Arriving in Santa Ana

Santa Ana, El Salvador
Mother Dena’s Home

We arrived in San Salvador, El Salvador about 8:00pm last night. Pastor Salvador, his wife Ena and their two children Enrique (12) and Priscilla (10) along with Roberto (a church member) picked us up at the airport. Grier Cash, our dear friend from Gaffney had met us in Dallas to join us for this leg of the trip.

Our new family in El Salvador: Mother Dena, Isabelle, Enrique, Pastors Ena and Salvador, Jeziel and Prescilla.

We were referred to the Barahonas by Pastors Joey and Denise Turner at Restoration Church in Gaffney, SC. The Barahonas pastor a church here, have an orphanage with currently 10 children and run a Christian school for approximately 700 children. During the two hour drive to Pastor Ena’s Mother’s home we learned more about their ministry. We stopped at KFC on the way for supper and at that point the children became fast friends playing in the playground.

Hatcher and Enrique make friends with the camera.

Please pray for this wonderful family and their ministry here in Santa Ana.

(the second largest city in El Salvador)

So great to have a short visit in the states….

My mom, Gloria White, joined us in Dallas, Texas for 4 days as we tried to readjust to the Western world time zone.

“Her children rise up and call her blessed…” Proverbs 31:28

We are off to El Salvador.

Please pray for us as we visit our last two countries, El Salvador and the Dominican Republic.

Gloria

The Thief

This has not been an easy year. In fact, it may be one of the toughest of my life. I have uprooted my family, physically moved to the center of the country for four months where I got seeped in the Word and prayer as God rearranged my heart.

Then we took off again for 8 months of non-stop travel. As of this writing we have been in 14 countries in four months and 10 states in two months. We still have two months of travel left.

I have been tired, hot, sweaty, smelly, hungry, thirsty, lonely, scared, frightened, homesick, sad, heartbroken and devastated. I haven’t slept in my own bed in almost a year. I have gone through at least seven employees in my business. I have doubted every part of my life and almost every decision I have ever made.

Needless to say, God has been working on me this year.

But through it all, there has always been a thread of encouragement from the Lord. Twice in my darkest times, the Lord has sent a messenger to me, (each time a total stranger who walked up and shared a “word from the Lord”) and encouraged me directly concerning my pain. More times than I can count, God has surprised us with encounters with individuals that have given me hope that their life will be different because we have been obedient to this call.

This past week as I listened to Third Day’s song "The Thief", I realized how God had also encouraged Jesus in His darkest time. The song is about the thief who was crucified with Christ…

Then he said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom."
Jesus answered him, "I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise." Luke 23:42-43

I have always seen that story from the thief’s perspective. But God showed me how He also used the thief that day.

Imagine you are Jesus. You have lived a good life. You have sacrificed a “normal” life and have spent your time sharing the love of your Father with others. Many doubt you are real. Some think you are from Satan. You heal the sick. You cast demons out of children, women and men. You raise the dead. You feed the hungry. You answer the deep questions that many hunger for an answer about. You even fast for 40 days!

In the end one of your dear friends (whom you trusted with your money) betrays you. The rest of your friends leave and deny you. You are arrested, ridiculed and beaten. You knew this was coming and you have accepted your call to do this so others will benefit, but as you hang on the cross doubt starts to creep in. You are physically within hours of death and emotionally you have been battered by everyone.

Can you hang on to the end without crying out for God to rescue you?

Don’t you want to give up?

Then the thief next to you, a man who has possibly never loved a day in his life suddenly sees the truth. He recognizes you are the Messiah and humbly asks you to remember him. You realize this is one whose eternal life will be different IF you can complete the task before you.

All we know after this exchange with the thief is that three hours passed. Jesus suffered and bled three more hours, quietly. I believe that the encouragement from the thief was what God used to help Jesus make it those last three hours. It was the ray of hope Jesus needed and he held onto that until the end.

If God will provide encouragement to His son (a man and God) as He suffers, He will also provide encouragement for us (mere humans who are needier).

