June News!

We want to thank each of you for your continued support and prayers.
For the past few months, our field has been going through some
transitions.   Two of our staff families have left Laos and another
will leave this month.  We are hopeful that new workers will come in
the Lord’s timing.

Kirk is really enjoying his role as the director of Candlelight
Language & Vocational School.  He has facilitated some staff training
days where the group has grown in their knowledge of how to work
together.  Our family has enjoyed spending time with the staff during
special holidays and celebrations in Laos and we’re excited to be
starting a Bible study for the staff in our home.

Calah and the girls have had a wonderful school year at the Co-op; but
they are looking forward to summer break.  Calah will begin teaching
English for kids at Candlelight this month.  Also starting up this
week, a group of ladies will be coming over to study the Bible together
on Fridays.

Kolaya, Mikaya and Keziah are going to be studying at Candlelight in
their Lao program for kids!  They are very excited!

Please pray that:
     * New English teachers and other workers will come to join our team
     * We have the ability to communicate well in Lao and connect with the
       school staff during work, special events, and weekly Bible studies
     * Jai's mom, who has been hospitalized for the last week after
       throwing up and experiencing severe diarrhea for at least a week
       prior, will be healed and that her family will come to know the
       Father
     * Kham, the Lao language coordinator at Candlelight, has a brother
       who has been in prison for 4 years without a trial.  Pray that he
       is released.  Kirk will tell his story in our next note out.

March News

Greetings from Vientiane, Laos!  Here are some of the highlights from our past few months:

CANDLELIGHT SCHOOL:  I (Kirk) enjoyed a great trip with the staff up to Luang Prabang (a World Heritage Site and the former capital of Laos many years ago) during the New Year.   It was a great time for me to bond with the staff and learn more about them. 

Classes are going well, but we are in need of English teachers.  If you know anyone who has a heart for others, is ESL or TOEFL certified (or willing to become), and interested in serving in Laos, let us know.

The Candlelight staff is excited to participate in our first service trip tomorrow.  We will be going to a small rural Khmu village to get to know their community and work in partnership with their school.  Please pray that this connection works well in bringing hope to others and will open doors for future opportunities.

This is a picture from a short exploratory trip we took a few weeks ago.  Since then we have gotten permission from the District to work with these people, which is a big deal.  My vision for Candlelight is that someday we could open a branch in a rural area to teach development and agriculture that would benefit rural villagers.  Hopefully working with this village and others like it will be a step toward achieving this dream.

The Co-op: The co-op, the school where the girls and I (Calah) go for the morning, has been such a blessing to us.  The girls love going to school with other kids and have many friends.  For me, this is a place where I feel my love for education is finding its use.  Having experience teaching and having an education in elementary education, I have chosen to help out the school as the principal.  With only 40 some students, I am able to continue teaching the first and second grades along with spend a few hours in the afternoon to fulfill my principal duties.  I love being able to encourage the other moms, most of whom don’t have any education experience but need to find some way to meet their children’s educational needs.  This last 2 months we’ve spent time on professional development, discussing classroom management and tools to develop our students’ writing.  For all of you who cringe at the sound of professional development, I’ve actually been pretty excited to get back into it!  =) 

We would appreciate your prayers as we consider ways to develop this co-op into a school.  We are communicating with a couple organizations who have an interested in developing Christian schools in countries like ours; so we would appreciate your prayers that God directs our steps as we depend on His leading.  A Christian school in Laos would be such a blessing to many other workers like us!

Thank you so much for your prayers and support!  We think of you all often, knowing we couldn’t be here without you. 

Love, Kirk and Calah

Prayer points:

·       English teachers for Candlelight who have a passion for sharing their faith and desire to work with a team.

·       Upcoming Candlelight outreach to a small town where we have received permission to begin working with these villagers.

·       Direction for the co-op as we pursue new teachers for this upcoming school year and a future as a school.

