I told them to make a "sanook naa" which means funny face (or at least that's the best I could say it)...and here they are making their funny faces. Josiah is thinking "what is sanook naa Momma? Did you say "say cheese" yet Momma?" Please keep us in prayer - we will be with these children every Saturday and Sunday night telling them about the love of our God and that He has a plan for their lives...
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Group picture of the kids of the Budtai market...
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Pii Thak showing them the new well that was dug...
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Pii Thak teaching about the well that only gave dirty water...
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Pii Thak talking about the new book...
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The children looking at their new books while listening to Pii Thak...
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Singing songs with the children...
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Pii Thak and Kathryn sing songs with the children and teach them the moves. :) I don't know them yet heheheh....
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Group picture of the children of the Budtai market...
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Josiah getting to play with some of the children from the market on a huge blow up slide they had out.
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John took Brandon up the mountain that is right by our house to show him all the idols that over look Hat Yai. This is just one of the many chinese idols that are on this mountain. There are a mixture of Buddhist and Chinese religious idols and gods on this mountain. Many of them can be seen from around the city. People come up the mountain and burn incense and make sacrifices to their gods here.
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You would think this a war god right? NOPE! This is the god of generousity - once again, not for sure if that is completely right...I'm just going off of what I was told by a few people. This god is the god of giving and having integrity...many people sacrifice at his feet...
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I asked a couple people about this god but no one could give me a straight answer although many sacrifice to this idol. The best I could make out is that she sacrificed herself to a cow (because they believe cows once ate meat) and when she sacrificed herself the cow never has to eat meat again...that's the best I could figure out - the stories are soooo varied about all these different gods...
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Here is a man making an offering to this Chinese god...
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You can pay to set these birds free and bring yourself good "kharma" in life....in Bangkok it has been outlawed (or so I read about a year ago) because the salesmen would put the birds on drugs so that they would return to their master....
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Here is Brandon infront of a huge idol - this one is a Buddhist god but it is actually originally a Hindu god that has been adopted by the Buddhist religion over the yeaers...
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This is Asia - Josiah's only playmate - she's a doll isn't she! John caught this pic while she was playing Dr.
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Brandon - Sat. Children's Outreach - Prayer Request

Well - Brandon has been here since last Thursday and it has been great. The first 2 days we just studied Thai and let Brandon recooperate from jetlag. He's doing great now and John and Brandon have been going all over the place passing out tracks and visiting at the villages.

This last Saturday I went with Pii Thak to help her with the night market children. These children run around in this market while there mothers and fathers run their shops with little to no love or supervision. Pii Thak has been going out every Saturday and Sunday ministering to them by telling them stories of God's love, playing with them, giving them treats and fun stuff like stickers and just spending time with them.

When we first arrived there were about 7-8 children and by the time we left there were well over 15! They are starved for love and attention and they LOVE Pii Thak. This was my first time to come and they remembered me and Josiah. We had been there and played with them when we brought that drama to this market a couple of months ago. They want to know where Josiah was :) John and the guys showed up later with Josiah to pass out tracks in the market.

We started with prayer and some chit chat and then Pii Thak told them a story about a village that had a well that only put forth dirty water....and that in order for the village to have clean water they had to dig a brand new well. This story relates to the fact that when our hearts are dirty and only gives out bad things we must allow Jesus to give us a new heart....Pii Thak was wonderful at relating the story to the children and keeping them entertained!

Afterward we gave them free books with fun activities (all in Thai - Praise God!) and Kathryn arrived with the candy :) Kathryn and Pii Thak then proceeded to teach the kids some fun kids songs about Jesus and the love of God ( I haven't learned them yet ). The kids had a BLAST! After that Pii Thak pulled out some Christian temporary tatoos and they were beside themselves. Pii Thak loves these children so much she put each tatoo on each child herself...I was dealing with the onslaught of Thai people who were surrounding Josiah and trying to help him cope and not get angry.

It was a wonderful night and the children did not want us to leave at all! They kept following us asking Pii Thak more and more questions. They are so hungry for more love. We will be returning every weekend to these children - and I am wondering if any of you know some simple Christian songs that we could teach them. I know a few that we can translate into Thai and they have hand motions - but I am very curious if there is someone out there who knows a ton of them :) If so, we would be greatful for any help with more songs. The children love them and songs stay with you for yoru whole life - the only songs I know, I learned when I was a child.

