Pharoh......

last week my friend Ying (one of the thai nannies) had her baby. A baby boy who's thai name is Nitigon. I think that name means someone who is in high authority and respected. His nickname given by the people in her village is Pharoh. Not sure why. But here are some pictures of when we went to go visit her after returning from the hospital. He's beautiful as is she!

cave exploring.....

More pictures of the caves.....

CAVES........

My friend CeCe who is a fellow Washintonian is leaving in a couple weeks and wanted to do something really special with a selected few of us. So she took me and some others to this really great abandoned Wat (meaning temple) and next to it is a cave that the monks have preserved. It was amazing. There were stalagmites all around us. It was beautiful. The couple that drove us there stayed outside and had a little worship while we were all inside. It was a beautiful moment! One of those where you pause and take it all in. I couldn't believe I was there.....hearing beautiful music off in the distance and inside this cave with incredible formations. It just made me stop and take a deep breath and wonder how so many people can even question the fact that God even exists. It was a beautiful day! We ended our time by partaking in some really good food and pie at this infamous pie shop on the way back home! Beautiful day! Here are some photos of our time.......The girl with the darker hair is Cece and the one with the lighter hair is Jessica. The two thai girls are friends of Cece's that she became friends with while living here.

living as an ordinary radical.....

I am struggling trying to balance my time lately. I love being surrounded by people and yet I know that when I am spending time with the Lord I am filled up, refreshed and so much better to be around. But I still can't seem to find a balance in this area. I lack in discipline. Last night I had this inward struggle with this very thing. When I got home I wanted so badly to open my bible and read or sing some songs on my guitar to the Lord but I found myself feeling extremely tired and only wanted to lay on the couch and watch a movie.....that way I wouldn't have to think about anything. I could tune everything out. Kind of a self medication type thing. And then of course I fell asleep and felt horribly guilty in the morning for not spending my time wisely with the Love of my life. And this is the inward struggle between our flesh and the spirit. So I can make a choice when I wake up to change and do things better or I could wallow in this state of guilt and beat myself up. I find that I struggle with these things no matter where I am at. Our weaknesses always follow us where ever we go.....where ever we try to run away from them. I am redeemed and don't need to live my life in a state of self pity. Thank God for that. I mean really I thank my God that I can move on and step forward in this. God knows us better than we know our selves.

I am still finding joy in walking the markets picking out fruit for the day. People are very friendly and I am making some good friends as they see me everyday and are seeing an improvement in my thai. That is very encouraging and on days when I wonder what the heck I am doing here I am reassured that God's got it all planned out and has me here for relationships. Greeting people in the markets, making small talk with street venders, and loving the kids with all that I have. Struggles are good. Struggles are healthy and as much as we hate to struggle, it means we are letting go more of ourSELVES and allowing God to strip us of our selfishness. I want to be stripped. I want to be open and broken and sluffed of the things that hold me back. I don't want to be bound up. I want to be nam jai.....the name where I work is baan meaning home, nam meaning water, and jai meaning heart. Nam Jai means water pouring out of the heart. Living water spilling out of the heart. I want love, grace, mercy, joy, and PEACE to be pouring out of my life......So that is my prayer. There is some rich soil here in Thailand and the people are hungry and living. I am greatful to be here in this place.....

May madness.....

It has been a long awaited update......I am very sorry to all of you who have been waiting to hear what’s going on in my life. I am still alive and kicken. Life here has been changing all around me. I am entering a season of people leaving me. Friends that I have grown to really enjoy, appreciate even glean from are heading back to thier friends and families at home. It’s going to be a hard transition but I trust that the Lord is already and will take good care of me as He always does.

