April 2023 Newsletter
To our support team, family and friends,
Happy belated Easter and Thai New Year! It's so good to be writing to you again. We are thankful for this month and the opportunity to connect with many of you via email/facetime/zoom. This past week the Lord refreshed us so much through you all and we're overwhelmed with the love and support you are surrounding us with. Thank you for staying in touch with us, praying for us and our team and believing in what the Lord is doing here in Thailand.
In lieu of a long written newsletter this month we've attached a video for you all to watch. It was on Ethan's heart and mind to bring to life the things we've been writing about. We pray that the video puts on display the country's and its people's unique beauty and culture. It shows some of our day-to-day times together as a team as well as a few of the popular places we like to go in our free time. This is our home, this is Trang!
This Month in Short
April marks yet another month here in Trang and you guessed it - we're still learning language! Below are a few of the other highlights from the month:
I found my new favorite Thai dish: "kao klook ga-bpee" a rice salad with Chinese sausage, scrambled egg, marinated pork, Thai chilis, lime, long beans, scallion, cucumber, and sour mango!
We spent Easter Sunday with our church - P'Kwan helped me make pizza and the next picture is Mae hiding eggs for the kids. Mae is our pastor's wife - they are P'Thaksin's parents and their family has been ministering in Trang since P'Thaksin was a little boy.
We went to our favorite nearby beach (Hat Yao) with P'Thaksin and P'Kwan (our two Thai staff members who joined the team in January) to help host guests from YWAM Hat Yai and YWAM Chiang Mai as they took a tour of the nearby island. It was awesome to get to serve and connect with our brothers and sisters... AND we had "bpoo soht," fresh crabs which is why they look so happy in that picture! :D
Ethan had a basketball tournament with his team - they made it to the semifinal and played a total of 7 games in the thick of hot season!
Pictured on the bottom right is us with friends we've made from the district below us who have been pastoring there for 20+ years.
Praise
Ethan's grandma is healthy and strong after her triple-bypass heart surgery two weeks ago. Thank you to all who were praying for her.
Continued friendships the Lord is building.
God has surrounded us with an incredible support network. We are so thankful.
Petitions
These are people we have friendships with and are praying for regularly. Please join us: Mike, Live, Golf, Tian, Boom, Team, P'Goi, P'Mook, P'Nok and her two children, P'Daranee & family, Kru Sue, Nueng, Bing Bing, Don and Gee, Jay and Chompoo, Pi Kwan.
"that the eyes of the [Buddhist World] may be enlightened in order that [they] may know the hope to which He has called [them], the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints" (Eph. 1:18).
Marie's Grandma - Dealing with health problems and was diagnosed with Parkinsons last year. Please pray for God's endurance and strength to her and our family.
Language & Culture learning
Thank You
Again thank you all for reading and staying in touch with us. This week especially we were able to connect with some of you through facetime/zoom and it was such a blessing to us. If you are reading this and we haven't done that yet but you would like to, please let us know. We did our best to get in touch with most everyone but know we may have unintentionally missed some of you. You can email either Ethan or I and we'll set that up.
With that said, thank you all for not only being invested in the ministry the God's called us to but investing in our personal lives and our relationships with the Father. We know that would not be able to be here without you all. Thank you for the unique role each of you plays in our lives.
Ethan and Marie Parks
"Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell together in unity!"
Psalm 133:1 [2]
Bibliography
[1] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Hebrews 1:2-3.
[2] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Psalm 133:1.
Comments