I love the Lord.

I am beginning to even love His ways (they are so much higher than mine).

Here are the Lyrics to this powerfully moving song:

I am a thief, I am a murderer Walking up this lonely hill.

What have I done?

I don't remember.

No one knows just how I feel.

And I know that my time is coming soon.

It's been so long.

Oh, such a long time, since I've lived with peace and rest.

Now I am here, my destination.

I guess things work for the best and I know that my time is coming soon.

Who is this man?

This man beside me They call the 'King of the Jews'?

They don't believe that He's the Messiah but, somehow I know it's true. And they laugh at Him in mockery, and beat Him till he bleeds!

They nail Him to the rugged cross, and raise Him, they raise Him up next to me.

My time has come, I'm slowly fading "I deserve what I receive."

"Jesus when You're in Your kingdom, Could You please, please remember me?"

He looks at me still holding on.

The tears fall from His eyes.

He says, "I tell the truth today, you will live with Me in paradise!".

And I know that my time is coming soon.

And I know paradise is coming soon.

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You may click on the link below to experience "Thief" by Third Day on Godtube :

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http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2hgi3_third-day-thief-the-passion-of-chri_events

Im Jai House with Darenee

Sunday, August 10, 2008
Chiang Mai, Thailand

About five years ago I was called by the Lord to my first mission trip. Hatcher and I came to Thailand to visit Im Jai House. This is a Christian orphanage for approximately 50 children. At the time Hatcher was 7 years old and he so enjoyed playing with the children. Then about two years later, I returned to Im Jai for my third mission trip. Needless to say these children and house parents have a special place in our hearts.

Over the years I have prayed often for them. Sometimes the Lord has called me to prayer for them and sometimes I have prayed because I was prompted by news or emails. I have always felt called to keep them in my prayers.

It was such a treat to see these children again! They have grown and matured. We arrived about 5:00 pm which is right in the middle of their play time. The boys brought some soccer balls and were soon playing with some of the boys there.

Shirley and I headed to the house where Darenee was house mother. Darenee and I have communicated some over the years. She and I have in common being single moms, so I was looking forward to seeing her again.

Darenee (far left), Sherry and us on the front porch.

We took a tour of the home (they have moved since I was last here) and just sat around and caught up a bit. As we sat on the porch with most of the girls in the house, it occurred to me that this might be a good time to hand out bracelets and share our mission story.

Sherry, the oldest in the orphanage translated for me and the girls listened intently. At the end I quizzed them to insure they had learned all the colors. They had. I then asked if any would like to pray and ask Jesus into their hearts. To my surprise and great delight three girls said yes!

What a gift from God to be able to be a part of their public profession.

As we prayed with them, I thought of all those teams from First Baptist (and many other churches) who had come and planted seeds into the hearts of these children. I thought about the many house parents, board members, foundation leaders who had played a part of showing the love of Christ to these children.

I was truly humbled that God would let us be a part of the harvest.

Shirley (second from left) and the girls hearing the meaning of the colors of the salvation bracelet.

Please pray for these precious young women and all the children at Im Jai.

Church in Chiang Mai, Thailand

Chiang Mai, Thailand
The Gathering Church Service

Small World!
We worshiped at church today with Dave and Shirley. The Gathering Church is made up of missionaries from all over the world who live and work in Chiang Mai. Can you imagine being the pastor of missionaries?
David and Shirley teach a Sunday School class before the worship service. We arrived early and before the class started, I went to check on the boys in the room next door. When I returned a new couple had arrived. I looked at the woman and immediately felt I knew her. Mary….yes, Mary. She looked at me and said, “You look very familiar to me.” I said the same to her. “Gloria?” she asked. Mary Douglas used to live in Gaffney, SC. She, her husband Dan and their family were members of First Baptist Church where we are members (the Callahans are members of FBC too). When my husband Bill died, Mary (who had also been widowed several years before) was such a source of encouragement to me. I could not believe I was running into her half way around the world!