Fall Update

Greetings!  A lot has happened since we last wrote and we wanted to let you know the latest news from Laos and our family.  As always, we want to thank you for supporting us.  We know that nothing good and lasting will happen in Laos by our skill and resources alone, so your prayers are the key to the work of God’s Spirit moving among the people of Laos.  Thank you for remembering our family and our needs.  We’re extremely grateful for the way the Lord has provided for us in every way. 

The Candlelight crew on Teacher's Day!

Since returning to Laos in September, we’ve had some new and exciting things happen.  I (Kirk) have been working as the new director at our English and Vocational School named “Candlelight”.  It’s been really fun and challenging as I learn how this business functions and what needs to take place for us to keep having a positive impact in the future. Currently there are 18 Lao staff and three American teachers.  We do need more English teachers, so if you know of anyone with teaching background who would love to serve in Laos, let us know!  My favorite time of the week is our Tuesday staff lunch where we eat together after singing a few worship songs, praying together, and having someone share a short message.  Thank you for praying for wisdom for me as I lead our school. 

Calah is still teaching at the home school co-op, but has some new endeavors as well.  Every Friday she leads a Bible study with two Lao friends of hers.  They come over to our house to eat noodles while they read through Matthew.  What’s exciting is that one lady is a new believer and the other is very interested!  Neither of their husbands are believers yet, so please pray for these ladies, Jai and Noy and their families.

Calah and I are still studying Lao part-time and although at times it’s frustrating that we can’t communicate fully and say everything we want to, it’s encouraging to see progress and be able to carry on simple conversations most of the time. Please continue to pray that we will be able to not only speak and understand what people are saying, but to really know what they are feeling in hearts and trying to communicate with us. 

Family photo opportunity by the river

On the lines of language, we decided to send Keziah to a Lao Christian pre-school that meets at one of the recognized churches in our city.  Calah drops her off two mornings a week before taking the other girls to the co-op.  It’s been an adjustment for Keziah who most mornings says, “I don’t want to go to my pre-school”.  She is no doubt aware that she is different from the other kids and still can’t understand what’s being said in Lao.  We are encouraged, though, that she has made a friend named “Dawk Mai” (flower) who she looks forward to seeing.  It’s our hope that she will be able to stick with this long enough to get past some of the frustrations and be able to learn Lao well enough to communicate and make Lao friends.  Please pray for courage, peace, and joy for Keziah as she goes to her Lao pre-school.

This next month we’re excited for Calah’s parents to visit for a few weeks.  We always look forward to December when we get to celebrate two birthdays: Kolaya (she’ll be 10 on Dec. 7^th) and Keziah (turning 4 on the 17^th).  It also feels a bit like home when we put up our Christmas tree, stockings, and lights and start playing the Christmas music, even though we won’t get the snow!

Thank you for your part in His work in Laos and for remembering our family. 

Gratefully,

Kirk and Calah

At the end of our first term!

As a family we’re excited to be coming home in one month for our first home assignment.  It’s hard to believe we’ve been in Laos for almost two years!  We’re really looking forward to coming back to visit family and friends as well as get in on some fun Minnesota summer activities. 

One new development for when we return to Laos will be my (Kirk) new position as Director of our language school, “Candlelight”.  I’m grateful for the chance to be involved in leading our team of teachers and staff and most excited about teambuilding, mentoring, and discipleship opportunities.  Candlelight is a great little community that feels a lot like a family, impacting the lives of dozens of students who come through our doors every day. 

 

Calah will continue with responsibilities at the Home-School Co-op where the girls attend as well as continuing some part-time Lao classes, meeting with neighbors, etc.  The girls have had a great year at the Co-op and we’re grateful for this schooling option that allows us to stay in Laos with a reasonable budget.

One thing to pray for is a short-term group of students from Crown College in two weeks.   Twelve students will be working with us for two weeks and we’re really praying for the Father to open doors of service for us to be able to minister to the lives of those we care about here.

Well, we will keep you posted on how this last month goes here, and hopefully connect with many of you when we get back.  As always, thank you for remembering us, and remembering the people of Laos before our Father.  

Lao Lessons

Kirk and I continue to study Lao at Candlelight School, here in Vientiane.  Kirk is studying about Lao society five days a week, and I'm studying some new believer vocabulary two days a week.  We are blessed to be connected with CAMA Services, who runs Candlelight and teaches Lao to foreigners. We are able to study at the school as much as our own brains can handle!

