Alise and Mark will serve at the House of Love and House of Blessing. These ministries were established by IM missionary Kim Brown to serve tribal women and children coping with problems caused by AIDS, disabilities and migration from their rural villages to urban slums. Working through longtime IM partners Integrated Ministries for the Ethnic Minorities Foundation and the Thailand Karen Baptist Convention, Alise and Mark’s ministry will focus on the discipleship and spiritual development of children and staff, administrative responsibilities and community development.

Alise writes – These past couple of months have been a whirlwind of travel, speaking engagements and growth. Many of you have seen our travels on Facebook and Instagram… did you realize that we’ve been in 9 states in the last 3 months? Busy as it has been, we have thoroughly enjoyed the open doors God is providing to share our story, build our partnership network, and show our kids more of the U.S. before we head to Thailand.

Highlights since our training in Colorado in May include: Visiting 3 National Parks [Zion (UT), Yosemite (CA) and The Great Smoky Mountains (TN-NC)], we wrapped up our first year of homeschooling, camped in Yosemite with long-time family friends, shared at 5 churches, spent time and said goodbye to family in TN, visited with friends in NC, participated in our first ABC Biennial Mission Summit in Virginia Beach, swam in the Atlantic, went to Alise’s high school reunion, visited with many friends, and spent a week as the missions speakers at a family camp in the Santa Cruz mountains (Redwood Christian Park).

As I reflect on this I think…WOW…God is amazing!!!

Over the last 8 weeks I feel like God is challenging me to focus on joy! I have heard the question through sermons and conversations…where does your joy come from?

I am so thankful for this path we are on and the journey we are about to embark on. God is showing up every day to provide open doors for partnerships, and yet I find myself getting frustrated at times because I’m so eager to be in Thailand. Then God gently reminds me that His timing is perfect…Proverbs 16:9 “In their hearts humans plan their course, but the LORD establishes their steps.”  If I was in charge of my steps I would have been on the mission field 15 years ago, when God first called me…and yet I would have missed out on so much more that God had laid out for me…a wonderful husband, three beautiful children, deep life-long friendships, and immense maturing in my emotional and spiritual walk…while this journey has required an abundance of faith and patience (and continues to do so while we wait for the rest of our financial support) God is in it…His steps are meticulously planned…thus I am challenged to remain JOYFUL as God unveils the path before me one day at a time. Romans 15:13 “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”  The battle is real…it’s a daily choice to abide faithfully in Him…are you allowing God to fill you with JOY?

PRAYER REQUESTS:

• Continued health for our family during all the travels.
• The ‘goodbyes’ to people and possessions are beginning, pray we can let go of our things well and say ‘good goodbyes’ so that our hearts will be open and ready to receive ‘good hellos’ in Thailand!
• Open doors for more partnerships (both churches and individuals).
• God’s provision of our last 23% (we are so close).
• Visas for Thailand as there has been some changes in plans for type of Visas.
• Focusing on JOY, as well as self-care, on this journey pre-field and during transition

Read the full journal including photos at https://internationalministries.org/joy/