Stephen, Dan, Mary, Hatcher and me.

The Douglas family joined the Callahans and us for lunch. What a small world to have three families from First Baptist Church of Gaffney, SC eat Sunday lunch in Chiang Mai, Thailand!
Dan, Mary and Stephen have just moved to Chiang Mai as missionaries.
Another sweet note for First Baptist Church in Gaffney…..

Dan and Mary Douglas were interviewed during the church service to introduce them to the congregation. When asked how they got to Chiang Mai all the way from South Carolina, they responded that during their time at FBC in Gaffney they had been introduced to missions and visited Thailand. They have since visited a couple other times and have just moved to Chiang Mai to teach for a minimum of one year. FBC has spawned two sets of missionaries to Thailand (and a third temporary family of four). May God bless the Mission Task Force and all those who work so hard to encourage our mission work! Never, never underestimate how God will use your efforts for His Kingdom!
In all labor there is profit, But idle chatter leads only to poverty. Proverbs 14:23

It gets smaller!

As we sat in the church service, Harrison pointed to a young man across the way and said, “Mom, he was at Gateway Camp.” I didn’t recognize the young man, but he was wearing the Gateway key we were all given at the end of camp. He happened to have the key hanging down his back or we would not have seen the key. At the end of the service, we spoke to him and he was at the camp. So here we are in Chiang Mai, Thailand and we ran into 4 people we’ve known from other parts of the world.

Shawn from Korea who was at Gateway Camp with us in Hong Kong.

We recognized the Key given to all camp participants.

Please pray for Shawn.

Hill Tribe Area of Northern Thailand

This morning the boys, David and I all piled in the truck and headed to the House of Blessing. There we met the boys and house parents of both the House of Blessing and House of Comfort. Then we all piled into three trucks and headed to the Hill Tribe area to visit an orphanage who has asked Dave and Shirley for help.

It was about an hour and a half drive up the mountains (North Carolina mountain curves ain’t got nuthin on these mountain curves!) We arrived at the orphanage, had a time of worship with all the children and house parents. The pastor of the church/orphanage we visited spoke a bit, then asked David to share some.

After David spoke (in Thai no less! I was very impressed with his Thai.), he asked us to share the Gospel with all the children and give out the salvation bracelets. Ajon Yeah translated for me and we were thrilled that two of the boys accepted Christ!

We took a tour of the house for the orphans that still needs about $500 U.S. to be finished. The most immediate need is food. The church provides some support for the children but lately there has not been enough to feed them. They have been foraging the local forest and eating the plants and fruit that grow wild there. However they have about exhausted those resources. Faithful Heart has given them some emergency money to purchase rice so the children are feed and have agreed to help provide enough to ensure the children have food.

David (far left), Ajon Barruche, Pastor from Hill Tribe area, and Ajon Yeah (Ajon means Pastor in Thai and Barruche and Yeah are house parents for two of the orphanages the Callahans oversee.) The house to the left is where the children live.

We stayed and ate lunch that was brought by one of the Faithful Heart House parents. The children ate together in shifts.

Please pray and see if God may be calling you to help provide for this group of 12 childen.

Callahan Home

Friday, August 8, 2008
Chiang Mai, Thailand
The Home of David and Shirley Callahan and Faithful Heart Foundation

We arrived Chiang Mai around 10:00pm on Thursday and Shirley and Dave were at the airport to greet us. What a welcome sight to see familiar faces in a far away country. The Callahans are from our home church, First Baptist Church of Gaffney. They moved to Thailand over three years ago to be full time missionaries here in Chiang Mai.

The six of us talked excitedly the whole way home…what fun to share and hear stories with old friends. Another bonus is I have my own bedroom!
Please pray that we can be a blessing to the Callahans and the boys at their three orphanages.

Shirley and David Callahan (back row) and children from one of the three orphanages they oversee.

We had pizza night at the house with the kids and played.

