grateful for the Kwon family for providing us food for our first two weeks of recovery. We are thankful for our parents' support. Thank you to the SEA Field for their assistance. Thank you to all the churches that sent gifts and financial assistance to sustain us. Thank you to the incredible team at our hospital. Thank you, Lord.
(Having a son named Lukas [Filipino version of Luke] on May 4 was just a coincidence.  )
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Support on the Court
With a new rise in COVID cases in Thailand, Badminton courts are closed and no gatherings are allowed. The team wanted to visit us in the hospital to meet Lukas, but the hospital had a strict visitor rule. Even until now, the team has not met up. Please pray that the cases will go down, the vaccine will be made more available here, and that relationships we have made will continue to thrive despite the challenges.
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We have been privileged to work on two incredible stories of our NYI in the field. God indeed is unlimited and unstoppable. Wherever, whoever and however, He will have his way with His people. May you be blessed by these two inspirational videos that were made possible by our collaboration with our NYI leaders. Please feel free to share and use this however you want.
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A CAA STORY: THE PRODIGAL "TON"
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"I'm no longer a slave to fear I am a child of God."
- No Longer Slaves. Jonathan David Helser and Melissa Helser
Watch how our brother from one of our Creative Access Areas got to know God in stop-motion animation. God has and will always be in the business of bringing his children back!
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In a time where everyone wants to speak, it is important that we pause and meditate on God's word. In the midst of all the loud noise, God is speaking. We pray that you'll hear and encounter the Holy Spirit through this incredible work of art. May we all hear the Lord's still and small voice.
Mathew 7:7 "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you."
Prompan (Mo) is from Thailand and she is the NYI leader of Thai Phattana Church of the Nazarene. Mo uses watercolor to share the Gospel and bring hope and inspiration to her followers through her YouTube Channel. We are thankful for people like Mo who continues to allow God to transform her passion for God's glory.
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We are still doing the Awake Prayer Vigil when it is safe to do so. You can join us on Facebook Live by visiting our NYI Southeast Asia Facebook page every other Saturday at 10PM Local time (10AM CST). If you miss it, you can always watch them after the event. Be sure to like the page for all the latest updates concerning SEA Field's NYI!
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"Kamusta to?" (How are you, little brother?)
It was my (Terence) childhood best friend Ogie. It was just a dream, but he was still wearing that stupid striped shirt he always wore. I wasn't sure if it was his favorite or his only good shirt. I had not seen the guy in seven years and yet here he was in my dream.
Seven years ago, Ogie took away his life. The night before, he had tried to talk to me, but I said I was too busy and I'd talk to him later. The next morning, I received the news of his passing.
It has been personally very difficult for me and I have felt extremely guilty for years. Since then, I always wondered if I just talked to him... would he still be here? If I just spared a little bit of my time, would his wife not have been widowed and his children fatherless? If I wasn't selfish, would I have made a difference?
Since that incident, I have never been myself. I lost my way and just made a series of bad decisions. I started to miss and lose opportunities. I hurt people, lost friendships and began to isolate myself. I became angry, frustrated, bitter and spiritually comatose. I embraced all of these as a consequence for my selfishness and pride.
The first time I revealed this dark memory and regret was to my beloved wife, Ingrid. Since we started dating, God has used her to begin my process of healing.
At some point I thought I was okay, but I really wasn't. I still felt guilty and this experience continued to impact my view of ministry. Instead of Christ being the Savior, I still felt a personal strong responsibility to save everybody myself. I needed to redeem the loss I had with Ogie.
Then last night, my childhood best friend met me in my dream. He simply said,
"It wasn't your fault. Don't be hard on yourself. You have been redeemed and restored. Now go and be the best that you can be to your family and the people around you. Lakat ko anay meg! (I'll go ahead, my friend)"
I ran into Ingrid's arms this morning and told her this gospel from Jesus Christ. We cried together and God concluded His ministry to me concerning my guilt with my wife's warm and sweet embrace.
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Big Changes
Reilee has been blossoming into a great manang (big sister). She had a difficult time at the beginning wondering why Mama couldn't hold her or why she couldn't get all of Papa's attention. Now she helps rock Lukas' crib.
Because we were suddenly gone for a few days in the hospital and she had limited visiting hours with us, the biggest adjustment has been separation anxiety. If one of us leaves the car or room even for a second, she screams and cries. We hope this phase doesn't last long, and she can heal.
Lukas is now 5 weeks old. Every day we realize... we were so spoiled with Reilee! Reilee was a great sleeper, she never threw up/spit up, and even her farts were cute. Lukas... is the complete opposite! Sleeping has been a struggle. He has acid reflux, so he throws up at nearly every meal. And his farts... woo! But he is so cute and we are so happy to see him grow, his big eyes tracking us, and a hint of smile.
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PRAYER REQUESTS
Language Study: With the arrival of our son, we have taken a short break from language study as we adjust to a family of four. Terence resumed part-time last week. Ingrid will begin next week.
Work: Our leaders have been very compassionate and understanding as we adjust to being a family. We were given a break from work to focus on Ingrid's healing, Reilee's adjustment, and Lukas's initial weeks. Our work has slowly been going back to normal hours.
Health: We praise God for delivering Ingrid and Lukas through a very rough birth. Both Ingrid and Lukas needed blood transfusions and extra days in the hospital to heal properly. We thank God for modern healthcare or we would be writing a very different newsletter. Both are nearly at normal health now and we want to thank everyone who prayed and messaged us. We also want to write a thank you to those who sent money or sent meals to us to ease the stress of cooking and cleaning while half of our family was bedridden. We attribute Ingrid's quick recovery to your prayers and support. Thank you all!
SEA Field Crisis: Our neighbor country, Myanmar (one of our SEA Field nations) is going through some difficult times. For security reasons, we cannot speak openly about it. The situation is in need of prayer and God's intervention and guidance. Many of our pastors, leaders, and laypeople are greatly affected by this. Today, we heard the news that one of our dear friends from the seminary has been arrested. We ask that you, your families, and your churches bring this to the Lord in prayer. You can join us in prayer every other Saturday on our NYI SEA Facebook Page.
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We're Coming Home!
If you have yet to schedule us, we have created a quick guide of what our Home Assignment will look like below. The districts shown are where people have verbally invited us. USA districts (LA, Northwest, Rocky Mt., Kansas, Virginia, Southern Florida, Florida) will be in late 2021 and Philippine districts (Central Visayas, Western Mindanao, Southern Tagalog, Metro Manila) will be in early 2022. If you don't see your district here and want us to come to your church, contact us!
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Above is a button that will lead you to a GoogleSheets. It will show you our current schedule of which days are booked already.
If a day you wanted has already been taken, we're sorry! We are on a first-come, first-serve basis. However, there are some options available for you.
1. A mission service does not need to be on a Sunday morning. We have seen some churches that invited us to their small groups. Churches have opened up opportunities for us to connect with their congregation through game nights. One church just hosted a BBQ lunch at someone's house where we shared. Prayer meetings, Men's breakfast, youth groups, children's camps... We don't need to limit God's message to a Sunday morning!
2. We can prerecord a message for your church. Thanks to COVID, our churches have had to sink or swim when it comes to technology. We thank God that many of our churches have been able to swim through this pandemic. If you feel a prerecorded message is better for your church, please let us know.
Don't wait! It's only a few months away! Email us right away! We can't wait to see you all again!
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