Is it really Christmas?

Even though the Thai people think we are crazy to have four children, we think it is perfect! We are so thankful for the family God has given us. We have so much to be thankful for this Christmas season.

We are having a harder time getting into the Christmas spirit here in Bangkok. Something about sweating while taking your Christmas pictures makes it feel like summer. We enjoy watching snow on the news about America and wearing our short sleeves here in Thailand.

Finally - An Announcement and an Update

After nearly a month of our blog being offline we are back in working order. As most of you have heard, Tyler Matthew arrived on November 23rd, at 4:44am. Things went so well with his birth. We are so thankful to the Lord for our beautiful baby boy. His brothers and sisters are so excited and want to hold him all day long.

Just Checking

Had a few problems here lately with blogs.

My Little Angel

Lindsey is growing like crazy and she's been taking violin lessons for about a month or so now. She loves it and does a really good job. She already knows more about music than I do since she can read the notes and knows how to play the scales and stuff. She's cool.

My Garden

We only have about 4 feet by 6 feet for our porch which is perched 12 stories above a slum village right below. I decided back in June it would be fun to grow something with the kids so we bought some tomato seeds and pots and dirt and stuck the seeds in the ground. Here we are four months later and we have about 30 tomatoes on the vines but we haven't had any of them turn red yet. Rainy season here is just about to end so now that the sun is shining again, maybe they'll start changing to red. We're also growing some cilantro as well. If I could get some onions to grow, we'd be able to have our own salsa!

Camping Out

The kids have been wanting to get a tent for a long time. They saved their money for a while and bought one that was on sale at a local store. It set them back about $8.75 for the tent. It's the equivalent of a family dollar store product in quality, but they love it. We camped out last night up on the roof and had a good time. Needless to say, it was stinking hot and so Trevor gave up around midnight and I took him back downstairs to sleep in the A/C with his mom. The girls did great, we cooked smores on our little grill and played games and sang until they fell asleep.
The problem was that the tent said "2 man tent" and I think they meant "2 Thai man tent" because I had to sleep with the zipper unzipped and my feet hanging out. It was about a foot shorter than I am. We had a good time though! Luckily enough we live in a 12 story apartment building and it was very windy so there weren't any mosquitos.

IBFT Teen Camp 2007

This was from last week when we were in the mountains of Thailand for teen camp. I got to help with the games and it was awesome! It was a ton of fun and 7 teens trusted in the Lord. Two of the boys that rode in my car from Bangkok to camp got saved. Praise the Lord!

Trust Me, It's Real

Where else in the world can you go and spend $7 and watch a full grown man do this?
You've just got to love this country!
Oh yeah, this guy has a really NASTY scar on this right wrist where he almost lost his hand a few years ago.

My Monkees

Here I am with two of the craziest monkeys I've ever seen. Some might say there are three monkeys in this picture! I sat down with this monkey after taking some pictures and the thing grabbed my hat and put it on. When Trevor sat down there with me, the thing grabbed his arm and tried to wrestle with him. Trevor was EXTREMELY unimpressed!

Things just aren't the same here

Here we are at a trip to the local crocodile farm near our house. It's the 2nd time we've been there but they didn't have the full grown leopard out for petting last time we went. Can you imagine this in America?? This place has about 50,000 croc's living here ranging from 4 inches long to 19 feet long. They also have a zoo where you can feed monkey's, chips, hippo's, and all kinds of other animals that would be happy to rip your arm off. (The porcupines really aren't very friendly.) Other than that, it's not a bad deal for about $7.

How is the language coming?

We are often asked "How is your language learning going?" That is a hard question to answer. We have completed approximately 450 hours of language study. We go back and forth between being excited and encouraged and being overwhelmed and discouraged. It really is exciting to learn a new language. It is more exciting when we get to use our limited vocabulary and we are understood by a Thai. But when we realize how much we have to learn we are overwhelmed. The Thai language has 5 tones and that makes it very confusing for us. These pictures are of a Thai play that our teachers performed. We have a good school and they do make learning interesting and fun. Please pray fervently for us as we seek to learn the Thai language.

Fun in Thailand

We went to Surin for Mother's Day weekend. Mother's Day is in August to celebrate the Queen's birthday. We got to participate in the Family Day. The kids had a great time. Boy was it hot! We look forward to the time when we will be in Surin full-time.

