We could not have an electric bed - so John and I got a good laugh because it was a good old fashioned crank bed. By the way (not to complain but it's part of the experience) that mattress felt like a piece of cement and I have the bruised tail bone to prove it!!
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Going down to the operating room...
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I think John is handsome in scrubs... :)
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Getting ready for my spinal block...
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In the operating room right after the baby came was delivered...
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Jude weighed in at 3.19 kilos which is 6.9 pounds :)
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Jude Andrew Blake - Fresh out of the womb...
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We've finally made it home! God is so good! Our new son is incredible and sooo sweet! I will get on as soon as possible to write about the experience and everything but for now I'll let you know that everything went well and we're home! Thanks for all the e-mails!!! I'll be witting and adding more pictures so check back soon!
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Josiah getting to know Jude :)
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Jude Andrew Blake
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Jude Andrew Blake
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About 4 hours after surgery...excuse the hair please...heheheh :)
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Proud Papa...
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Sleepy Papa...
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Jude Andrew Blake
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Jude Andrew Blake
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November 16th

It's a good day to have a baby!

Well...now that what seems like eternity has passed it is finally November 16th and it's time for us to head off to the hospital to meet our new son face to face...Jude Andrew Blake! I am very excited and maybe just a little bit nervous - can't tell if I'm really nervous or just really really hungry :) Either way we're leaving in about 30 minutes and I just wanted to say thank you to the ones who have e-mailed me with their prayers and support. It meant so much to me this morning to wake up and read those e-mails.

OK...so, we're off....You'll hear from us soon! Be praying for us!

I was reading my friend's Xanga site (You should check her site out - we see and work with her everyday and it's always nice to have another view of what work is being done here...and her xanga is quite addictive :) and most of all she is a HUGE blessing to us and has become like part of the family here....)(www.xanga.com/jadethai) and she quoted this scripture:

9For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying
for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all
spiritual wisdom and understanding. 10And we pray this in order that you may
live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in
every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, 11being strengthened with all
power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and
patience, and joyfully 12giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you[a]
to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light.

I was really touched by this scripture and I wanted to share it with you guys...I pray that we will all constantly think of our lives and ask if it is worthy of our God and if we please Him in everyway...Oh God let my life please you in everyway....and may I come to know you more and more.

Jude is coming November 16th!!!!!!

Yep! The official date is November 16th!!! We have a scheduled c-section for Nov. 16th - and we almost have all the money we need to pay the hospital!! God is so good! I have been going to one of the nicest hospitals in Hat Yai called "Bangkok Hat Yai Hospital" for the past 9 months because I felt that was the only option due to some stories and experiences that people had told me about at the other hospitals.

The Thai people do many things differently...One thing that they do in the hospitals here is after you have the baby they put the baby in an incubator for 6 hours (no matter if there are complications or not!) and they do not bring you your baby until the next morning. They also feed the baby formula even if the mother has chosen to breastfeed because they believe that it is bad for the baby to wait until the mothers milk comes in. There are many other beliefs that drastically affect your experience with having a baby in Thailand. (especially if I were having the baby naturally - such as delievery methods and restrictions and such)

So...I was going to this nicer hospital because they are more "westernized" in their thinking. And they would work with us on these things (I have two friends who have had children there). But...as time has drawn closer and the money has not been here to even have the baby I have started to go to the other hospitals to consider having Jude in a cheaper hospital. The cheaper hospital would have saved $200 dollars. So, I went to a hospital called "Sikarin" and saw the doctor (who was wonderful and spoke great English) but they would not budge on many of the things that are important to me...but because of money we scheduled the c-section for Nov. 16th regardless.

After I finished at this hospital and everything was set I went to "Bangkok Hat Yai Hospital" to tell my doctor and talk to another dr. friend of mine. When I sat down with my dr. friend and told her that I was going to go to a different hospital she called her director and he gave us 10% discount off of all hospital fees which made "Bangkok Hat Yai Hospital" just as cheap as the other hospital!!!!! So...in conclusion, I get to stay with the doctor that I've been with the whole 9 months...I don't have to worry about the cultural differences in delivery and procedure and everything works out to where I can still have Jude on the 16th!

Wow...I apologize that this post is about this "pregnancy" stuff...I know it's not so interesting... :) Just wanted to tell those who would like to know also I'm just so amazed that God has enabled us to be able to have this baby at this nice hospital - with a great doctor. I'm really huge now as you can see in the pictures below.

