Participants:
Series Code: JFAN
Program Code: JFAN000113S
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00:00 (inspiring music)
00:22 - Hello and welcome to "Jesus for Asia Now". 00:24 I'm Natalie Wood and today I'm back 00:26 with Kasey Norton and Hannah, 00:28 and we've got more stories coming. 00:31 So welcome back. 00:32 - Thank you. 00:33 - We're glad that we have time 00:35 to get some more of the stories, 00:36 because what we've heard so far is good, 00:38 but we know there's a lot more coming. 00:40 And I wanna start out by, again, just for our viewers' sake, 00:44 reiterating that you're based in Sukhothai, Thailand, 00:47 and the Lord took you there. 00:48 We've done a couple of interviews with you before. 00:51 So if they'd like to hear more of the stories, 00:53 they can go back there. 00:54 But another thing that I wanna mention 00:56 is that you have a blog 00:58 and a Facebook page where you share these stories, 01:02 and a YouTube channel now, right? 01:04 - Yes. - Okay. 01:05 Can you tell us how they find those things? 01:07 - The website is walkingredeemed.com. 01:10 The Facebook page is Walking Redeemed 01:13 and the YouTube channel is Walking Redeemed. 01:16 And I think for whatever reason, 01:17 it says Kasey Norton after it. 01:19 - Okay. 01:20 So, but if they look for Walking Redeemed, 01:22 hopefully, they'll find you. 01:23 - Yeah. - Okay. 01:25 All right. 01:26 So right before we finished our last episode, 01:29 we found out that your best friend is a Buddhist monk. 01:32 - Yeah. 01:33 - So, and we also found out 01:34 that you've moved to a country property now 01:37 and you're starting to build a children's home. 01:39 - Yeah. 01:40 - How did you even start looking for property? 01:43 I mean, how did the Lord direct on that? 01:45 - Well, when we moved into the house that we're in, 01:48 it was plenty big enough 01:49 for those of us that went to Thailand. 01:52 But as God brought more and more children, 01:55 we ended up with six Thai children 01:59 while we were living in that house. 02:00 And there's no yard, it's just concrete. 02:03 There was the fields beside it, but- 02:06 - It was hot. - Yeah, the field, 02:08 there's no trees or anything 02:10 so the kids would only stay out there for so long 02:12 and then they would be back in the house. 02:13 And so we also know that the kids need 02:18 the benefit of nature to grow in and to learn to work. 02:24 And so, we've been praying all along 02:27 whenever the kids started coming 02:28 that God would open the way for us to move 02:31 to something more open. 02:35 And so Jonathan and Hannah, again, they've helped... 02:39 God has used them to help us find 02:41 our first house that we moved to. 02:43 The Mission Post Office 02:44 and the children's home property. 02:47 And Jonathan came across this listing for this property 02:50 and he was like, "This is too good to be true." 02:52 And they called the lady and we went out, 02:56 I think, the next day and looked at it 02:57 and it still felt impossible 02:59 as we were walking around there, but God is... 03:03 - God is doing it. - In the business 03:04 of doing the impossible, so. 03:06 - Wow. 03:08 So are there stories with how the next children came to you? 03:10 'Cause I know we heard about the first two. 03:12 Are there stories about the next ones 03:14 or any one in particular you wanna talk about? 03:18 - Gal and Fasai were just brother and sister, 03:21 who had never really lived together. 03:22 They didn't know each other, 03:23 they spoke two different languages. 03:27 And they were the next to come. 03:29 And then like five days after that, Jing. 03:32 - [Hannah] Yeah, not even. 03:33 - Yeah, probably not even five days that we got Jing. 03:36 So those three all came in June of 2020. 03:39 Gal adapted very easily. 03:41 He's just a sweet natured child. 03:44 He had been with the pastor for a bit. 03:46 Fasai, not so easily. 03:48 And I think it was very scary for her 03:50 because everybody else was speaking either Thai or English 03:54 and she spoke Hmong. 03:55 And so she already didn't like the confinement of rules. 04:00 But then on top of that the- 04:02 - The language barrier. - Yeah. 04:03 It was really difficult for her. 04:06 And then it was in August of 2020 that we got another call 04:10 and that was more COVID related, 04:14 the six child that we took because her mom 04:16 just couldn't take care of her anymore. 