Some more good news-we just found out we can buy these GREAT tracks for only 2 baht a piece...which is around 7-8 cents a book! Tonight Brandon and John went downtown to pass out tracks and when they started passing out those specific tracks...they had a huge response. Hardly anyone turned down that book and it has so much more information and is put together much better. We need to buy more of this kind. If you want to help with this you can use the "make a donation" button at the top right of this blog and put in a specification that you want the money you donate to go straight to the purchasing of tracks and it will be done.

Passing out tracks in this country is not like in America - here they are genuinely eager to know about this Jesus that the "farangs" speak of and they want to read more. In the back of each track we put a stamp that includes information on how to send off for a free bible and how to contact us for more information.

What have I been doing you ask??? My day seems to currently consist of this: studying Thai, growing (my stomach), studying Thai....more studying Thai....make food....more studying Thai....go to class....study Thai....make food.....clean....study Thai.....spend time with God....study Thai....clean.....so on and so forth. :) Please keep me in your prayers because studying Thai is getting harder and harder but I am definately seeing results. But it's hard ya know....when you are putting in so much effort but you still can't speak what is in your heart.

The time will come though if I am diligent and stay on top of it. With studying Thai and the ministry that we do at nights and on the weekends I stay steadily tired and in a constant state of needing a nap so it seems :). This week in particular - Jude Andrew seems to be growing as fast as a giant....and I think that I don't have much room left for him and I've still got 3 months left!! WHEW! God please help my body!!!

Oh one more thing for prayer....When Jude Andrew arrives we have a little bit of a problem that we need prayer about. In Thailand they do not circumcise their children - well, I can't say that that DO NOT at all - because they will circumcise if the child is 3 years old! There are not many Dr.'s here who have experience with this at a young age and even fewer are willing to do the procedure on an infant.

If everything goes as planned we will be visiting the states from Jan. 24th - March 28th which is about 6 weeks after Jude is born. When we come to the states we have been told that there are very few Dr's in the states that will circumcise after 3-4 weeks! Two totally different believes in these two totally different cultures! I have been refered by the Dr. who delievered Josiah (thank you Nettie and Dr. Thornton!!!) to a Pediatrician that informed us that only a specialized urologist will do this procedure (in a hospital) on a child of Jude's age (6weeks+) and that means that it will cost a small fortune!!!

So, we are praying that God will provide a way for all of this to work out because we do not have insurance or money enough to pay for a procedure like this. We still have not given up on finding a Dr. here that has the experience and the will to do this procedure but John and I are being very precautious about the experience part because we want no mess ups!!!! :) As I'm sure all mothers out there understand!!

Well, we love you all and thank you so much for the comments! We love them - oh but please don't forget to leave your name (if you are wanting us to know who you are...) there are a few anonymous comments and I don't think they were meant to be anonymous. Enjoy the pics :)

World...meet Jude Andrew! I hope you can see well - I had a hard time at first because it is quite distorted but you can still see his little profile on the left side of the orange stuff and his hands are infront of his face...
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MaryBeth and Asia watching the video...
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The woman in the pink shirt is Pii Thak - she is telling her testimony and about the love of God and why we have come to their village. Pii Thak is a very annointed woman of God who's heart is for the children of her country. She has an incredible testimony because she spent many years of her life as a prostitute and she came to know God through the ministry of this team and her life was radically changed! We are so blessed to have her on our team...
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The guys praying for a man who was sick...
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After the video many were prayed for various reasons - some for being sick and others to know Jesus...
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If you see white stuff on there face it is a powderish stuff that they put on their face to protect from the sun and to keep them cool.
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Many people came this night to see the video that the "farangs" had setup in there village - most were women and children.
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The outreach to Sadeo - a small village about an hour or so from Hat Yai...
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Josiah showing off his cape that he lovingly called his superman cape!
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Here is Josiah a couple of nights ago in a funny costume that John put together for him...his cape is made from a spiderman towel that we found at a local market here...Josiah was pretending to be "superman" that night...saving the good people and defeating the bad guys....
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Josiah hugging the leg of a dinosaur - you can see the heat and walking was getting to him...about ready for a nap...
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2 girls wanting to take a picture with Josiah..
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Some girls that were completely in awe of Josiah wanting to take some pictures with him... :)
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John and Josiah handing out tracks to a group of Muslium girls that were lined up for a picture.
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Ahh...the peace sign...known just as well in Thailand as in America. Notice - Colton in the yellow shirt in the back ground. He is Clinton and Ambers first son who is 14 years old.
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More...
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More pics...
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John met up with Clinton at one point - here is Clinton giving a track to a young school girl...
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John handing out tracks to some young boys serving their term as monks...and their mentors...
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Josiah loves to help pass out tracks and as he says "help them say 'yes' to Jesus"
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More of the Songtaow..
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Hands reaching for tracks from within a Songtaow...(public transportation)
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Here you see the girls pinching at Josiah's cheeks and him dealing with it the best he knows how....he's such a big boy and he's doing better with the Thai pinchiness and so are we as parents. We are learning to speak in a way that won't offend and will help the Thai people understand that it really upsets him most of the time when they do this. Josiah is learning first hand how to be a servant of God and loving these people even though they frustrate him so.
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More of passing out tracks...
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Passing out tracks..
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Passing out tracks...
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John and Josiah passing out tracks on the college campus on Student Day...
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The Piano Girls - Student Day - Definately a Boy!