Now for the nitty gritty......
KIDS- the kids have started their new school. It is an all thai school that is on the Rajapat University grounds. It’s a very good school and the kids are getting quite settled in. They have different uniforms for each day and different books for each day so I think it’s harder on us to figure out who wears what and puts what in their backpacks. They are really enjoying being emmersed into thai. It’s really good for them too. So when the kids are in school we have just two kids at home, Mai and Josiah. They are loving all of the attention on these days! This is really good for these guys too. We will start a kindy for them as soon as we find someone who really wants to teach and also wants to serve at Baan Nam Jai. Susie is in the process of getting in the school to start teaching english which will be really good for her thai and also get her more involved in the community. The kids are thriving so much lately now that we have a steady staff that has been here for 6+ months. They know that we aren’t going anywhere anytime soon. That’s been really good to see.
STAFF- we are about to enter into a change of admin. staff here pretty soon. Luke and Penny Wilcox (Paul and Penny Wilcox, the directors of BNJ, their son and daughter in law) will be heading back to Australia in August. My house mates, Dave and Jess, will also be heading back to Australia a couple weeks before Luke and Penny. So we are in need of staff in the office. We are praying that we will get more thai staff as well as foreign staff for all of the thai and english e.mails, files, etc. can be taken care of well. I am sad to see these guys go. But am excited to see who God is going to bring to serve here. I am praying for some long-termers so that I don’t have to keep saying goodbye.
ME- I know you guys are waiting to hear about what’s going on in my life.....well, the above topics involve me very much. But I am also entering into a different phase of my time here. I am starting what is called C-and-L. This stands for Culture and Language staff. YWAM, the organization that I am with, likes to shorten everything into letters. So I will pretty much be studying thai 4 days a week. I will be doing morning shifts at BNJ with the kids 4 days a week and will be starting training to take over the child and staff sponsership program. That basically means that I will be in charge of all of the people who sponser the kids here and the staff. I am guessing that it means I keep track of what money comes for who and keep them updated on how each child and staff is doing. So I will have a lot on my plate. I am excited about this change but am also a bit hesitant about all of the change that is coming. As much as I love to be doing new things and live clear across the world I don’t absolutely love change. I am a very routine girl and love taking the same way to work and to the market and to town. I’m not a big explorer because I hate getting lost and hate not knowing where I am going. So this is going to be good but also a little stressful. Also I am entering a weird time in my little thai life here. I think I am getting more settled in here and am feeling a bit apathetic at times. All of the newness is wearing off and I have found days where I wake up and am not excited to go to work.....WORK.....yeah, it feels like work somedays. I know all of this is normal but I don’t want it to feel like work. I really want to be excited to wake up in the morning and go see the kids. I know it’s the enemy but I really am not liking this phase. So when you get a chance really pray for me. Pray that I won’t feel like I am just going to a job. Pray that I will be disciplined with my days and really take time to really be greatful for this place that I am in and what God has me doing here. I can not live this life here on my own. I need the Lord to walk me through each day. That takes being intentional and disciplined and those I lack very much so. Also for those of you who don’t know I am now driving the roads of Chiang Rai on a beautiful chocolate brown Fino made by yamaha. I love having the freedom to get around whenever I want. Her name is Milo. Milo is a chocolate drink here.......kind of like Ovaltine. Thai people love Milo!! So I felt that was an appropriate name for her. That pretty much wraps that up......I will give a list of prayer requesties......and then I will sign this one off and hopefully, if time permits, get an update off again very soon.......
PRAYER- Kids- you could pray for them in general for health, and their new school, for good friends and protection.
Staff- pray that the Lord will bring us good quality staff that will stay long term and maybe for us to get more male staff for those of us who are not married yet.....I’m not speaking for myself necessarily :-) Also pray for the staff that is here already....pray for joy, endurance, strength, renewed vision, and patience for those of us who work with the kids. Also for Penny Wilcox and her health.
Me- you can pray for discipline, good friends and that I would learn thai really quickly and easily. Also that I would keep the excitement of being here alive. I don’t want the enemy to steal my joy and purpose for which God called me here.

I hope this gives you a picture of what’s going on in my life here and now.......I am counting down the days till I get to see my mom and her good friend Janie. They will come in September for a couple weeks. Also I have some friends coming in July to visit me and another friend of theirs here in Chiang Rai for a couple days. Those sweet visits will carry me through until it’s time for me to come home next May to renew my visa and reestablish my support network. Thanks for reading this and sharing with me this adventure here. I love hearing from you all. So keep up the e.mails even if I am not able to get back to each one of them. Know that they are a blessing to me and keep my spirits up! I love you all and cherish you all......

Love,
Kyndra Mikelle Moore