04:20 And so yeah, we got Namwan, 04:22 then we have since gotten three more. 04:25 So we have nine total, 04:26 but the other three came more like a month 04:29 or a month and a half ago in 2021. 04:31 - Yeah, I heard you had lots of notice 04:33 about all three of those. 04:34 - No, no, no. 04:35 (chuckles) Yeah. 04:36 - No? (chuckles) - No. 04:37 We get called. 04:38 I don't know how or why, 04:39 because we're not listed or licensed, 04:41 but we get called multiple times a week 04:45 asking to take kids. 04:46 And we're just not able to, 04:48 we don't want to lose the kids that we have. 04:51 And so we've had to say, 04:54 "We'll get back to you as soon as we're able to." 04:57 But with these three, the situation was different. 05:00 We had almost no notice and it was just very obvious 05:04 that the way that it all came about, 05:05 we couldn't say no. 05:10 God has a plan for why we're over limit. 05:13 - Right. 05:14 Right, so you're working on this new property. 05:16 Now, describe it for us. 05:17 Tell us about it. 05:19 - It's 24 rai, which I think is nine and a half acres. 05:23 - Okay. 05:24 - It's got a pond in the middle 05:25 and just amazing because it had four houses 05:30 on the property that needed 05:32 just a little bit of work to make them habitable. 05:34 We use all four of them. 05:36 And it had two partially built structures across the pond. 05:41 And they were... 05:43 The one that was more built was also in really poor shape 05:46 and was just kind of falling apart. 05:49 But when we first got there, 05:51 we didn't have any vision for that. 05:54 We were just like, 05:56 "Oh, we'll do something or we'll knock these down." 05:58 But then as we stood and looked, we were like, 06:02 we see housing for more children. 06:04 And we see maybe a school, a small school, 06:08 and God just opened the way for those things to happen. 06:12 We now have the school is built 06:14 along with the little chapel. 06:16 And then right now, they are finishing up the first floor 06:21 of the... We're doing six apartments in one dormitory. 06:24 - Okay. 06:26 - And they're finishing up the first floor of those six. 06:28 - Wow. Awesome. - Yeah. 06:29 - So the buildings that were there, 06:32 you said they needed a little bit of work. 06:33 I remember seeing a video of some water 06:37 coming inside your house. 06:39 - Oh, yeah. 06:41 That was in our actual house. 06:44 When they build these houses, 06:46 they'll build like the main part of it. 06:48 And then if they go to add something on, 06:50 they just sort of- 06:51 - Just push it in there. 06:52 - Yeah, just tack it onto there. 06:54 And so, it often isn't sealed and that's the case. 06:58 Our kitchen is an afterthought. 07:01 And so, when it rains water was just coming straight down 07:05 into the kitchen. - You had a waterfall. 07:07 - Yeah. (laughs) 07:08 And we were just like, "Ooh!" 07:10 And it goes all through the living room and not... 07:13 I mean, not dramatically. 07:14 So we didn't flood. 07:16 - It's like a pond. - No, no. 07:17 - But still having a river in it. 07:18 - Inconvenient. - It was quite wet. 07:21 - It had a beautiful waterfall sound. 07:23 - Yeah. (chuckles) 07:25 - But they've stretched tarps out over top of it. 07:28 We tried many things to get it to stop leaking. 07:32 And without some kind of cover, it still leaks. 07:36 - So there's gonna be a new roof needed. 07:38 - There's gonna need... The roof is sound. 07:40 There's gonna need to be something done to secure 07:43 the one part of the house to the other. 07:44 But right now, it's rainy season 07:46 and we have tarp stretched across it 07:47 and it's doing the job. 07:49 - That's all you can do in rainy season. 07:50 - Yeah. 07:52 Robbie just sent me a picture and they've torn. 07:53 They had to replace them because the wind and... 07:56 - Yeah, that's probably gonna happen multiple times. 07:59 But it's okay. Just keep doing that. 08:00 - You're right. 08:01 - We don't want the water in there. 08:03 - [Kasey] Yeah. 08:04 - Because that's another thing, 08:05 it's rainy season and you don't have air conditioning. 08:08 So it's not gonna draw out any of the moisture 08:12 out of the air. 08:13 - [Kasey] Right. 