Hello Friends and Happy Thanksgiving,
Hopefully you are all enjoying some great food and company today as we celebrate this time of Thanksgiving. It has been a while since my last update (sorry about that) and we have much to be thankful for. We have a good Father who gives good gifts to his children. He has blessed our family richly, especially over the last few months since we returned to Thailand. So with that in mind, here are a few things I’m thankful for today.
My Family. Lindlee is now 3 months old and boy is her personality starting to take shape! She is so sweet and so full of giggles. Leeza and I loved being parents to Tripp, but having 2 kiddos to love on is even better. Speaking of Tripp, I need to brag on this kid for just a moment. He is an awesome big brother! He does not constantly bothering Lindlee and likes to give her space. But then there are these moments when he just loves on her and kisses her… You’ll have to take my word for it. It’s adorable. I’m really proud and thankful for the little boy he is becoming. And then there is Leeza. Whew! Words don’t even describe how thankful I am for her. I just got back from a 10-day trip in India and she did great. She is a strong and capable woman. The way she supports me in my ministry is a true gift from God.
A Season of Fruit. Many of you know that the last year of ministry in Bangkok was difficult. I have called it a season of learning. Planting a church and a vision to reach every man, woman, and child in Bangkok has not been easy. But there are seasons for sowing and seasons for reaping. We have recently experienced a season of reaping and it has been so encouraging. In my last blog I mentioned we had a short-term team of Cambodian-Americans comi
ng to serve in Bangkok. They did outreach and evangelism for 2 weeks in 3 different Cambodian work camps. Over the course of those 2 weeks they were able to lead over 40 people to the Lord! Some of them are studying the Bible with us 3 times a week at 6 am before their 12-hour workday. Their hunger to learn about their new faith and grow in the Lord is so energizing to our team. We are continuing to follow up with others who made a profession of faith through our newest team member Chheang. Chheang is a young Cambodian man who is going to be doing a 1year residency with us. We are very thankful God provided a Cambodian leader whom we can invest in and partner with to plant churches amongst the over 500,000 Cambodians living in Bangkok.
Our SCP Bangkok Team. Our team in Bangkok has grown over the last year and it has been a real blessing. It has been great getting to know them as well as growing closer with the Smiths, who we served with last year. Last month we went on a Team Retreat that I believe was foundational to what I expect to be a great ministry team. One thing I have believed for many years now is that the people you do ministry is more important than where you do ministry. Bangkok is great and we are happy to be here, but working with this SCP Bangkok Team is a privilege.
There are so many more things I want to update you all on, so look for another blog entry soon. Enjoy yourselves today, eat lots of turkey, and give thanks to God for all that you have because we don’t deserve any of it.
May the Lord bless you all and Happy Thanksgiving from the Belchers!
Carl, Leeza, Tripp and Lindlee