September - November 2023 Newsletter
"In Your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore."
Psalm 16:11 [1]
To our support team, family and friends,
Seasons greetings!! We hope you all are well and have been enjoying this holiday season. We pray that this video update was a blessing to you and connected our hearts to yours. As we have mentioned before on our Instagram, we have felt led through prayer and counsel to adjust our newsletters to every 3 months as we seek to establish sustainable rhythms of communication with you all that simultaneously give us the needed time and focus we need to devote to ministry in Trang. We are thankful for every one of you reading and are praying that God would continue to knit our hearts together. May God fill you with His profound peace and strength today!
Video Time-Stamps:
Intro - 0.00
Visa Nearly Finalized 0:22
Travel With Us to Bangkok 1:12Â
Back in Trang: Updates 3:20
YWAM Trang Base Facility 4:18Â
Hosting Team for Outreach in Trang 5:15
Malaysia Visa Trip Recap 8:14
New Language School 8:58
Thanks to Our Support Team 10:18
Bankok Visa Trip:
Ethan's friend from basketball, Mail and his girlfriend (pictured on the left) just recently moved to Bangkok. They are who we met up with in the video! After we arrived and did Thai class we were able to grab some food with them and their friend. During dinner God opened up an incredible opportunity for Ethan to share his testimony. The men were amazed at what Jesus has done in Ethan's life and we truly believe that they walked away with a seed deeply planted in the soil of their hearts. Pictured in the middle is us with P'Gawn at the Labor Department where we received our Work Permit. On the right is us with our teammates, the Bartel family, headed back to Trang on an overnight sleeper train.
Building Relationships in Trang:
From meeting new friends during one of the Buddhist festivals Gin Jae (pictured on the left) to Ethan's basketball tournament and spending time with friends like P'Ju (pictured on the right), its been incredibly encouraging to deepen our relationships. Thanks to our growing Thai from our new Thai school, we are experiencing new levels of intimacy with our community and are praising God for that!
Personal Update
As for Ethan and myself, we are doing well and so excited for this upcoming Christmas season. With our visa transition nearly completed, we are settling into our new normal and feel like we have the energy and capacity to actually celebrate the holidays this year! Last year we were in the thick of culture adjustment so going to the store to find things like gift wrap felt more draining than celebratory, but this year we are truly enjoying all these little things while also establishing the traditions we will have as a family as we reflect on the birth of our Savior! Thailand has in many ways become home to us and we are so thankful for the ways God continues to establish our family here. Indeed, we miss our loved ones and friends from the States very much, but we are grateful and celebrating the provision of God to all of us who are sacrificing in different ways for the people of Thailand to know and love Jesus.
Prayer Requests
Intimacy with the Lord
Our Marriage
God's grace and strength as we grow roots in Trang - Language and Culture adjustment and life overseas
Our Thai friends and all Thais who have not yet heard the message of salvation
YWAM Trang team
We love you and pray God's joy and peace over you this Christmas season. <3
Ethan and Marie Parks
"And the angel said to them, 'Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all people."
Luke 2:10 [2]
Citations
[1] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Psalm 16:11.
[2] Ibid., Luke 2:10.