Dear Friends,
A lot has happened over the past few months. As a family we are continually encouraged by your prayers and want to thank you for your ongoing support. It seems like each week we learn new things about Laos and what our purpose is here. I have been blessed with some opportunities to travel this past year. In October I rode my bicycle across Laos and Vietnam in one weekend with friends working in water sanitation and development. It was an awesome experience to see southern rural Laos, learn more about the development of water resources from my friends, and pray for villages as we rode through the mountains on our way to the ocean. God has expanded my heart for unreached people in this region.
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| Bike trip across Laos and Vietnam |
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| Driving motorcycles to travel to villages in Phongsaly |
Thank you for praying for me as I went to Phongsaly, the northernmost province of Laos in November for eleven days. I was able to partner with another development organization and help with a survey process in really, really remote villages. It was like going to another world, (and I was regarded as an alien), but again, God opened my eyes to the needs of people untouched by modern civilization. It’s not clear at this time whether my work will take me to people like this any time soon, but I’m still praying that someday God will use me in villages like this. Finally, last week I participated in a tropical agriculture workshop in Chiang Mai, Thailand. The organization, ECHO (you can Google them, they are based from Florida in the U.S.), is dedicated to fighting world hunger through innovative agricultural options for the poor. Again, I hope to use this knowledge working here in Laos in the near future.
Calah continues to teach first and second grade at the home-school co-op where Kolaya and Mikaya attend. Calah is one of the only professionally trained educators there which means she has a lot of wisdom about how the co-op is administered. Please pray for her as her responsibilities increase with this educational option. The co-op is growing and has the potential to minister to many families working here in Laos.
The girls are all doing well. Mikaya is excited about her upcoming birthday and Kolaya just started to participate in a softball club on Mondays. She loves it and I also am pretty excited about being Dad/Coach. Keziah is now 3 years old and has begun to talk our ears off. She loves telling LONG stories often!
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| The girls at Mikaya's 7th birthday |
Our family really enjoyed a Christmas break back in the U.S. for my brother Joel’s wedding in California. We’re looking forward to our actual home assignment in June and hope to connect with many of you during that time. Until then, please continue to pray for us as we study the Lao language, build relationships with friends and neighbors, and try to discern what roles we will have in the future here with CAMA.
As always, we don’t feel like we’re doing this alone and we’re grateful to have each of you along on this journey with us.
In Him,
Kirk