Adjustments to Missionary Life

People often request prayer for new missionaries as they adjust to a new field of service. We have requested prayer for the same thing. There are many things to think about as you face life in a new place. We have really enjoyed living in Thailand but not all of it has been easy. We miss many of the things and people that are familiar to us. One of Matt's adjustments has been life without Mountain Dew. :) We have not found even one in Thailand. However, last week a group from Wisconsin was so gracious to help Matt with his "withdrawal." They brought him not one, not two but a whole pile of Mountain Dew. In most areas of Matt's life he is a very generous person. In this area, he is not. I think they are hidden somewhere in his closet. Getting a Target in Bangkok could be a little more work.


Other adjustments are not so simple. Recently, Matt was hit by a reckless driver while driving home from church. Thankfully, no one was hurt. It was quite a job getting in touch with our insurance company, especially since no one spoke English and Matt's phone died right in the middle of the whole situation. In Thailand when there is a wreck, you don't move the vehicles until the insurance adjustors arrive to determine who was at fault. Praise the Lord, the other driver, who's fault the accident was, volunteered to call Matt's insurance company for him and explain the situation. As you can see, we need and appreciate your prayers for our family as we adjust to our new culture.

Our New Ride

While on deputation, we had to raise money for our Outfit and Passage Fund. The biggest part of that fund was money for a vehicle. Praise the Lord for His provision through His people. So many gave so generously. This week we were finally able to find a vehicle. We are so thankful that we won't have to pile in a taxi or train anymore with all six of us. Now we need prayer for safety. Notice where Matt is sitting. It is interesting learning to drive on the other side of the vehicle. It is common to turn on the windshield wipers when trying to signal a turn.

Our Life - Language School

This is the view we have for 6 or 7 hours every day. We have two teachers every hour in 50 minutes segments. The teachers change every hour. They have a different topic every hour and they speak almost exclusively in Thai. We are in the 1st level. So they speak a little slower and simpler for us. After we have reached 200 hours, we move to the next level. It is a very interesting and fun way to learn. It is amazing how much we can understand after 4 weeks. But as soon as we feel confident enough to use the Thai we have learned, we find out there are 3 other words that sound the same to our American ears but have different tones and different meanings. It is overwhelming at times. Please pray that we will have grace to learn quickly.

Finally in Thailand

We arrived in Thailand on March 25, 2007. It was a long awaited day. The heat and humidity was pretty overwhelming. It was an unreal feeling to finally be in the place that God had called us to almost two years before. Then began the process of unpacking. Wow! We love our apartment. We are so happy to have a home after many months of being "homeless." It was a fun "homeless" though.

We have been here for just over a month now. We have had many experiences. Riding trains, taxi's, tuk-tuk's, and motorcycles. We have tried many new foods and seen many that we are not brave enough to try yet. The kids are really enjoying being in Thailand. Lindsey is ready for any new adventure. She begged us to let her ride the moto with our friend, Ya.

We started language school last week. It is really exciting to start learning the language finally.

Elephant Fun

The girls made fast friends with Sai, a girl from Surin who stays with Jim and Kathi Hayes. She speaks virtually no English so it was interesting watching them try to communicate. They did surprisingly well.

While at camp in Surin, we got to visit The Elephant Village. 10 of the Elephants performed for us. It was great. Matt and Jim Hayes both got to be part of the show. The kids loved it and Lindsey actually was picked up on the trunk of one of the elephants.

Summer Ministry Update

Jones’ Journeys
August-September 2006 Update

Crazy times-that’s the understatement of the day! Time flies when you’re on deputation, especially when you’re never in the same place for more than three days! Eight days ago I was in Thailand. We were in southern Illinois seven days ago and in Chicago three days ago. Today we’re in West Virginia, and we’ll be in South Bend, Indiana, by the time you read this letter. Then a day later, I’m off to Colorado Springs for a week before heading to Michigan. Like I said, “crazy times” is the understatement of the day. We even hit a special “mile marker” this summer. We had to fill up the gas tank on our van for $3.31/gallon, and the total was over $80 for one tank of gas! Yikes!

Ministry Praises
(Don’t skip this part!)

