Hey Ya’ll!

I just went to Malaysia with Brian and Mary Beth last week to get a new visa so that I can stay in Thailand longer. We had a great time together! I kept forgetting to take pictures while I was there, but, I did take some of the beautiful view I had from my hotel room. Check them out ! ~ From the Land of Smiles

Wow, I cannot believe that a whole month has gone by since the last time I posted anything! Eeks!

I’m just gonna start out by saying that the month of August was an awesome and quite the emotional month. It is very hard for me to put into words every thought and emotion that has been rolling around in my heart since I’ve been here. I specifically had set the month of August to pray about what the next step is for my life. I felt desperate to hear from the Lord. Am I supposed to stay here in Thailand longer, or should I listen to this, sometimes almost overwhelming, homesickness and take that as a sign that am I to go home? And if that’s the case, then what? I really believed He would show me by the end of the month…but, before I get into that part any further I want to share what else happened this last month -

Tyndale Stubenrauch’s 1st and Chase Garsee’s 17th birthdays were celebrated. I love both of those boys dearly!

Tyndale with his lovely mama, Mary Beth, on his birthday!

Chase and me on his birthday  ”showing off our farmer’s tans”.

The Stubenrachs, the Garsees, and myself all went about fifteen hours north to a place called Korat. There, we met up with a few other great missionary families to have some fellowship and ministry time together. It was wonderful! So refreshing for everyone. The Lord was gracious to bless us with His presence the whole week we were together. Plus I made some great new friends, especially Margaret, who is such a godly young woman and fellow horse lover .

In the evenings a group of us went out to pass out tracts and evangelize. We had a lot of great responses! But, specifically, a certain man was born-again. Praise God, na (Translation: Right?!) ?! We spent a week in Korat and then on the way back down towards home, we spent another week in Bangkok so the Stuben’s and Garsees could meet with their social workers to work out adoption details for adopting their Thai sons. Bangkok is huge and it feels like there’s no room to breath . But, we had fun together hanging out and having some down time, aside from some of the stress of adoption issues. One day, Colton (18) & Chase(17) Garsee (my newest brothers ) and I spent literally TEN hours in one mall and we still had not seen every store by the end of the day! We had fun but, needless to say, we were pretty tired that night. Well, I guess not tired enough, cause if I remember correctly we still stayed up pretty late : ) .

Now, to get back into what God is doing in my heart…. While in Bangkok we stayed at a Baptist Guest House for missionaries. One morning, while washing dishes in the kitchen, the Lord confirmed in my heart that I am supposed to stay in Thailand longer. After wrestling so much between my love for being here and homesickness, I am excited to have peace and confidance that this is what I am supposed to do. Thank you so much to everyone who has been seeking the Lord along with me about this. I love you all so much and I appreciate your support more than I can say! I cannot give an exact length of time that I will be here, because that part is still up in the air for me (not God), but, I do know that I will be here for at least a total of a year. It is going to be interesting to see how it feels for my Dad to come in October and leave without me, but, I am thankful that God’s grace is and will be  sufficient.

So, that’s what has been going on around here! I hope everthing I wrote made sense . God bless!!!

The Hoars, Lavornes, Stubenrauchs, Garsees, Barron, Freddy, and Me! A great bunch of people on fire for God!!

Only one week to go till the big day…

So many emotions are whirling inside of me the more I realize that the day of departure is coming closer and closer.  I feel excitement, anticipation, joy, thrill, sadness, a pinch of stress, and a butterfly or two in my stomach.  I praise God for this opportunity of a life time that He is giving me. I don’t feel deserving of it. What have I done to deserve such trust? I am deeply humbled. I can only hope and pray that I will represent Him well. 

   I want to publicly thank all those who have committed to praying for me while I am away and also to those who have generously given their financial gifts to help make this trip even possible. There are not words enough to describe my gratitude to you.  

 I look forward to sharing with everyone my experiences and what I believe the Lord is speaking to me. May He bless you abundantly! 

Love,

Megan

On Monday, we left for a place called cleftRock to get away as a family so Dad and John could unwind from their most recent trip to Sudan and also to kind of prepare for my upcoming trip to Thailand. cleftRock is a retreat center for pastors and missionaries and their families. It is a wonderful, beautiful, and peaceful place set back deep into the woods. We had a great time together taking walks, listening to the birds, praying, eating junk food, playing games and of course, taking pictures . Below are some of the over 100 photos my brother, John, and I shot while on a walk together.  I took most of them because, well, I was a little bit hoggish with the camera that day . But we had a very special brother – sister time together. 

If you like any of the pictures we would really appreciate that you do not use them without our permission. I hope you enjoy looking at them as much as we enjoyed taking them! God bless! 

The house we stayed in

This was the perfect name for our little hideaway 

John took this close up of the Iris – It was one of the only Iris’ there still in bloom

John wanted to take a shot of the parking sign He has a good eye cause I certainly wouldn’t have thought of it! 

I really like this pic of a fence that John took too

I took this one

John took this great picture

cleftRock was started by a couple who wanted to give pastors and missionaries a place to find rest, counsel, and quiet. Their own son was a missionary along with his wife and children in South America. Back in 2003 he was killed by guerilla rebels. His parents brought his body back to cleftRock to be buried at his favorite spot on the property. The next few photos are of his grave site and of the place surrounding it that was made for people to come to think and reflect. His family is still serving as  missionaries in South America. 