The people on the team here threw me a baby shower and it was soo wonderful! Amber made home made american food, MaryBeth made homemade bread and Katherine made me some brownies! It was sooo incredible - the whole night felt like we were in America...we even played fun baby shower games. I had the poopy (peanut butter) in my napkin...The guys all stayed with the kids over at Brian's house and hung out together. It was such a nice break - we all dressed up nice and just enjoyed each others company and celebrated Jude's coming!

They had pulled together and bought us a crib - I say this below but I'll say it here too...the Thai parents have their children sleep in their bed until they are 12 years old! So...they don't really have cribs like we do in america - so it is just a complete blessing that we have a crib. They are usually horribly expensive because they are imported but they found a pretty good deal on this one and went intogether to buy it. Another thing that will shock some of you is that they also don't have diaper changers. It's not a big deal - you can have one made..but we're just going to make due like the Thai people :)

So - I feel very ready for this little one to join us outside of the womb! I have never felt more confident that everything is in God's hands - it has been a miracle watching as little by little the money has come in to be able to pay the hospital for the c-section and even now I know the money is coming that will help us meet the needs of our bills, food, gas and other necessities. God knows our needs!

Everything else has been going wonderful - we are preparing for major outreaches in December because the schools here open up to allow people to come and teach about Christmas so we will be going to many many schools to tell the true meaning of Christmas and share the truth of the God's love and that Jesus is the only way to heaven...please keep us in your prayers.

I will try to write again soon! We love you all!

All the families on our team pitched in and bought us a crib for Jude! We are so blessed that we have this crib - the Thai people have their children sleeping in their bed until they are 12 years old so cribs are hard to find and if you do find them they are incredibly expensive because it is an import. Jude officially has a REAL crib and a bumper set (another extremely rare find in Thailand). From the bottom of our hearts - THANK YOU!
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This is Amber Garsee - she was the hostess of my baby shower - it was such a blessing to be able to dress up, eat home cooked american food and just enjoy each others company and most of all celebrate JUDE! :) Marybeth had given me this beautiful maternity dress to wear - it was so fun to have just the girls get together and dress up!
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Here is a picture from my baby shower and you can see how huge my tummy has gotten!!
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Here is a picture another picture from my baby shower...some good friends of mine through a very classy baby shower for me and made incredible AMERICAN FOOD! It was soo delicious!!! It was such a blessing!
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Here's Josiah being goofy with Daddy on the mountain :)
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A picture from the top of the mountain near our house..
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This picture shocked me - I honestly had no idea we were so close to the ocean!!! I've driven 30 minutes away to get to the ocean...so I thought it was a lot farther away but this picture was taken from the top of a mountain that is very very close to our house.
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Yard Sale Items

When: Saturday, November 29, 2008, 1pm - 7pm

Where: MooBaan Intarachitchai...House number 79/365

We live off of Doi Saket road in Moobaan Intarachitchai. It's across from Horizon Village/Botanical Gardens. If you are on Doi Saket road going toward Doi Saket and you keep your eyes to the left you will see a old gas station sign "MP"...at the "MP" sign is where you will turn right into our moobaan.

Once you turn right you will make a left. You will drive through some speed bumps and curves and make your first left. You will see the office on your left and a big purple house...make a right. From there you will go about 4 streets down and see balloons leading you to our house...

Contact: John or Stephanie 053-867473

Here is a general list of things that will be at our yard sale this Saturday(some items are pictures below):

• games (SOLD)
  
• spices
• 2 blow dryers (really nice Philips Salan Pro 2100W ceramic with difuser and national 2800w)
• Baby GIRL clothes
• 2 beautiful fancy baby girl dresses
• Womans and Mens clothes (not a whole lot)
• boppy pillow
• floaties
• lots of books (Christian books, preschool and 1-2nd grade books, some homeschooling books also)
• lots of hair care products hardly used from America
• bed sheets
• baby bed
• baby bath
• plates
• stepping stool
• paints
• hair roller set (used and worn but still good)
• hair clipper set
• breast pump (very good madela battery operated, double pump in carrying bag)
• rice cooker (SOLD)
• crock pot (SOLD)
• basket
• organizing divider
• towels
• few rugs
• diaper bag
• a few pair of shoes for kids
• table
• toys
• MEMORY FOAM pad for your king size bed (like sleeping on a cloud, from America)

Love the Lord with all of your heart, soul, strength and mind...

Welcome everyone!

There are lots of pictures and posts below! There was a lot to report so please don't forget to check out the posts after the pictures. I had to break my post up into 3 because it was soo long!! Before I leave you to the pictures I wanted to put up this scripture because I think everyone should be reminded of this simple yet challenging scripture from time to time. Whether you've heard it a million times or not....