1) It’s been an incredible summer full of meetings. We had a total of seven churches and one individual take us on for support since the first of July. Within seven days in July we had three churches take us on, and some close friends gave us a $5000 gift for our Outfit and Passage Fund. We now have about 25% of our O and P Fund.

2) We are currently at 65% of our support, and we’re starting a string of 13 missions conferences in mid-September lasting until mid-November.

3) As I mentioned, I traveled alone to Thailand last week to submit our paperwork to the Thai government for our visas. Other than sitting in the middle of the center section for 12 hours on the plane back to Chicago, it was a great trip.

4) I made it through ordination in July!

5) After purchasing the plane ticket to Thailand, I found out that I didn’t have a birth certificate. I haven’t seen it in years, and it was necessary to have it for the Thai officials. I sat in Ottawa, Kansas, and called the health department in Greeneville, Tennessee. When the lady answered the phone, I thought “that voice sounds familiar.” I began explaining my situation and let the lady know that I needed the certificate in my hands in less than seven days. The voice then stopped me and said, “Is this Matt Jones?” WOW! The person on the other end of the phone was a girl formerly from Calvary Baptist Church in Ottawa, Kansas, who is now married and living in the Greeneville, Tennessee, area! I couldn’t believe it. Janelle (Hawkins) Pruitt was able to get the certificate printed, signed, and mailed to me that day. She told me it normally takes a month! The Lord is good!

Ministry Requests
(This is where we really need you!)

1) We continue to need our support to increase, as well as our Outfit and Passage Fund. There are still roughly 6-8 churches who could take us on at any moment.

2) There are only 600 visas given to foreign missionaries in Thailand. When those slots are full (and they are), you get in line and wait for an opening. When someone leaves the country, someone in line gets a visa. Until you get a religious visa, you have to travel in and out of the country via Cambodia every 30 days on a tourist visa. The cost of that adds up quickly! That’s why I went to Thailand to put our names on the list of those waiting. The normal wait is 12-24 months. Pray that a bunch of Mormons or Charismatics (or both J) will leave the country between now and then, so we can get our visas when we get to Thailand next year.

3) Our van has now reached 148,000 miles, and it’s normal for three or more of the “warning” lights on our dash board to be on at any given time. We’ve spent a few hundred dollars this summer “tuning up” everything that can be tuned up, but we’re still having trouble with the emissions system. Pray for grace. If a Ford vehicle makes it to 200,000 miles, it will truly be a miracle of epic proportions! We’re going to push it until it drops, hoping we will not have to buy a new van for the few remaining months of deputation.

4) Our goal is now to make it to Thailand in March 2007. Jim and Kathi Hayes will be home on furlough until February 2007.

5) We have a couple of unspoken requests as well.

We love you guys. If you read through this entire letter, we can’t thank you enough. Please take just a moment to pray over these requests! Without your prayers, we’re powerless!

Crazy Days

Keeping up with the Joneses
March and April 2006

It was the darkest cloud I’d seen in a long time. The storm to our west was moving in our direction in a hurry while we traveled through Eastern Kansas that Sunday morning. We were familiar with these Spring storms in the Midwest, but this one was awesome! We ultimately were pounded by about 42 million hailstones that left our windshield with literally dozens of little chips in it and a few dents on the hood and doors. Praise the Lord we still made it to our meetings that day even though dozens of tornadoes touched down that day from Kansas to Indiana! To this day, a broken windshield is the worst incident we’ve had while traveling! That’s not bad!
The month of March was a great month in a lot of ways. It was packed with 8 meetings that ranged from Minnesota to Pennsylvania and then down to South Carolina. We traveled 5006 miles in just that one month! April has been just as busy with two great missions conferences and another 4500 miles traveled. God’s been so good to us and we’re more eager than ever to get to Southeast Asia. We’ve been learning so much during this time and we’re actually really enjoying ourselves!
I wanted to give a few more specific requests than normal this month so if you’ve got a few minutes to pray over these things, it would be a blessing to us.

