Ed-ified

It was a busy yet amazing weekend. On Saturday we spent some time at a local ministry. This is a ministry run by two amazing young people for street kids and at risk youth who can have a safe place to go during the day. They get a free meal there, learn about Christ, and have a bit of fun too. The YWAM team here led the time and we sang lots of kids fun/worship songs played fun games, and had lunch with the kids.

One of the neatest things was to see the children take to loving and playing with Eden, Justus, and Silas. They were helping them with the games, coloring pictures with them, and even getting them food and practically trying to spoon-feed them. What an amazing bunch, I’m really looking forward to visiting there many times over the coming weeks.

That evening we drove to the top of a ridge above the city, and saw some amazing views of Burma on one side and Thailand on the other. We were actually right on the border and could put our foot out to touch Burma!

Sunday morning we attended the local Burmese Baptist church with Brandon and Aum, along with many other missionaries who live here in Mae Sai. The had all the fathers go to the front and we were presented with gifts (a toothbrush and toothpaste). The kids were whisked away (somewhat against their will) to kids church, and I gather it was quite a cultural experience for them being all in Burmese and with them the center of attention. I’m continually amazed at how flexible they are and keeping a positive attitude even with all the strange situations they’re thrust into.

Keisha and I enjoyed the service. It was a very traditional Baptist service, with hymns, responsive reading, and a very structured service. While we are blessed to worship with our Burmese Christian family, I think it made us a little sad inside to see how culturally un-Burmese the church was, especially in light of all we’ve been learning in the Perspectives course regarding indigenous churches and contextualization of culture in worship. I think that’s worth another post coming soon. After service the whole church ate together (excellent food!), and we headed home for a nap.

In the afternoon I went with Brandon and the YWAM team to visit a local coffee shop. They were invited to and have been worshiping there for the last few weeks, building up a good relationship with the workers there. Please pray for Nit, a young women there who’s heart is very open and she seems so close to coming to the Lord. The team will be giving here a special Bible tomorrow morning before they leave, another opportunity to share with her. Also visiting there was a Burmese man named Simon who has been talking with the team much over the last few weeks. He has learned so much about the Gospel, and knows excellent English. He is also very close to trusting Christ, 80-90% according to him! He desires to do good and be a good person, he even has been doing various charity work and wants to start an NGO, but he continually struggles with Alcoholism. Pray that he would finally concede that he cannot be good on his own, but must give himself over to Christ.

Wow, what a weekend! Can’t wait to see what God does this second week in Thailand.

Hello all! This morning the entire Edwards family is getting on a plane to fly half way around the world to Thailand. We’ve been packing like crazy, the kids are incredibly excited, and they’ve been practicing their “Sawa-tee-ka”.

We’ll be spending 1 month in the northern-most tip of Thailand, in a small town called Mae Sai on the border with Burma. We are staying with my Cousin Brandon and his wife Aum in their home there, ministering as a family in what is called “the Golden Triangle”. We’ll share more about the area and amazing people there in a later update.

We’ll share more about our vision and plans for our time in Thailand very soon, but for now here are some of the things we have planned:

1. Spending lots of time with the kids at an orphanage and ministry to street kids
2. Teaching three weekly two-hour classes on missions to 24 Thai students at a Bible school
3. Teaching English to 50 Chinese students at the same Bible school
4. Visiting and ministering to some of the unreached hill tribes in the area
5. Keisha will help Aum with ministering to some of the prostitutes in Mae Sai
6. Being a blessing in any way we can to our amazing cousins in Thailand who are YWAM missionaries there

Most importantly, we are going with a teachable heart and open mind to be used as a family in whatever way’s God is working. This is our first missions trip as a family; we are very excited to expose our kids to other cultures and life as a missionary. We’ve been teaching them all about missions and God’s heart for the peoples of the world. Now it’s time to give them practical experience in loving your neighbor, and being flexible with a joyful heart even in the face of strange and trying circumstances.

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We’ll be back on very soon with more information and stories of our travels, so check back, and subscribe by email above for our latest updates!

Please would you take a moment to pray for our family as well, and add us to your prayer list?

• Pray for safe travels on our 20+ hours of flights, taxis, and Song-tao rides. It’s the kids first international plane flight!
• Pray for God to prepare the way for us and open up doors and opportunities for ministry we’ve never imagined!
• Pray for our health and safety, and for the children to be flexible and joyful in all our adventures (especially with the food, fried scorpions anyone?)
• For my missions classes, that the Holy Spirit would guide me in exactly what to prepare and share that would be best suited to the students, and that they would receive it well.

Talk to you soon!