You know...I've been looking over my last few posts and it seems as if I have been in such a hurry to let everyone know what has been going on that I have been neglecting the every day things that happen here that are so incredible. What a shame! Anyway, I am going to be more mindful when I write.

Every Tuesday we (the girls - Amber, MaryBeth, Kathryn and I) are going out to minister to the women of Hat Yai - specifically the prostitutes. The Tuesday before last we went by motorcycle and went to the downtown area of Hat Yai. About two years ago the team here had dedicated themselves to walking through this area everyday for about 5 months praying that the many prostitution houses posing as "kareoke shops and massage shops" would shut down. About two years later here we are walking down the streets that they had prayed on and it is amazing how many shops are no longer in service.

There is very little activity in this area - although there is still quite a bit but definately not as much as there used to be. The Tuesday before last we went out and toward the end of our night we saw one of MaryBeth's friends who is currently in prostitution and working out of a "kareoke shop". When you walk in the walls are lined with benches for women to sit and a dusty old kareoke machine sits in the corner to keep up the fascade. In the window sit many many wooden idols made to look like male genitals that have had gold paper put on the tips of them in worship. There are also many buddhist necklaces around these idols. I don't know what to call these buddhist necklaces - they are similar to lays but they are specifically for offering to their gods and idols.

We sat and chatted with her for a while and gave some tracks to the few women that were in there and went on our way - we told them we would return again. When we came out of her shop I had my first real look at the showy end of prostitution in Thailand. There were about 5-6 tables with beautiful young Thai women sitting about 5 to each table. They were sitting out infront of the club like a buffet. Gorgeous girls....decked out in high heels...low cut shirts...high cut skirts...and tons of makeup. They were beautiful on the outside but they looked so sad on the inside. We walked up to them and began giving them tracks - they were very very receptive and began to read them immediately.

While we were chatting with them a few cars pulled up briefly and a couple of girls would get up and stand infront of the cars and giggle and flirt. It's so amazing what being a "farang" (foreigner) does....these girls wanted to know all about us and they love our white skin! We sat down at one of the tables and MaryBeth began to share Jesus with them - I don't know what she said because I can only catch small bits so far but the girls listened intently. The tracks that we pass out have a stapled sheet in the back of it that gives a phone number and address where they can seek more information or a bible for free.

While we were talking to the "Piano Girls" (so I call them because they are infront of the Piano club) a man came up and told us he had just given his life to Jesus one week ago. It was a very awesome meeting because this man didn't know where to go or how to get to know Jesus more so Amber got his phone number so that the guys could contact him and help him. We left after visiting for a while - many of them were very embarassed because they knew that we knew what they were there for so they were very shy. We told them we would return again and visit them. The most important thing that we can do with these girls is build relationships with them and show them the love of God...and a way out of the lifestyle that they are in.

This last week has been the week of the agricultural fair here in Hat Yai and we were unable to get a booth but we have been out there passing out tracks. This last Thursday and Friday Clinton, John and Josiah went out to the college campus that the fair is held on and passed out tracks to tons of students!!! The whole campus was filled with students from every school in Hat Yai and surrounding areas. There were thousands of students and they all thought John and Josiah were the coolest things since rice. John, Chase and Josiah split up to get different areas of the campus and Chase took lots of pictures. John said there were times when he was a bit worried because he would be completely surrounded with kids reaching for the tracks.

They were scared he would run out so they were forcefully trying to get them from him. Josiah is amongst all of this if you can imagine...so eventually John ended up tying Josiah's hand to his back pack with a bandana to keep up with him! :) I was at language class during all this. Over those few days they were able to pass out 2,500++ tracks!!!