08:14 - So clothes drying and drying out the house 08:16 when it does rain in- 08:18 - It's nice though, 08:19 to be able to experience a little bit of what 08:21 the Thai people experience in the more traditional houses. 08:25 There's some that are more Western style but... 08:28 So getting to move from that Western style house, 08:30 which God was so gracious to allow us to go into first 08:34 into more traditional Thai housing, 08:37 gives us, I think, a little bit better insight 08:39 into what the people live with. 08:41 - So you're buying this property from Thai people. 08:44 So we talked in the other episode about 08:47 there being spirit houses and things. 08:49 Is there, was there a spirit house on this property? 08:53 - There were multiple. - There were three. 08:55 - Yeah. - Two or three. 08:56 I can't remember. 08:57 - And we were initially told that we couldn't take them down 08:59 until the property was paid for. 09:00 And it's a two-year sort of like a purchase agreement. 09:04 And so, in my mind, Robbie's mind, no big deal. 09:08 There's not really any power in these, God is more powerful. 09:11 So we knew we didn't want them, but we didn't... 09:15 It wasn't a deal breaker. 09:16 We weren't thinking 09:17 "Okay, well, God isn't leading us to this house." 09:20 But shortly after moving there we started to hear voices. 09:28 It was at night, we would hear something whispering 09:32 beside your head or close by, 09:34 and you'd look and there would be nothing there. 09:37 Or somebody walking outside, like the shuffling of shoes 09:41 or things dropping- 09:42 - Like the one time, I was asleep and I woke up 09:45 and I heard somebody like walking up on the porch 09:48 and I looked out the window and there was nothing there. 09:51 And they came all the way up on 09:52 and then they walked down. 09:54 But there was- 09:55 - Nobody there. 09:56 So this was happening to all of us, 09:57 but we weren't talking about it because we all felt like 09:59 we were just going crazy a little bit 10:01 and we didn't want to say anything. 10:03 But then we started having electrical issues 10:07 and things were melting and smoking 10:09 and an electrical cord had charred in the girl's house. 10:13 So the cord was charred 10:15 but there was no burn mark. 10:16 - We live in a wood house. 10:17 So like it would've been... 10:19 - Wow. 10:21 - And the one morning we got up 10:24 and we were building a bathroom, 10:28 to what is now the office of our house. 10:31 And inside the bathroom was... 10:34 One of our pet rabbits had been taken in there 10:37 and part of the head was chewed. 10:39 And it was just very bizarre. 10:42 And I think it was the same morning then, 10:45 we took the kids to school 10:47 and we had just the American boys in the van 10:50 and I turned around and Quinn just looked like 10:52 he was in pain. 10:54 He looked like he was about to cry. 10:55 And I said, "What's wrong?" 10:57 And he said, "Everything hurts." 10:59 And I told Robbie, "We need to take him to the hospital." 11:02 And instead of arguing, 11:04 Robbie just went directly to the hospital and went in. 11:07 And it was during that time while he was in there 11:10 and I was outside with the other kids 11:14 that it really began to occur to us what was going on. 11:19 We messaged you guys. 11:21 And John said, "We really need to be praying." 11:25 And we had several other families in the U.S. 11:27 that started praying with us 11:29 and all of it stopped other than Quinn. 11:33 He started at that point on, 11:36 a several month long struggle for his health. 11:40 Previously, completely healthy. 11:42 We always had trouble with his twin brother. 11:44 And now, he gets sick and can't get better 11:47 and he was hospitalized. 11:50 But the best way to go after a family, 11:51 I think, is attack their kids 11:53 because that's where you're gonna discourage them. 11:56 Or make them give up 11:58 or make us retreat back to America 12:00 because the healthcare is better or whatever. 12:02 So it makes sense that he is going after the kids 12:05 because that's the most likely way to get us but... 12:10 - Right. 12:11 - But it just became evident that for whatever reason, 12:17 there was something on that property 12:19 that was giving the enemy access. 12:21 And he was very interested in utilizing 12:23 the access that he had. 12:25 - Right. 