Dear Family and Friends,
As the New Year approaches I am reminded of how God has blessed our family through out the year. Our greatest gift this year was given to us on March 16th of 2007 when Ella was born. I am happy to announce that in 2008 God will once again bless us and Elijah will have a sibling to run around the streets of Bangkok with! We are still only a few months into the pregnancy and still are unsure of the gender but we will be entering 2008 with the anticipation of our newest member. I know that with this type of news may come with plenty of questions, especially from our supporters. Please join us in prayer as we try to figure out the logistics of possibly leaving earlier and having our baby in Thailand.
In our last letter we had mentioned that we would be connecting with you individually. This process has begun and we have already met with a few of you. Our "one on one" sessions have really been great for us. Not only are we able to answer questions for you but we have also been able to better educate ourselves with a "senders" perspective. As we said in our last letter we really want to begin to use these prayer letters to not only update you on our prayer requests and needs as we prepare to leave but to also give you information about Thailand.
When Amy and I were in Bangkok, we were able to team up with an existing organization that was working in the Klong Toey Slum. The Organization consisted of fulltime staff that were all Thai. One of the workers names was Ging. He was a young guy in his late 20's at the time that had turned from a withdrawn drug and alcohol user into a confident, loving individual. God had given Ging a new identity. No longer is he known has timid but as a confident worship leader. No longer is he addicted to drugs and alcohol but now is dedicated to helping others overcome their addictive habits. He is no longer a lost soul but someone who is found and who challenges people to turn to God rather than to narcotics. We were able to spend a lot of time with Ging while living in Bangkok. We would spend time teaching him English and in return he would teach us Thai pronunciation. We spent time with him as we walked around the slum meeting people's needs and praying with them. Ging, who is poor, devotes his time to serving the poor. Ging, who is hungry, devotes his time to feeding others. He is our fried and is waiting for our return to Bangkok. Thanks for taking the time and reading about Ging. Please join us as we keep him in our thoughts and prayers.
Prayer Requests –
-We are coming closer to our departure and still have a lot to do. Please pray that we would have the time and energy to take care of the logistics.
-Pray that Amy would feel better as she battles the first trimester of pregnancy.
-We pray that God would begin to establish our "senders" team.
In His Name,
Tim Hupe