Kolaya and Mikaya are studying Lao with an awesome lady named Tooey who makes learning Lao fun by playing games.  In this video Kolaya is practicing saying, "I have . . . [insert a school supply]".

Keziah practices Lao at home with the lady that watches her for 4 hours on Tuesday and Thursday.  She knows the names of body parts and can understand quite a bit when Na Jai is talking to her; but as of right now, she refuses to speak in Lao back to Na Jai.  But she rattles off in English a response.

Our neighborhood

We would really appreciate your prayer for our neighborhood, specifically for our landlord and her family. Recently, they had a family dispute that was the scariest event I've ever witnessed.  The girls pictured above are some our girls' favorite friends in Laos.  They are such fun-loving, patient little girls and our girls love when they ask to come over to play.  Our house is next to theirs and we can see into their living room from our kitchen window, so we noticed the mom and dad getting louder and louder as they began arguing.  I looked out the window to see what was going on when I saw the dad swing an ax at his wife's head three times.  I yelled for Kirk and we rushed over to our outside gate to see if there was anything we could do.  By the time we got outside the husband had retreated back inside but the wife was crying and yelling outside the house about what a horrible husband he was and that he was always drunk.  The kids were near their mom yelling and crying.  We assumed that the mom and her daughters would go to their sister-in-law's house and wait for the drunk, angry husband to calm down; but she didn't.  She decided to send her kids back into the house for her keys to the motorcycle and her purse.  They, of course, were terrified and went screaming into the house and running back outside with the things.  Within seconds the dad was back outside yelling, but this time he brought a gun and demanded they leave the motorcycle and the purse.  

Kirk and I sat watching the events that were unfolding, praying frantically how we could help.  Unfortunately, there was no culturally acceptable way for us to step in; and other family members were around watching and yelling at the man already.  

After things had simmered down (Kirk was pretty adamant that I wait until the husband was back inside his house), I snuck over our back wall and went a back way to the sister-in-law's house to see if I could help take the wife to the hospital or drive them somewhere safely away from their house.  She had already been taken to the hospital for some bleeding on her face and she had taken her kids with her.  I stayed at their house for over an hour listening to our landlord tell their family's story and the many struggles they have had.  God was so faithful to help me understand, which was a difficult task since the ladies in the house were upset and speaking so quickly.  But I feel like it was so important for me to let them know that I saw the event, I was sad with them, and I wanted to help in anyway possible.  I took the time to pray for them, but I hope I spoke clearly and correctly because it is really hard for me to pray in Lao.

Please pray for this family, especially the girls and their mom.  Pray for these girls to be shielded from the emotional and physical abuse that is present.  Pray that they all come to know God's love and forgiveness.  

Homeschool Co-op

This is a picture that was taken recently at the co-op that I teach at and our girls attend.  You can see the girls and I to the right side of the picture.  Kolaya is hugging her good friend, Naya; and Mikaya is in front of them.  This year we have over 11 families that come together Monday through Friday to share responsibilities and teach our children together.  I am teaching first and second grade, together with a lady named Elleke (she is in the brown shirt and blue pants at the table).  We have 4 second graders and 3 first graders.  Mikaya is in my first grade group and is really taking off reading.  

Kolaya is in the classroom with the third and fourth graders and studies with 2 other girls and 3 boys.  She is taught by Ms. Dawna (holding her daughter on the left side of the picture), Ms. Kari (in the middle front with the red sling purse and her daughter on her lap), and Ms. Jenny (not pictured).  They are a collection of moms who enjoy teaching different subjects.  She has voiced a great love of writing within the last few weeks and prefers to read non-fiction books.  

Keziah's teacher is Ms. Jolene (right in front of Mikaya with the black shirt) and Keziah absolutely loves going with the early childhood group.  There are 9 kids, ages 4 and down.  They enjoy painting, playing outside, doing crafts, and playing together.  Keziah especially enjoys dress-up and crafts.