12:26 So then you had some people come and visit 12:27 and they took those- 12:28 - Yeah, the Steck family came to visit 12:30 and they didn't wait for us to ask for permission 12:34 from the people, they just took the spirit houses down. 12:37 And best decision. (chuckles) 12:40 - Yeah, yeah. 12:41 - Should have been done at the outset. 12:42 We thought there's no power in them. 12:44 It is what it is. 12:47 We'll deal with it until we can get them out. 12:49 But yeah. - Right. 12:51 - God used them to get them off the property. 12:54 - Wow. 12:55 You mentioned earlier, your friend Ram, 12:57 your best friend, the Buddhist monk. 13:00 And so I wanted to ask you, 13:01 I know that there have been 13:03 different opportunities with him. 13:05 Can you share how you first met him? 13:08 - Robbie was introduced to him by a friend 13:10 in the village that we moved into initially. 13:13 And Ram speaks English, 13:16 but wanted to learn to speak it better. 13:18 And then he learned that Robbie is half Mexican 13:21 and also speaks Spanish. 13:22 So he wanted English and Spanish lessons. 13:25 And he started coming to our house occasionally for those. 13:28 And then he started coming occasionally 13:31 and they weren't doing the classes anymore. 13:33 He was more teaching Robby Thai, 13:36 then Robbie was teaching him English, so. 13:38 And then when we rented the Mission Post Office, 13:42 the building it's pretty much right across the street 13:45 from his temple where he lives. 13:47 And so he started just coming in to visit there 13:50 and he would walk in his orange robe and bare feet 13:53 and walk inside the office. 13:55 It's glass. Front and glass back. 13:57 And just sit there. 13:59 And it'll be very interesting when we get to heaven 14:05 to know the impact that that had for the people 14:07 in that area to see the monk sitting 14:11 in a very, obviously, Christian building. 14:14 - Wow. 14:15 - Yeah, the walls and the barriers that God 14:17 has used Ram to pull down. 14:19 I don't think we understand at this point. 14:21 - Right. Right. 14:22 But in the light of heaven. 14:23 - Right. 14:24 - In heaven we'll know. 14:25 - Yeah. 14:26 So then, you got a phone call after you moved out 14:30 to the new property. 14:32 You got a phone call from someone that was in the village, 14:35 where the other house was. - Right. 14:37 - Can you share about that? 14:38 - Yeah. 14:40 The gentlemen called one Sabbath afternoon and he said, 14:45 "I regret to inform you that our son Archie has died." 14:50 And Archie was five, he died. 14:53 He choked on a fish ball while he was traveling 14:55 in the car with his dad. 14:56 His dad couldn't get it loose. 14:58 And he took him to the hospital. 15:00 They were able to get it out and restart his heart. 15:03 But he ended up dying the next morning. 15:07 And he just told me in such a disconnected way, 15:11 with no emotion, just very matter-of-factly. 15:14 And he invited us to the funeral that night at the temple. 15:18 And so we asked some other missionaries, 15:20 who'd been there longer, 15:21 for some advice on going to a funeral. 15:27 We wanted to be careful, to be respectful of their ceremony, 15:33 without entering into Buddhist worship. 15:35 And so then we also contacted Ram 15:38 and told him what had happened. 15:39 And he said, 15:40 "Well, come get me. I'll go with you." 15:42 And he did. 15:43 And it was very helpful in walking us through the evening. 15:47 He warned us when there was something, 15:50 some type of worship coming up to let us know, 15:53 you don't have to participate in this. 15:55 And during that evening, 15:57 we were able to walk outside for a few minutes 15:59 and I asked him, "What do you believe happens when you die?" 16:05 And he said, 16:06 "Well, if you're good, 16:07 then you'll go to paradise for a while. 16:12 And then you'll be born back into the world 16:14 and you'll be somebody of status." 16:16 It could be a wealthy person. 16:19 He said you could be born back into the King's family. 16:22 But if you were bad, 16:24 then you would go into basically a hell fire for a time. 16:31 And then you'd be born back as somebody poor, lower class. 16:35 Or he said, even something like a dog or a snake. 