Luke 10:25-28
25One day an expert in religious law stood up to test Jesus by asking him this question: "Teacher, what must I do to receive eternal life?" Jesus replied, "What does the law of Moses say? How do you read it?" The man answered, " `You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind.' And, `Love your neighbor as yourself.' " "Right!" Jesus told him. "Do this and you will live!"

How would you love a person with all of your heart, soul, strength and mind? Do you love the Lord like this? Just something to think about in your own life before diving into what's going on in ours.. :) Love you all - thank you so much for reading! Don't forget to comment if you have the time! :)

Do you ever feel like you've got a monkey on your back??? When your out in the villages - it can feel like that sometimes...but usually it really is a monkey on your back...
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John's new friend...
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You can't see very well in the pics but the monkey is literally picking John's head and cleaning him...We have a video of this and it is amazing how the monkey just took to John!
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John and a guy he met in the village that wanted to know more about Jesus...
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Oh...if your wondering...an awesome friend of ours Katherine took these pictures...
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Good company is a greatly treasured gift when you are working in the villages...we love you Clinton!
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Long....hot....road....
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This is really typical in Thailand - people living in tin homes or homes that are trashed but they have a NICE TV...and a NICE PHONE...or a REALLY REALLY NICE CAR...Not so much in these villages...but more in Hat Yai...
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yes...that is someone's home...John looks kinda mean when he's squinting...what do you think?
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Going door to door...
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Going door to door...
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Clinton and John walking through a village...
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This guy was going door to door with a tin with black dye in it (heated by a fire under it) asking if anyone had anything he could dye black for a fee..
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An example of Thai housing in the village...
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Example 2 of Thai housing in the village...
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A beautiful Thai sky!
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John talking to some women they ran across going into the village...
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Here is a cute baby that they met in the village...
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I know this is a dark picture but I wanted to put it up for family anyway. This is Josiah, Asia and Nawng Am playing ball outside. They all had sticks and were hitting a ball around...having a great time! :)
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Josiah and I with a really bad case of red eye...:) I don't have the software on this computer to take it off - so it'll just have to stay.
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Here I am again...umm...I'm 8 months along...just at the 8 month marker.
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Update – Monkey on John’s head – Tambon – No RIGHTS!

Hello everyone out there!

I sat down and wrote a book! Not a real book - I just mean I wanted to give everyone an update on what's going on and I wrote tons..so, I've broken it up into 3 posts.

1. Update - Monkey on John's head - Tambon - NO Rights!
2. My birthday is Tomorrow! WOW!
3. Our Financial Need - Holding the Rope

So please...when you have the time read them...here goes part one....

*Sit tight – this is a long post!*

It’s been a while! Micheal – our bestest friend since high school – is officially in Thailand with us. He arrived last Saturday and is working through jetlag. It’s great to have Micheal here – no that he is here it already feels like he’s been here all long.

We’ve been really busy – John spends almost all day in the villages with Clinton passing out tracts and reaching out to all that they meet. From 10am – 3pm they have been going into the deep parts of the villages sometimes riding through the woods on their bikes for 30+ minutes only to get off and walk door to door through jungle like areas going to each house in the village. In some of the areas that they go to the people have never seen a white person – much less, heard the name of Jesus.

Just yesterday John, Clinton and Katherine were on the outskirts of a pretty big village. They handed a tract to a guy and he wanted them to sit down and explain the gospel to him – so they sat…Clinton begins to explain about who Jesus is and about how He is the only way to heaven…(John 14:6)…and while John is sitting there a monkey came out of a tree – ran across everyone’s lap and jumped on John’s shoulder. John handled it well as the monkey continued on by picking through John’s hair and cleaning him as if he was one of its own!!!

This whole month is a very religious ‘Buddhist’ month. Although, you really can’t call it purely Buddhist because they have mixed their religions with many many others – such as Chinese and Hindu. All month long they go to the ‘wats’ (temples) around Thailand and offer sacrifices of food and prayers to there gods and to show respect to the monks. There are numerous festivals around town throughout the month. Many of the shops and street vendors have shut down for a week or more for this occasion. Last month they made offerings to dead relatives…trying to appease the dead people for several weeks.

This week is tamboon…they make many different kinds of offerings like food offerings, money offerings and some even pierce their bodies. From what I understand for the rest of this month there will be many parades and festivals in which many Thai people get swords, broom and mop handles and pierce their jaws through – they parade in the city like this. Some put hooks through their backs and walk on fire to show strength of spirits that they allow to enter them. At times they sit in front of the monks and they chant over them to communicate to their dead relatives…and sometimes they allow themselves to get possessed by spirits (aka demons). Many sons go into monk hood for two weeks to make merit for their bad kharma and the bad kharma of their parents. Also this month there are yellow signs all over the city that remind people that they are not supposed to eat meat all month – to purify their bodies and atone for their sins because they are not killing animals. Not all Thai people do these thing but many do.