Praise the Lord that Matthew is feeling quite a bit better. He’s still having breathing treatments, but his smile is back and he’s not coughing near as bad as before.

Jeremiah ,on the other hand, also has RSV now  . He got it about three days ago. He too is taking breathing treatments. Yesterday he wouldn’t/couldn’t eat or drink anything because his throat was hurting him so bad. And the night before last he actually ended up “sleeping” with me in my room in the basement because he was waking up so often coughing, which in turn would make him start crying because he was scared and didn’t want to be alone. We both got about four hours of broken sleep that night.

My poor little brothers have been through it this week. Please continue to keep our family in your prayers! Including my father because he is heading into Sudan as I write this. God bless!

Well, it’s been quite the slow week. Not much has been happening lately. I have been pretty much at a complete loss of what to write about . This post may be more random than anything.

My Bible courses have been going  well. I haven’t made it too far yet, but, I know once I really get a hang of them, things will get a little bit easier. I’m starting from the beginning: the book of Genesis.  Right now I’m working on the Creation Stage. It’s been really interesting already of the things I’m learning that I have never even thought about before.

Matthew is starting to make some cute little sounds and squeals. I’m probably partial, but I think he must be the current cutest baby on earth! And Jeremiah is the cutest three year old and John is the most handsome almost sixteen year old (sixteen? ahhh! I can’t believe it!). 

It definitely looks like I’ll be heading back to Thailand in June. We’re trying to set up so I can travel with Mary Beth’s mother who is also planning on visiting at that same time. I hope it works out. Brian just sent me a note the other day telling me what I’ll need to prepare for financially. I’m going to need quite a bit of money but, I know that if this is what the Lord wants me to do, He will provide everything that I will need. At this point it looks like I’ll be needing about $2,500 to live there for the 3 months. That will cover the monthly rent, electric, food, etc. which I will also be splitting with two other women.  Plus, my plane ticket will probably be about $2,000. I will also need a little over $1,000 to be able to buy a good computer so I can communicate with my family, and $1,000-$1,500 for a scooter when I get there. Whew! I have been so blessed already though by some friends who have sent in some gifts towards my trip. I can’t wait to see how God will provide the rest!

So, there’s my random post

After much thought, prayer, and seeking wisdom from my parents, I would like to announce that I believe the Lord is leading me back to Thailand for an extended stay. I’m not exactly sure of why He wants me there, but I know whatever it is, it will be to bring Him glory.  It’s not official yet, but it looks like I may be going back in June and staying for three months or more.  I am VERY excited!!   I can’t wait to see what the Lord has in store for me there. Now, I am trying my best to trust Him with all the details that go along with making such a decision.  I would really appreciate your prayers as my family and I journey into this new season of our lives. Thank you!

Leaving Thailand was harder than I ever imagined that it would be. I honestly felt like I was leaving family or something. Like my Dad says, “Love wants to be together”.

The Lord truly did a work in all of our hearts. Dad and I left feeling so refreshed and I think our father/daughter relationship was also made stronger.   I fell in love with the people we were with. There are some new things that I have been praying about. One of those is the possibility of going back to Thailand for a couple to a few months helping the team there. If I did go back I would definitely be under the covering of some very godly people. At this point, going back is a pretty big IF though, because it may not be what the Lord has in store for me and my family. One thing I learned on the trip is that I still have a ways to go in completely trusting God with my future and my dreams. I am also realizing that He may put dreams in us for a season to help put our hearts in the place He wants them.

Here are some pictures from our trip. I hope you enjoy them. Thank you again to those of you who were keeping us in your prayers while we were gone. God bless!

        Starbucks in the Bangkok airport. Who would have thunk?

Dad and I in the Starbucks

Brian and Mary Beth’s home

The room we stayed in upstairs in the church

The room that the church meets in. ( the motor scooter was a temporary decoration while we were there )

Part of the local Buddhist temple

More to come!!

On Friday afternoon, my father and I will be heading out on a very special journey together to Thailand. I am so excited!! We have been asked to come by some good friends of ours who are missionaries there. They have also asked Dad to speak at a Bible school.

We are greatly looking forward to seeing what the Lord has in store for us while we are there. We would really appreciate your prayers while we are gone, escpecially for Dad. We will be in Thailand for ten days, and as far as we know, he will be speaking at the school everyday, twice a day. It is our hope and prayer that the Lord will move mightily within us and those we will come in contact with.

I will try to take lots of pictures so I can share them with you when I come back. God bless!

Hey All! Tuesday morning we left our house at eight o’clock in the morning and made the three hour trip to the Answers in Genesis ‘Creation Museum’! We had so much fun. I think that everyone should go if they can. It was very educational and a neat experience. A great way to learn more about how God made our world.  I have posted a bunch of pictures to give you a sample of what we saw while we were there. Enjoy!

There’s a characteristic that Eve has that seems similar to my mom, but I just can’t put my finger on it :) . What do you think?  

Every Monday morning, GRN posts a video called *lifeonline. ‘Take a look at this weeks *lifeonline for a real glimpse at what real life is like in Southern Sudan. The people there are in great need of our prayers and support. Let’s go to God on behalf of our brothers and sisters in Sudan.

*Please allow this episode to speak to your heart and motivate you in your walk with God and people. Life is too short to not focus on what really matters.’

www.grnconnect.org

*We do not recommend the use of YouTube.