16:39 And that night for me, 16:45 I think, is really a turning point in my experience 16:48 with these people, understanding just the cruelty 16:54 with which the enemy has gone after them. 16:56 Because so often we think that 16:59 another religion like Buddhism, 17:01 they just believe differently and it's okay. 17:03 Why do we need to go in.... 17:04 They're generally peaceful people. 17:06 Why do we need to go in and mess up what they believe? 17:10 And it has nothing to do with that. 17:12 It is absolute deceit and hopelessness that they live with. 17:19 And I went in and watched my friends stare straight ahead 17:22 at the picture of her son. 17:24 And for her, there was no hope, no shred of hope 17:28 that she would ever see him again. 17:29 Or there was anything more than that, 17:31 those brief five years. 17:33 And it just... 17:35 That night, I never... 17:38 Before that night had experienced somebody's pain, 17:42 the way that I did then. 17:43 And I actually felt like I could feel what she was feeling. 17:48 And I think that God allowed that 17:54 to give me a little teeny piece of the heart that he has 17:56 for these people to help me understand 17:58 that it's far more than doctrinal differences 18:00 or whatever he wants to free these people 18:03 from this deception and hopelessness 18:05 that they live with every day of their lives. 18:07 - Wow. Wow. 18:09 And you also shared how... 18:12 When you were saying goodnight to her or something. 18:15 - Yeah. - She... 18:16 - Yeah, I think you give a... 18:18 It's customary to give a white envelope with a gift. 18:22 There's a specific funeral gift that you give. 18:26 And I handed her the envelope and she came over 18:28 and sat beside me and I put my arm around her 18:30 and just kind of squeezed her arm a little bit. 18:33 But when I went to leave, 18:35 I stood up and she was still sitting 18:37 and she just looked up at me 18:39 with the most desperate look in her eyes, 18:42 like she knew that I knew what she needs to know. 18:45 And God, in that moment, asked me to be silent. 18:50 Our natural inclination is to want to share what we know 18:54 and to fix it. 18:55 And she wanted it to be fixed. 18:57 She wanted her pain to be eased. 19:00 And for whatever reason, 19:02 I knew, without a doubt, that it wasn't the right time. 19:08 But the fact that I saw that in her eyes, 19:11 I don't think I'll ever forget the look, you know? 19:14 But at the same time, it gives me hope. 19:17 I know the assurance that God is gonna open up 19:20 the door at the right time to share with her 19:23 what she needs to hear. 19:24 And I believe firmly that it's gonna be at the time 19:27 when she's able to hear it and accept it and embrace it 19:31 and have hope. 19:33 - Right. 19:34 - She has another daughter. 19:35 - He wasn't the only child. 19:37 - No. 19:38 - Wow. 19:39 So not long after this, you had another experience with Ram. 19:43 - Right. 19:44 - And it was about his buffalo. 19:47 Can you explain, tell us the story? 19:50 - Yeah. 19:51 He keeps his two water buffalo on our property. 19:54 And he came over one morning to put them out. 19:58 He put them into a field beside ours, 20:01 a rice paddy beside ours, to let them graze and play 20:05 in the water hole on our property. 20:06 And they did that for about an hour before 20:09 one of our Bible workers noticed, 20:11 and she completely panicked because she knew 20:13 that just the day before they had gone out 20:15 and sprayed with something that is very lethal to buffalo. 20:20 So she ran out and she told him. 20:22 And he was just so full of dread. 20:24 Like he had just killed his baby girls 20:26 and he pulled them in. 20:29 And we did everything that any of us knew to do. 20:34 Charcoal in the water, salt in the grass 20:37 to make them drink more water. 20:39 But Robbie walked up to him and he said, 20:41 "Ram, we believe that our God will protect your Buffalo 20:44 from this poison. 20:46 And we're gonna pray for him. 20:48 But we really need to take these charms off 20:50 so that they don't block the pray." 20:54 So God has full power. 20:55 And neither Robbie or I expected 20:58 that Ram was gonna agree to this 21:00 'cause the whole point of putting the charms on 21:02 was to protect them. 21:03 But he immediately said, "Take them off." 21:07 And so Robbie went to untie them 21:09 and it was taking a little bit 21:12 'cause they're on there pretty good. 21:13 And Ram said, 21:14 "No, cut them off. It'll be faster." 