Specific prayer needs:
*Pray that the Thai people would grow discontent with the deception of Buddhism.
*Pray for Kathi Hayes who had to spend some time in the hospital last week after complaining about chest pains and then passing out later that day.
*Pray for Orawan and Ya. They are faithful young ladies in the church in Surin and Satan would love to destroy their testimony. Ya’s mother committed suicide this past week after seeing Ya last weekend for the first time in 9 years.
*Pray for a girl named Top as well. She’s a Believer in Surin and she’s facing a great deal of pressure from her parents to abandon Christianity.
*Jim and Kathi are back in the States for a few weeks so Jim and teach at Maranatha. Pray for safe travels and a refreshing time for them with their family.*Pray that we’ll be at 50% of our support by the end of May.
*Pray specifically that we could leave the States for Thailand by March of 2007.
*Pray for the power of the Spirit to rest on our deputation ministry.
*There are two couples that I’m praying will be called to Thailand soon. I’ll not mention their names (they don’t know I’m praying for them), but please pray that the Lord would call these two families to join our team in Northeastern Thailand.
Praises:
*Last week a team of medical professionals from the States traveled to Thailand with Operation Renewed Hope and Evangelist Tom Farrell. During their time there in the tsunami stricken areas, they were able to treat more than 700 patients and 20 of them responded to the Gospel!
*Our support has continued to increase. A church in South Carolina voted this week to begin our support in July and that moves our support level to 46.4%.
*Our oldest daughter Lindsey has begun to meditate on “spiritual things.” We believe she may understand the Gospel and trust Christ in the near future.
*We paid the last $298.00 on our van this week. We were able to pay it off more than two years ahead of schedule. The Lord provided nearly $5000 since January of this year.
*Our 2001 Ford Windstar hit 133,000 miles this week and is still going strong.
*We have some dear friends in New England that have committed to helping us with our outfit and passage fund later this year. We’ve currently been able to put away $1200 toward the $32,000 target. Amen!

We love you all and can’t tell you how much we need you and appreciate you praying for our family!

To Make Him Known,

The Jones Family
BWM—Thailand

The Jones’ Journeys
January-February 2006

"We don’t know who he was, he just came to my grandmother’s home in India one morning years ago and shared the Gospel with her. She believed and was saved that morning.” This was the testimony of a dear Indian lady as we sat at lunch with her wonderful family in Mississippi. Through tears, she shared her testimony of how her Hindu mother, father and many other family members had since trusted in Christ. Now she and her wonderful husband are raising their three sons to serve the Lord. It overwhelmed me as I thought about the Thai Buddhists that will hear the Gospel, be saved and then begin the process of winning their family members.

The last two months of deputation have been a great time for us. The Lord has given us the opportunities to see and do so many things. We’ve been in or through North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, West Virginia, Virginia, Arkansas, Missouri and Kansas. As I write this, we’re on our way to Minnesota before heading off to Pennsylvania and back to South Carolina! Praise the Lord for a full schedule!

Rejoice with us as we joyfully reflect on the great things that God has done:

1) Our support level continues to climb. We’ve moved up to 31% with two or three churches still considering taking us on soon.
2) The Lord has continued to meet our needs financially and we’re hoping to be able to pay off our minivan in the next three months. This will be 2 years ahead of schedule!
3) A church in Tennessee bought us a new set of tires for our van.
4) My uncle surprised me recently by giving me a nice set of used Ping i3 irons!
5) We now have our very own “blog” site where we can post information about our travels. For those interested, you can check it out at www.awsmissions.com/jones
6) We’ve been able to begin saving for our “Outfit and Passage” fund.

We’d be honored if you were able to take a few moments while you’re reading this and pray for these particular areas:

1) Please pray that the Lord “show Himself strong” on our behalf by giving us the opportunity to get to Thailand by this time next year.
2) Pray that the Lord will continue to provide the nearly $33,000 needed for our outfit and passage fund.
3) Pray for the salvation of a young man named Brad in Brooklet, Georgia.
4) Pray that the Lord would allow us to fill up the last 3-4 spots we have open in our 2006 schedule.
5) Pray that God’s people will give faithfully in churches we are visiting so the churches will have the ability to support us and other missionaries.
6) Pray that we would be a blessing and encouragement to the churches we are visiting.

We love you all and we couldn’t continue without your prayers. We can tell so vividly when people are faithfully praying for us—there’s a clear sense of the power of God resting on our ministry when God’s people are praying.

Thank you all and we love you! For His Glory,

Matt and Courtney Jones
BWM--Thailand