May 22, 2025
 
Dear Family,
 
10 Years in Thailand!
 
Karyn and I can hardly believe it! We had no idea what our life would be like when we stepped off the plane in 2015 with our three kids and 18 suitcases. We left everything comfortable, familiar and known to follow God’s call on our family. Upon arrival, we all instantly loved Thailand, but it was truly tough! Although the difficulties were small compared to what many people around the world face every day, there were so many crazy, new challenges, and sacrifices just to be here. Thankfully, neither Karyn, I, nor our kids ever said, “I hate it here, let’s go back!”, however my plea to God was, “Please don’t let us waste our time! It is too hard to live here just to spin our wheels. Please bear lasting fruit! Change hearts and lives through us!”

After 10 years, we can truly say God is faithful! We look back in joy on what has been gained and look beyond the hardships. 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 says, “Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So, we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal”. We know there has been and will be much fruit that we can’t know or see but here are just a few of the specific examples of the joys we have been blessed to see:
  • Our Thai staff, Ning and Seal are like a sisters to us and an aunts to our 3 children. They have dedicated more than 10 years to serving God, working at TawSaeng as a mentors, loving, teaching and encouraging at-risk children in there city.
  • A mom who works in the bar scene wanting to help her child find a different future by keeping her in school and sending her to TawSaeng.
  • A new college grad whose parents have been in jail for drugs has found a safe and good career path for and is walking with Jesus.
  • A young man who went back to school to get his Thai GED and is now working a good job as a barista and has chosen to put his trust in Jesus.
  • A mom of four children sharing her gratitude and thanks to God for the scholarships for her kids to go to school and for the fun, and care they receive through TawSaeng.
  • Pastors and leaders from rural, under-resourced Thai churches sharing thanks to God for TawSaeng assisting them in reaching hundreds of children and families in their communities with bags of food, backpacks, and hope in the Gospel shared on service trips led by TawSaeng students.
  • Our children Jonas, Elyssa, and Micah launched into adulthood with faith in Jesus, a heart of service, compassion for all people, appreciation for other cultures and for the blessings we have as Americans.
We are so grateful for this adventure God has led us on, along with the blessings we have experienced, and the lives we have seen changed though the love of Jesus. We also, have so much gratitude and love for all of you, our partners in ministry! Thank you for your faithful prayers, encouragement and generosity! You make it possible for us to be here to serve these students and families and launching them as shine lights of the love of Jesus in reaching their own country with the Good News! We look forward to the exciting work that God has prepared for us here in the years ahead!
 
On Resurrection Sunday, we took our high school and university students to a reservoir, where festivities for the Thai New Year were still in full-force. Amidst the rafting and water fights, three of our university students chose to be baptized and profess the faith they have put in Jesus. As one of our students said, “I’m very excited. It’s a big decision. Thank you TawSaeng and God for guiding many things.”
How awesome for our staff and believing students to pray over these new disciples.
The Lord answered our prayer for a quiet place to pray, worship and celebrate His Resurrection.
Our service trips serve two purposes: First, it is for our students to grow in their compassion and love for others while developing both the skills and the heart for serving God. It is a key part of our discipleship process. Second, we have the opportunity to assist under-resourced and isolated churches with encouragement and opportunities to help them better reach their communities for Christ. This time, our team drove 11 hours to return to the Isan area (northeastern Thailand) for a third year. We served in three provinces over three days. This region has a high level of poverty and highly unreached with the gospel (98% Buddhist/0.4% Christian). We partnered with ministry leaders and pastors from three church networks who are actively trying to reach their communities through ministering to poor children in their area and growing or planting churches to spread the love of Jesus.
Our students taught about forgiveness through the story of Joseph, taught the life-skill of positive self-esteem and gave jerseys, backpacks and groceries to over 170 students.
Aaron was excited to meet with the Christian leaders and mentors again to pray with them and encourage them in their work with Thai students.
For the past three years we have partnered with this Christian couple who pastor one of the churches we serve at. They have also planted 10 churches in northern Thailand and one in Laos.
10 years in! Karyn and I were able to get away to southern Thailand to set aside time for an intentional sabbatical. We took time to rest, read, pray, play and look forward to the next 10 years (and beyond).
 
We caught many fish on our excursion, including Grouper, Red Fish and Sardines. I almost landed a Mahi Mahi, but the catch of the day was this King Mackerel Karyn caught.
We were in awe of the amazing and beautiful sea life on our day of diving. We saw sea horses, colorful corals, moray eels, sting rays, scorpion fish, lion fish, nudibranchs and we even found Nemo.
2015 – We got off the plane, excited to join Aaron’s parents in Chiang Mai, meet the people, learn about the culture and share about the love of Jesus.
2016 – Micah quickly jumped right in with the kids from TawSaeng, but adjusting to the food took time.
2017 – Play and having fun together bridges every language barrier. Before college Jonas was in Thailand for only a couple of years but, he enjoyed being with the students.
2019 – Elyssa loved Thailand right away and loved to help with the kids. The kids loved her too! It is always a sweet reunion when she comes home for a visit.
 
2019 – Esther* was our first student to receive Christ. It’s been a joy to watch her grow in faith. She is a lovely young woman who loves Jesus and works hard to supporter her family.
Ning, Karyn, Aaron, Seal, Mike
2020 – We have had many volunteers through the years, but the core of our staff has been together since 2016.
2020 – In the midst of COVID lockdowns and fear fear, we were blessed to be invited into the homes of some of our families for meals and celebrations.
2021 – God couldn’t have given Karyn and I a better 25th anniversary gift than bringing Jonas and Elyssa home after being separated because of COVID regulations.
2023 – Our relationships grow deeper every year as we mentor and disciple our students through prayer, teaching and time together.
2023 – We took some of our high school and university graduates to DaNang, Vietnam to celebrate their high school and univ. graduations.
2023 – We are so proud and overjoyed when our students take steps in their faith, like choosing to be baptized.
2024 – We were so overwhelmed by the love shown to us by our staff, students and friends to help us clean and move after the floods.
 
2025 – Every year we finish our summer program with a trip to the Sticky Waterfall with our students and their families. We play in the cool water, climb up the waterfall, eat together and deepen our relationships.