In Awe of His Story

“I think this is the best time in my life to do this! Thank you so much for making time to meet with me.” I met KC while facilitating the moms’ parenting group last semester, which she faithfully attended weekly despite a very full schedule. We had an immediate connection, and we met several times outside of the group as well. She is open and vulnerable and is a genuine joy to get to know. She is a hard-working and intelligent single mom, Thai national, and published marketing professor—she fulfilled her master’s program while pregnant and then completed her PhD while caring for her baby, mostly on her own. She has since moved back home with her parents so they could help care for her now fourth-grade daughter, and she is deeply grappling with the question, “Now what?” What’s next for her life, for her daughter, and for her career?

“I have heard a lot of Bible stories over the years, but I have no idea how they all fit together. I don’t know what one story has to do with the other.” We asked you all to pray for discipleship opportunities to emerge from the parenting group, and God answered with a “Yes!” KC and I have started to meet for intentional, one-on-one discipleship each week after she drops her daughter off at school. Though she is not yet a follower of Christ, she is eager to know more and grow in a greater understanding of the Bible. It’s beautiful to share biblical insight with someone who has such a fresh sense of awe and is excited to learn more. We’ve talked about the difference between just being a “good person” and genuinely following Christ; we’ve talked through the significance of the curtain tearing during Christ’s crucifixion, the purpose of some letters being “red” in the Bible, and many other things. She has so many questions, and they come in rapid succession. Next, we will dive into a booklet that breaks down Christianity in a simple-to-understand format and clearly explains the gospel message. Pray with us that KC would understand that presentation and reach a point where she acknowledges her need to surrender her life fully to Christ.

Changing of the Guard

Toward the end of the second semester last year, Nick and I felt like the Lord was making it more evident that our time as the Teach With Cru team leaders would be coming to a close. The time required to lead has been tremendous between discipleship, team meetings, administrative tasks, and other behind-the-scenes activities. Sports, bible studies, play dates, and intentional time as a family keep us very busy in the evenings and on the weekends, and we have felt the strain of being pulled in multiple directions. Couple that with the fact that our long-term goal is for Traci to be proficient in the language (including reading and writing) and increasingly engaged in our local Thai community while Nick continues to invest in his Thai staff at the school…and we have felt stretched very thin.

We prayed earnestly, and last semester, we let our director know that we were willing to remain team leaders for this school year and then step down. We have recently informed the intern team, and our director is still working toward a plan for next school year. Would you pray that the right person(s) would be put in the position to effectively and passionately lead these young interns as they serve in ministry here in Thailand and that our transition out of this role would be smooth?

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