Merry Christmas From the Equator

Merry Christmas everybody. We have been in Borneo for about a week now. I absolutely love it. While we have been here we have been able to help build a preschool and also last Sunday we were able to go to three church services. I had the privilege to speak at the first church. I spoke on the hope and joy we have in Jesus out of 1 Peter 1:3-9. After preaching I invited them to come forward if they were going through difficult times and wanted us to pray that they would be reminded of the hope and joy we have in Jesus and what He's done for us. It was amazing like fifteen people came forward and our team was able to pray for them. I loved seeing the student in action. They didn't hesistate for a second to come up front and pray for people. I was so blessed by that. We also had the opportunity to perform a drama, share a testimony, and sing songs with the churches here. Tomorrow we will be off to the villages for five weeks. I'm excited for what God is going to do. Please keep us in your prayers throughout this time. I hope all is well for everyone. Merry Christmas and a happy new year.

Sawadee Khap (thats how you greet people in Thai)

I'm in Thailand right now and have been here for 4 days now. It's been amazing to be back here and also to see the students experience another culture for the first time. We have been hearing from all our contacts from China, Nepal, Bangladesh and Indonesia. I love hearing what the Lord has put on their heart and their passion to see God transform their nations. It has really been getting everyone excited to go to our final destinations (Indonesia for me). Last night we were able to have dinner and worship with a university ministry that they have here. It was awesome to have different cultures all worshiping our amazing God together. In an hour exactly we will be going out to the area around the redlight district and ministering to the men that go there to buy sexual services. I believe this will be really eye opening for all make the need for Jesus a reality for us. Please pray that God would open doors for good conversations and that God would convict them of what they are doing and that God would soften there hearts to hear what He's saying to them through us. I'm really looking forward to see what the Lord does and how He challenges us. Thank you for all your prayers.

Off to Thailand, then Indonesia on Dec. 15...

Hello, everyone the day has finally come. I will be flying to Asia in roughly 5 hours (I should get some sleep probably). I will be flying from Maui to Honolulu to Tokyo, Japan to Taipei , Taiwan to Bangkok, Thailand which is where I'll be for 10 days or so. I'm so excited. I'm absolutely stoked to be back in Asia again and I can't wait to see what the Lord is going to do. Please keep us in your prayers as we travel for more then a day straight. Also, be praying for us as we are on outreach for the following: easy adjustment to the time difference, adjustment to the new cultures, team unity, wisdom (especially for us leaders), discernment, that we would be lead by God, good attitudes while being uncomfortable, and that we would enjoy the time we have there. I could keep going but please every time we cross your mind throw up a prayer for us it helps more then we realize. It's truly a blessing to be able to go and tell people about Jesus. I thank God for using you guys to make it possible. Hope all is well. I'll keep you updated as much as possible.

To Indo and Beyond

How's everybody doing (I don't expect an answer)? Hope all is well and everyone is excited that the holidays a just around the corner. Along with the holidays, outreach is 10 days away and counting. I can't believe how fast the last 3 months of lecture have gone by. It's a blessing to walk alongside students and see them grow so much and God just rock their world. I love to just engage in conversation and see God bring revelation to them, whether it be about His grace, love, who we are in Him or correcting there thinking about something false they have believed. It brings great joy to me when I see the light bulb turn on. Thats why I came hear, to let God speak through me and bring people closer to Him and His truth. When I see that actually happening it encourages me. 2 Timothy 3:16 comes to mind and how scripture is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness. I'm blessed to see this take place in people everyday and see the positive affect it has. As the lecture phase is coming to an end, with only 10 days left, we are preparing to go on outreach to Thailand for 10 days and then Borneo (Indonesia and Malaysia).

We leave December 4 and I am so excited. We will be holding conference with our contacts from other countries, for 10 days, to really hear their heart, vision and what God is doing in their countries. On December 13 my team and I will take off to Indonesia. While we are in Indonesia we will be doing a lot of village ministry. The first week we will spend at the YWAM base in Pontianak getting adjusted to the culture. Then off to the jungles of West Borneo for roughly 4 weeks. We will be teaching in churches, encouraging the church, sharing the Gospel to the lost, kids ministry and house visits. We will be spending Christmas and New years in the jungle during this time. I excited to experience a hot and humid Christmas right on the equator (not your typical Christmas weather lol). We will then be going to the jungles of East Borneo, where we will be for 3 weeks doing the same type of ministry. Next we'll be off to Malaysia for the final part before returning. Hopefully we'll be able to do some university ministry and discipleship. I'll keep you updated. I'm really excited to see the students go out and apply what they have learned and see God use them to affect others. Outreach will be fun, adventurous, hard, challenging and so impactful. I can't wait to see God work in us, through us, bring us closer together as a team, challenge us individually and bring us closer to Him.

Please keep us in your prayers. Pray for team unity, wisdom, obedience to God and the softening of people's hearts. Thank you for all your prayers and support. God has made all this possible by using each of you. I'm very thankful for that. Hope you have a great Thanksgiving.

Reppin' Christ,

Ray