With all this going on this month the whole team has felt a sense of urgency to make sure everyone that we encounter hears the gospel – even if it’s just a tract. Tonight as I sit here John is with Clinton again downtown passing out tracts because they are having one of these huge festivals right now.

John has literally been going non-stop from going to villages to studying Thai. It’s incredible to see my sun drained husband walk in everyday and tell me what went on that day in the village. Every Thursday from 10-11am Katherine and I are going to be the Bible to Thai people. Today Katherine brought the main lesson out of Romans 6 about being dead to sin and alive to Christ and what it means to truly live for Jesus. It was wonderful because what I am going to be sharing on next week went perfectly along with she felt like she needed to share today.

I shared about how God has called us to be people who have no rights. If we have truly given our lives over to Jesus and we are really striving to live as Jesus said we should – dead to sin and alive to Christ – then we are to realize that we forfeit our rights as humans for the will of God in our lives. Is He not our creator and the one who knows what is best for us and our lives? Do you really believe this truth?

One example is when we get angry with our friends or our spouse. We are to be like ducks in a pond. When a drop of water hits a ducks back it rolls off and never penetrates the ducks body. We are supposed to be people who walk and live in such a way that when people do things to make us mad or irritate us we let it roll off our backs just like water off of a ducks back and we return their wrong treatment with love.

We don’t have the right to get angry anymore…you know, it is really hard to communicate this through writing. I really admire writers…because I know right now there some people who will read this and think – WHAT?!? Is she crazy!? We don’t have any rights as Christians?!? And I feel that if I were able to explain this in person I could make more sense. But since I can’t…I’ll continue.

As Christians can we speak our heart and our mind…? Yes – of course! What I mean by no rights is that we have no rights to the following: lying, anger, selfishness ect… The only rights we have is the right to love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. You know..that’s it! I’m trying to put into my own words what the word of God says perfectly…read this: (Gal. 5:13-26)

13For you have been called to live in freedom--not freedom to satisfy your
sinful nature, but freedom to serve one another in love. 14For the whole law can
be summed up in this one command: "Love your neighbor as yourself." 15But if
instead of showing love among yourselves you are always biting and devouring one
another, watch out! Beware of destroying one another.

16So I advise you to live according to your new life in the Holy Spirit. Then you won't be doing what your sinful nature craves. 17The old sinful nature loves to do evil, which is just opposite from what the Holy Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us
desires that are opposite from what the sinful nature desires. These two forces
are constantly fighting each other, and your choices are never free from this
conflict. 18But when you are directed by the Holy Spirit, you are no longer
subject to the law.

19When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, your lives will produce these evil results: sexual immorality, impure thoughts, eagerness for lustful pleasure, 20idolatry, participation in demonic activities, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, divisions, the feeling that everyone is wrong except those in your own little group, 21envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other kinds of sin. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God.

22But when the Holy Spirit controls our lives, he will produce this kind of fruit in us: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23gentleness, and self-control. Here there is no conflict with the law.

24Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there. 25If we are living now by the Holy Spirit, let us follow the Holy Spirit's leading in every part of our lives. 26Let us not become conceited, or irritate one another, or be jealous of one another.

Yep – that says it pretty well! :) I am just not a writer…I communicate much more effectively in person. Anyway, this morning was very encouraging!

My BIRTHDAY is TOMORROW! WOW!

So – tomorrow (Oct. 7th) is my birthday! I’ll be 25!! I can’t believe it! The whole team plus many of our Thai friends (saved and unsaved) will all meet together to eat and hang out together. I’m very excited because Pii Saow – the lady who helps with Josiah and the house heard the gospel from another Thai person the day before yesterday!

I have talked to her as much as I can with my limited language and she has been reading tracts that are in our house and one time about 4 months ago John came home to a crying Pii Saow because she had read a tract and she wanted to know more. She is currently Muslium (although she does not dress in the head dress and all) and she is married to a Buddhist. Pii Saow has been a very good friend and helps me a lot with my Thai…so anyway, Pii Thak came over to see if Josiah wanted to come walking with Asia and she came in and was waiting for me to get Josiah ready and she started talking to Pii Saow.