Faithful Heart Ministry House

Chiang Mai, Thailand
Faithful Heart Ministry House
David and Shirley Callahan

We arrived late last night in Chiang Mai.

Harrison had an opportunity to witness to his airplane seatmates from Italy. They were Christian and had a fun visit with Harrison.

I met two delightful ladies who work for Empower Foundation http://www.empowerfoundation.org/ This is an organization who trains the women who are in the sex trade of Thailand. They were somewhat reluctant to tell me about their work. I gave them tracts in Thai and shared the Gospel.

One of the women read the tract in great detail and I felt God was touching her heart. They asked about why we were in Thailand and seemed moved by our mission. I prayed for them and assured them I would continue to pray for them. Please pray for these precious women that God will open their eyes and heal their hearts. Pray for all the women in Thailand who are a part of the sex trade industry here. Pray this country will come to recognize the need to protect their women and children.

It almost feels like being home here in the Callahan’s home. What a joy to be with them and share about our time while also hearing about their time of ministry here. I find we have had similar struggles and I knew early on our arrival that this stop would be good for us and good for them as well.

This lovely Friday we did laundry (everything we owned needed heavy duty washing)….how wonderful to have clean smelling clothes again!

God bless the Callahans!!

In The Fire...

Wednesday, August 7, 2008
Holiday Inn Parkview
Singapore

I remember hearing a speaker once tell about a book (wish I could remember the name to give the author credit) that explains how God sometimes takes us and puts us in the heat of the fire, He then hammers and molds us. It isn’t an easy place to be but when God gets finished, we are made more like Him and are often more ready for our life’s purpose.

The four of us in the Singapore Flyer.




As I recall the speaker explaining, there are two piles, the “before” pile and the “after” pile. He finished with the question, “Which pile are you in?”

I thought a lot about that question after the speech.

About 24 hours later it occurred to me that what I wanted to be was “the hammer”….always near the heat and yet always in the Master’s hand. I loved the idea of being used by God to help mold others. As the hammer, you get nicked and pounded too, (the molding of the hammer may not be as obvious but it is molded just the same) As the hammer, you are always working but what better place to be than in the hands of God?

Reid gets a new look in Singapore. Hatcher got one too.

This week I have wondered about my desire to stay next to the fire and thought I might change that position now. This has been a week of molding for me. I don’t know that I can tell you exactly how God has molded me, but I’ve been molded nonetheless. I can recognize the metamorphous because it is so uncomfortable. I don’t like the process, but I’ve found I always like the outcome (eventually).


If you haven’t been molded by God lately, maybe it is time to get in the fire. Yes, it is hot and sometimes painful, but God has a way of removing the bad and bringing forth the good. Guess that is why He is God.


Yet, O LORD, you are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand. Isaiah 64:8

"Captain" Gaurdian Angel

Saturday, August 2, 2008
En-route to Singapore from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Captain Guardian Angel

It has been a quiet, resting week yet I am still tired and not yet fully revived. We took the bus from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to Singapore. It was a five hour trip. I knew there was a problem from the beginning when our bus was almost an hour late. It was hot and we sat near running buses inhaling the fumes during most of that time. I started to get a headache.

In the bus the boys seemed more active than normal and I seemed more tired than normal. We stopped for a break, got a snack and then back on the road. The driver made a quick roadside stop before the border and several young men almost snuck off the bus. I wondered why they didn’t go to the border. The bus stopped again and some people began getting off. I wasn’t sure where we were and waited to see if everyone got off. The driver began yelling, “passports, passports!” By his yelling, I assumed we were at the border and suddenly realized I had not gotten my passports out of the suitcases before we left. I explained to the driver I needed access to the suitcase. He was not happy about that. We exited Malaysia customs and got back on the bus. A few minutes later we stopped again.