Last Friday we were blessed in that we were able to go to the clinic with the 3d ultrasound machine again and look at little Jude Andrew! John and I wanted to go again one more time and look again to confirm that it was a boy...the dr. told us last time and we didn't get to see for ourselves that well so we just wanted another peek. This time when we went we asked if we could have a picture and he said yes AND we could have a video too!!! We caught little Jude Andrew in the middle of a yawn and we have it on video. I'm working on getting it on the internet so that you can view it but I don't have it figured out yet. It is a 20MB file so I can not e-mail it - WAY TO BIG!

He looks just like Josiah from what we could see! He is constantly moving around in such a way that I can barely believe he still has 3 more months to grow - there doesn't seem to be any room left!! Brandon will be arriving this Thursday and we can't wait! We have a room ready for him now (had to buy a mattress and sheets ect....) and we have much planned.

Please keep us in prayer about learning Thai! It is rough!! I go to class for about 1 1/2 or more depending on the lesson and then usually study for 2-3 hours and I could study more!!! It is a very hard language to learn and it requires much patience and diligence. John and I could both use a fresh dose of both :)

Well, I'm going to stop going on and on and get the pictures up :) We have lots this time! Thank you so much for your prayers and e-mails! For God to get all the glory I want to tell you that for some reason we have been without our normal support for about 2 months now. We have about 4 regular supporters and for some reason the others have stopped at almost the same time...? But praise God - we have not been without!!! God has definately been providing for us and he is prompting who he wants to support us and giving us what we need when we need it (including the recent expense of purchasing a mattress and sheets for Brandon when he comes)! I just think it is incredible that we have not gone without and circumstances have been how they have! God is good!

Ok - enjoy the pictures! And please remember - we love to get comments and e-mails from you!

We had an ultrasound! And it's a....

This last Monday we went to a clinic that has a good ultrasound machine and we were able to see our little baby kicking around. We found out - much to our suprise - We are having a....

BOY!

Another boy! Honestly we were pretty shocked but we are very happy to have our new little BOY on the way. I jokingly said "Maybe this is God's way of saying - Your gonna have more than two kids whether you like it or not" because if this had been a girl - John and I would have called it quits after this one. But...we are entertaining the idea of having 3 children which we have never done before. We figure we've got at least 3-4 years to think about it....so, no rush :)

For those of you who wanna know here are some names we're thinking about:
Jude Andrew Blake - Jude means: Praise, Andrew means: manly
Seth Andrew Blake - Seth: Appointed One
Aiden Andrew Blake - Aiden: Fiery

Our favorite choice and most likely choice is Jude but we're just not sure yet. The middle name isn't set either but it is what I really want because it is the middle name of my deceased father - Robert Andrew Smith. He had no boys to carry on the Smith name so I would really like to use his middle name at least.

It still hits me a couple of times throughout the day that "I'm having a boy!!!". Because of the differences in this pregnancy I was about 90% convinced it was a girl.

This last Tuesday we met at hotel in downtown Hat Yai with many members of the body from different churches in the area. We prayed and worshipped and John Cava brought a message for the night. It was really incredible! About 6 people accepted Jesus into their lives that night and almost the whole room came up to stand together to accept the challenge to committ to praying and working for revival in Thailand. It was so incredible!

God really moved my heart that night and filled it with even more love for the Thai people. Many people who were there that night were baptised in the Holy Spirit and crying out to God with a repentant heart. Wednesday we had to cancel the outreach to the Muslium village due to rain. The land that we were allowed to use is on a pig farm and when it rains it is completely turned into mud and the Thai people do not like to get wet. Another big deal is of course that the projector can not go out in the rain. So we are rescheduling.

Today has been wonderful - we have been able to just spend time together as a team with John Cava and let him speak truth into our lives and it has been so refreshing to have him here. Every word that came out of his mouth was like water from heaven....I mean that it was refreshing and his words were not boggled down with religion or self. It was the truth of God's word and what God had for the team and it was good.

We have a lot planned this month - one of which is that Brandon Plumlee is joining us for one month! John and I have been long time friends with Brandon and we look forward to him being able to come and serve - and he couldn't be coming at a better time. On the 14th of this month we have an incredible opportunity to open up a booth at a huge gathering they have here. I think they call it an agricultural fair...we will have a booth setup where we can share the gospel and teach people about Jesus. It is going to be a great outreach - and it lasts for 2 weeks. Every evening our team will be manning this booth - passing out tracks, sharing the gospel, singing, and just building relationships with whomever we meet.

Another incredbile, awesome, exciting bit of news for us is that our (as good as family)/friend is coming to join us in Thailand in October instead of November! :) He will be arriving a day before my birthday which is October 7th!!! What a birthday present! We can't wait for him to arrive!!!

I will keep you updated on how things are going over the next couple of weeks. Thank you for your prayers!

Stephanie