Blog #6 – Full from giving thanks

Hi Everyone! Sorry for such a long wait! We have been very busy. So much has happened since our last blog that I don’t even know where to begin.

 

We were involved in a motorcycle accident that scared my wife and I to pieces. Yet left us with only scratches and bruises. It happened like this, we were leaving On Nut 49 after teaching on a Monday afternoon. We were going to visit one of our students in the hospital who had Dengue Fever. On the way, we decided to stop by Brian Atwell’s building so my wife could see the painting that had been done. As I was

changing lanes to exit, I saw a hole that was not filled correctly. I was headed straight for it! I had to think quick! Do I try to power through it or do I turn possibly laying the bike down? I decided to try to power though it and hopefully make it out safely. I still think I made the right decision. However, we ended up getting our front wheel stuck in the hole. It was just wide enough for our tire to go into, but not be able to get out of. At the same time that our front tire got stuck, the back end whipped around and threw my wife off. I was stuck under the motorcycle. Thankfully we were both wearing helmets! But they prevented us from being able to see each other. We could only hear each other’s screams. As we laid on the ground, a motorcycle taxi (they are known for driving too fast and out of control), came and jumped over our bike then crashed. His bike laid on my wife and our bike laid on me. All I could hear was a scream then “Honey, Honey, Honey”

 getting more frantic every time she screamed. In my mind, I thought that she was hurt badly and was dying. Just when it seemed like everything was calm, a car came through and hit the motorcycle that was on my wife. I thought for sure that my wife had just been killed, as I heard her horrific scream. A truck came and rear-ended the car adding to the carnage that was in my mind. The short time that I laid there, seemed like an eternity. I was in an awkward position with both of my elbows hurt and the bike laying on my legs. I was yelling for help while everyone ran past me to help my wife. This made me more frantic thinking that she was dead. As I laid there thinking, I had just killed my wife. The muffler was melting through my shoe and burning my foot. There were a lot of things that hurt on my body but nothing was more painful than the feeling that I had just killed the person I loved the most. This feeling was the worst part of the accident.

 

We came out of the accident with minor injuries. I took the brunt of the fall. My ankle was deeply cut and bleeding. My wife had scratches and bruises on her shoulders. But I was thankful. Thankful that my wife was alright! Thankful that I didn’t have to deal with the pain of burying her. This feeling gave me a whole new perspective on how I see Jesus.

 

Isaiah 53:5 “But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.”

 

It was me who put Jesus on the cross. It was my neglect and my sin that bruised Him. I had heard this verse thousands of times and read it just as many, but it really meant nothing to me. I had never hurt someone that I loved in that way. I had never experienced the pain of hurting someone that I loved. Almost every time I had hurt someone I loved, they did something to me that made me not love them anymore(this was my pre-Christian era), but to hurt my wife who I deeply love opened my eyes to how we should feel when we sin. A lot of the time we look at sin as a small issue. The reality is that Jesus had to die for our sin, even one small white lie requires blood atonement. The blood from the Lamb that was slain from the foundation of the world. I had never fully grasped the reality of sin and the gravity of the situation. I still don’t think I fully understand, but my understanding of the power of sin and the need for a Savior is growing. The accident created a very clear realization that we needed a car! But with very little money and a big fear of riding the motorcycle, we started to pray! When Jon Wood heard our story, he started a fund for us to buy a car. I looked at all of the other projects on the Jesus for Asia website. Knowing the projects of the Atwells and the Bairs, it was hard for me to imagine that someone would think that we were that valuable. I praise God that He showed us that we are valuable, not only to Him but to other people as well. The project we are doing is valuable to His kingdom! With the little money we had and the generosity from people like you, we were able to buy a car that we never dreamed we would be able to buy! Though we paid it all in cash at the dealership, it is not all paid for, but a large portion of it is! We bought a 2013 Nissan Almeera for 280,000 baht($8,650) more than half of it is paid for! We praise God, because we had no idea how much we would need it! Right when we got it, we realized that God gave us this car for a reason!

 

“I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.” Genesis 12:2

 

God gave us this blessing so that we could be a blessing to others! Just like when Abraham was

promised to father a great nation!  He was promised that so that he could be a blessing to other people. We did not realize that it would be so urgent or so soon, but it was. We are happy that God is using us in ways that we never imagined.

 

I want to thank everyone who donated and has supported us!  I didn’t think this would ever be possible but I am so thankful that it has.  Some of you know there have been great changes to our ministry and I will address those in my next blog that I will try to finish before Christmas!  Thank you and God bless.

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