Again, I wasn’t quite sure what was going on and hesitated. Again the bus driver started yelling. As we got off the bus a man was standing near the luggage compartment of the bus. He looked at me and said, “Lady, I can help you with your luggage.” I was grateful for the help. He explained we had to go through customs at the border of Singapore and the bus would pick us up on the other side. He was from Singapore and had to leave us to go through another line. It was crowded at customs. I had to fill out the normal four forms and we were stopped and several bags were opened and inspected.

As we completed inspections we turned to walk towards the bus and there again was the kind man who had helped us with the luggage. He again took one of our bags and walked with us. He forewarned us that the bus may have left us.

We walked down the line of buses and none looked like ours. I turned and looked at the man. “I was afraid this may happen. They only wait 30 minutes. It is only fair to the other riders.” He seemed very understanding of the situation.

I can’t say I felt the same way. I looked at my watch. It was 9:30 at night and very dark outside. My mother instinct kicked in. I could not believe this bus driver left us and felt he had done it on purpose. The kind man had gone to look for other options for us. He returned with another bus driver who offered to take us into town for $20. I started to fuss. I was irritated and started making demands. “Lady, that won’t help get you where you want to go,” the kind man said gently. I looked at him and realized what he said was of great wisdom. I responded, “Ok, tell me what to do”. I shut my mouth and let him take care of everything. We all five got in the new bus and headed to town. The kind man asked which hotel we were going to and I realized the information was on my computer and the boys had just used up all the battery power on the computer. I did remember it was a Holiday Inn.

He didn’t seem the least bit surprised that I did not know which hotel it was. We got off at the bus station. While on the bus he had called his son to get phone numbers for all the Holiday Inns. Our first call was our hotel so we now had our destination address. Our hero walked us to a cab and made sure the cab driver knew where we were going. He then turned to me and asked, “Do you have any Singapore money?”

At this point I think I blushed. In all the confusion of the day, I had forgotten to get Singapore dollars. I thought to myself, “How in the world have you made it this far around the world?” He reached in his pocket and handed me a $50 Singapore bill. I graciously and gratefully accepted it. I gave him my business card and he gave me his. I looked at his card and saw he was a Captain for Singapore airlines. Harrison handed him a website bracelet. The boys and I thanked him for all his help; we hopped in the cab and were off. We safely arrived at our hotel in minutes.

I have searched high and low for the man’s business card and as of this writing cannot find it. There is a part of me that wonders if he was real or was he our guardian angel of the day who came to make sure we made it safely to our location? Either way, I am grateful that someone was watching after us. Actually, God has been watching after us this entire trip. He sometimes calls on others to help us when He knows we need the help.

Please join us in asking God to pour out His blessings on this man who so kindly blessed us. Pray for all those who go out of their way to help the alien in their land.

The LORD watches over the alien and sustains the fatherless and the widow, ... Psalm 146:9
Our two dear friends from the Holiday Inn who so wonderfully took care of us in Singapore.
The Holiday Inn Parkview was a special treat for us. I highly recommend it!

KL ~ Tracts On The Street

August 2, 2008
Bus Station
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Handing out Tracts

Our last day in Kuala Lumpur and we still have lots of Malaysian tracts left. We are taking the bus to Singapore and have a little bit of a wait in the bus station, so we decided to hand out tracts at the station. We worked in shifts so two of us could keep an eye on the luggage. Reid and I went first. We tried giving them out to people as they walked past us but found that few would take one. We then walked around to those sitting and waiting. It is obvious when you are handing a tract to a Hindu or a Muslim here. I was thrilled each time someone who was obviously not Christian would accept the tract. I found this to be a great place to give out tracts. These folks have time on their hands and nothing to do but wait, so they read our tracts! As we finished, Reid and I prayed for those who had received that God would plant seeds in their hearts to come to know Him.

Hatcher and Harrison went next. I kept an eye on them and an eye on Reid and the luggage as they went. It was interesting to watch the people watch my children as they moved around the station. Hatcher later told me that one of the men asked if he was selling the tract. When Hatcher said no, the man began reading the tract.

Please pray for those who accepted and read the tracts, that God will touch their hearts.