About 15-20 minutes later Pii Saow was listening intently as Pii Thak finished telling her testimony (about how God brought her out of prostitution and changed her life). Pii Saow was visibily moved and when she returned the next day she went on and on about Pii Thak’s heart…and how she wanted to talk to her more!! So at my birthday party they will have the opportunity to do just that! I’m also very excited because my teacher Khruu Rot is going to come and it will be great because the team has been trying to spend time with her for years…and she’s going to come tomorrow!

Phon (John’s Thai teacher) and her boyfriend are also going to come! I was wondering if I would be sad about not having all my friends and family from the states at my birthday party but I am surprised to say I feel fine! Not that I don’t miss them all terribly and I wish that I could be with them – I'm just not upset out it! Thank you God! That’s a miracle in itself since I’m 8 months pregnant and terribly hormonal! Although - Lisa, Misty, Guy, Epiphany, Summer, Brandon, Lori, Crystal (oh I love you guys!)...and all my friends - I wish we could have another birthday party like we did at the church that time! WHAT FUN! Ah well!

I have incredible friends here in Hat Yai and I couldn't thank God more for them and I know we will have a wonderful time! Thank you God for the peace that I have in my heart!

Our Financial Need - Holding the Rope

Our car was broken for about 2 weeks (I think…is that right?)…and it was ROUGH! I can’t get on the back of the motorcycle with John and Josiah anymore…barely enough room and very dangerous. We finally got the money to get the car fixed and I appreciate that car more than ever – no matter how many problems it gives me! We had to have a new alternator put in and it cost us about $100 us dollars!!! ARGg….I don’t know if that’s cheap for the states or not…but it felt like a million dollars to us! But God knows our needs!

I have been told that I really need to make our needs known more. John and I have generally felt that the only person that needs to know is God…but someone made a good point. Some people are being prompted by God to give but sometimes they just don’t listen for whatever reason…and if they were to come to our blog and see the need it would make them realize that they are supposed to give and it’s not just thought in their head…that there is a real need.
So, I talk to John about it and we are going to share a little more about our financial needs and such.

God has provided every month so far- sometimes we’ve had days where we didn’t know if we would have the money to eat the next week…but we had the money for that day. Then there are times when we have a little extra money and we can bless others or take Josiah out to play at the play place here. For some reason for the past 2 months, maybe partly due to all of the catastrophe in many peoples lives in the states due to Katrina and Rita, almost all of our support has stopped.

I can count the number of faithful supporters on one hand! I say this for God’s glory because it has been enough – we have been able to make it! I do need to let this be known though – at the end of November I will be giving birth to a baby boy and the cost for the hospital labor and delivery is about $700 US and then about 2 weeks after giving birth our whole family has to appear at the US Embassy in Bangkok to apply for Jude’s passport and American citizenship – this will cost anywhere from $200-300 more because of the trip there…hotel…and application fees.

While we are in Bangkok we hope to be able to find a doctor that will circumcise our son and I don’t know how much that will cost – but I am told it could be around $100-200 because it is something that is rarely done on an infant in Thailand so it will be expensive – if we are able to find a doctor that will do it.

We also do not have a crib…changing table…or anything for a new baby – except for one awesome thing! We will not have to worry about clothes for a LONG time! My brother and his wife are sending us baby boy clothes (Braden’s clothes – www.bradenbunger.blogspot.com) I do have to say that I am fine with not having a crib or changing table – people do it ALL the time! Currently our income through support varies from $250 – 700 a month. $650 is enough to pay our bills, have gas, and eat. This is not enough to save money for labor and delivery costs unfortunately.

I know God is in control and this will all work out – I have no doubt. John and I have always quoted this little bit about supporting missionaries from Oswald Smith because it really says how we feel:

“Suppose a child should fall into a well, who would get the reward for the child’s rescue, the one who held the rope and lowered the other to the bottom, or both? God says they will share alike. The one who stands at the top and makes it possible for the other to go down into the well in order that the child might be rescued is just as much entitled to this reward as the one who goes down.

You may not be able to go down; you may never see the foreign field, but you can hold the rope. You can make it possible for someone else to go. You can send a substitute; and if you do, if you give your money, your reward will be just as great as the reward of those who actually go.
Everyone must be in the bucket brigade. You may not be the one who throws the water on the fire at the end of the line; you may be somewhere in the center passing the bucket, or you may be dipping up the water. The question is, are you in the line? Do you belong to the bucket brigade? Are you doing something? Or are you merely a spectator? Our motto must be: “Every Christian a Missionary.””

If God has laid it upon your heart to support us in what God is doing here you can click on the ‘make a donation’ button at the top right corner of the screen or refer to the ‘Address and Contact Info’ link on the right side of the screen. If you can not support us financially please remember to support us through prayer! Thank you!