From Buddhist to Baptized!

Many of you reading this blog prayed for, and financially supported, me while I was in Thailand. In those ways, you became an active part of the work the Lord did through me while I was there.

Jum is one of the Thai women God gave me the opportunity to build a friendship with while in Bangkok. Even though I'm back in the States now, we're still able to keep in touch. (3 cheers for the internet!) She accepted Christ my last week in Thailand and, on March 30th, I was blessed to be able to skype into her baptism!

[I'm on one of the phones in the crowd!]

Jum has been working on writing out her testimony, and I wanted to share some of it here with you (with her permission, of course). Your faithfulness to give to missions and pray for missionaries and for Thailand has been fruitful! Even though I am state-side, please don't stop investing in the international Great Commission. (If you don't know who to support, you can join me by investing financially in the ministry of The Rossies or Ruth!)

But, back to Jum's testimony, in her words... Be blessed.

It is difficult to start my testimony because it is a long story.  My interest in religion began when I studied in international classes. My friends came from different countries. They were different religions so sometimes we couldn't understand each other well. I believed that the problem came from their culture and their religion. Once I observed my friends from different religions pray I asked why they said the same word "Amen" at the end. They shared about what they believed. 

Then I started to learn English at the BSC. I had chance to meet missionaries and we talked about the history of Christianity, I tried to search the internet about the history and doctrine of this religion. I found a different between Buddhism and Christianity in how they view "Love."  One believes that love makes suffering and the other one believes that love makes peace. Then I want to know more. "How does love make peace?" I started to attend one of their small groups. I learned more about the Bible with the missionaries. 

One of them, Liz, talked about the Holy Spirit is work in the story of Jonah, Jonah went to Nineveh and the people of Nineveh believed God. She said that 'The Bible also it can work by itself when you read it, because of the Holy Spirit." When I started to read,  I didn't want to stop. I almost finished the New Testament in 3 weeks. I still wanted to know more about God. I started to understand and compare the doctrine of Buddha  and Christ. I could see  the different attitudes of Christians (from USA) and Buddhists (from Thailand). For a while, I thought both religion were good, but I must to choose and follow only one of them. It was a difficult time to make a decision....

I accepted Jesus. About 3 weeks later, I began to understand it that God wanted to teach me about the love of God and His grace give the eternal life for us. I couldn’t understand well but I still search the answer by learning from missionaries, reading the Bible and praying... I haven’t done it well now, but I feel happy more than in the past... Thank you my parent and my sister for accept my decision. Thank you Khun Tim, Khun Jill, Ann, Meleah, P’Pom, Jai, Liz, Luke, Dylan, Alli and Matt for telling the Gospel to me. Thank you brothers and sisters at church for helping me didn’t feel lonely when I choose to follow Christ and I think this is important for new believers for continuing on and growing to the next step of Christianity. 

[Matt and Jum]

big news.

Well! I am excited to officially announce some big news! Since Thanksgiving-time, I have been prayerfully considering extending my year in Thailand. One of my stipulations for staying longer was that I needed to be using my spiritual gifts to make meaningful contributions to ministry here. Being on the missions field is hard in this regard because ministry is not always quantifiable by stateside standards... so I came up with my own "working measure" of success: Am I continuing to grow personally in my relationship with the Lord? Am I specifically meeting needs and connecting in relationships with Thais? Am I finding ways and opportunities to vocalize the Gospel? After much prayer, I have decided that the answers to those questions are: Yes.

So, here it is: I will be extending my time in Thailand until December 2013.

However, I will be making a month-long trip state-side this summer to spend some time with my family, meet my adorable new niece, Addie, and catch up with many of the people who have prayed for and supported me. I'm planning for this to take place from the end of May to the end of June.

If you're currently sponsoring me, or if you have a very practical-detail-oriented mind, you may already be crunching numbers in your head and wondering where this extra 6 months of funding is magically going to appear from... well, I have more good news! God has already been working this out.

The BSC has offered to pay my monthly living expenses for my extension here. This means that I only need to raise money for my roundtrip flight (June-Dec), my first month (to tie me over until the end-of-the-month July pay-day) and my visa fees. These will total around $2,500. If you currently sponsor me on a monthly basis and would like to continue after June, you can, and that money will go towards these costs. However, if you would like to complete your one-year commitment in June, that is alright as well. God has been so gracious to provide everything (almost to the exact dollar!) for my year here, though the generosity and obedience of His people. Regardless of what you decide, I'd love to talk to you in person when I return in May/June to share what you've been a part of here and answer questions you may have. If you would like to go ahead and give a one-time donation towards my time here, there are details under the "Get Involved" tab!

And, since we're still on the topic of good news... One of the ladies I have had the privilege of discipling, Steph B, has also felt God's call to come to Bangkok to serve as a missionary. I first met Steph when she came to Spotswood's Collegiate Ministry, Encounter, while I was a student leader at Mary Wash. I've been able to see her grow in her faith and her love for the Lord the past few years. She's gone from being discipled, to also being a discipler. From being invested in, to also being an investor. From being content with being fed, to being hungry to feed herself. Suffice it to say, God is doing great things with Steph and she is being obedient to follow her Father in faith... first with a short term trip to Thailand this past August, and now for a longer commitment. You can read about her journey on her personal blog and also on her new Thailand blog! By extending my time here, I will also be able to help facilitate her adjustment... which I am very excited about :)

If you have questions that I haven't addressed, always feel free to shoot me an email (lizswauger@gmail.com). I have been and continue to be so incredibly blessed by your love, support and prayers. Thank you for being a part of taking Christ to the Nations. I couldn't be here sharing the Gospel without your partnership.

Financial Update

I want to share with you how God has shown Himself (yet again!) to be Jehovah Jireh in my life-- He has already provided $3,500 for my year in Thailand... that is incredible! A year in Thailand is about $6,000 and airfare home is approx $1,000-1,500. So the total cost is: $7,000-7,500. That means that there is less than $4,000 left to raise!

Through monthly sponsorships, $1,080 has already been pledged... leaving only $240/month left to be raised in monthly sponsorships. (That's 8 people committing to sponsor me for $30/month, or 4 people giving $60/month, or a combination of monthly and one-time donations.)

And. Above and beyond that, $800 has also been given to help cover my pre-trip needs (visa, airfare, laptop, etc.).  Praise God!

To each of you who has given sacrificially to help be a part of sending me to Thailand, thank you so much. It is a blessing and a responsibility to have you supporting me. My prayer is that God uses me as a worthy investment of your resources, and that I am a useful and faithful vessel for Him. Thank you for supporting me, for praying, and for following along on this journey.

"Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen." -Eph 3:20-21