21:17 - Wow. 21:18 - Just the fact that in that moment of crisis 21:21 when he was... 21:22 Because it sounds silly, 21:23 but it would be similar to one of my children being sick 21:27 to the point of death. 21:29 For him, in that moment, to have no faith 21:34 or trust in his own religion, 21:38 and the little teeny shred of faith 21:41 that he had being in the God of Creation. 21:45 And so, the charms came off 21:47 and we prayed for the buffalo and took him home. 21:49 And he fully expected because the vet said 21:51 they'd be dead within six hours to two days. 21:54 So he expected that by the next morning, 21:56 we would be calling him and telling him 21:57 that they were either really sick or they were dead. 22:01 But the next morning they were completely fine. 22:03 They were not sick at all. 22:06 Definitely weren't dead. 22:07 And two weeks... 22:10 No, two days passed 22:12 and they were still fine. 22:14 But he had then since talked to somebody, 22:16 who told him these things can take time. 22:19 - Maybe two weeks. - Yeah. 22:20 So the waiting process of reminding him every day, 22:24 we prayed for your buffalo and got answered. 22:26 They're fine. 22:29 And he would say, "I hope so." 22:31 But it was somewhere a little after, 22:32 maybe a week that he finally started to realize, 22:35 "My buffalo aren't gonna die." 22:37 And it's interesting because he hasn't ever said, 22:40 "Your God protected my buffalo." 22:43 But we genuinely believe 22:44 that he doesn't not believe that either. 22:47 And that God is working in him. 22:52 The kids have heard him multiple times out on the salo, 22:56 the covered patio on our property, 22:58 listening to Christian music. 23:00 - Right even now, 23:01 when he was taking care of the buffalo. 23:02 Listening to Christian music. 23:04 - Yeah, so God is reaching the heart 23:07 of this orange clad monk. 23:11 - Wow. 23:12 Well, what a privilege you've had 23:14 to see the little glimpses into what the differences, 23:18 the spiritual battle, and yet seeing God 23:22 win the little battle after little battle, 23:25 to give you guys opportunity to reach out. 23:28 - Yeah, that's been a gift. 23:29 - So we've been sharing some of your stories here, 23:32 but I want to let our viewers know 23:33 that you have written a book. 23:35 Can you tell us about this book? 23:37 - I don't have the attention span 23:40 to just sit down and write a book yet. 23:42 I have not ever been able to do that, 23:45 but I did put together some thoughts largely for myself 23:49 and our family to be able to look back. 23:52 So much of our experience depends on us being able 23:54 to remember the way that God has led in the past. 23:57 And so, I really wanted to have it chronicled to a degree. 24:03 And so I put together what's basically a 31-day devotional. 24:08 So it's basically a short entries of experiences 24:12 that we've had while in Thailand. 24:14 - Okay. 24:15 So Hannah I know we haven't really addressed 24:16 you directly very much, 24:18 but do you have anything that you would like to share 24:20 about from your time in Thailand so far? 24:24 - I think from my experience in school, 24:28 'cause I went to Thai school for... 24:30 I think last year. 24:31 And when I was in there, I was a little... 24:36 I didn't know what I was in there for. 24:37 I was like, "Why am I in school?" 24:38 Because I couldn't understand a lot of it. 24:41 And so I kind of went in with the mindset 24:43 "Oh, I'm here to learn the language, learn the culture." 24:46 And a lot a lot of my classmates 24:49 could speak a little bit of English 24:52 and I was just connecting with them, 24:55 trying to make friendships and talk to people 24:59 and figure out what they believe. 25:00 And I talked to a few of my classmates 25:04 and some people outside of my class, and I was like, 25:07 "What is something that brings you joy in life? 25:10 Daily basis, weekly, even monthly." 25:13 And both of the people I asked, they said nothing. 25:17 And I said like, "Nothing? Like at all?" 25:19 And they said, 25:20 "No, my day is the same. 25:22 I wake up, I do the same thing. I go to school." 25:25 And I was like, "What about doing your break?" 25:27 And they said, "I do the same thing then too. 25:29 I go up and I study" 25:30 And I was like, "So, nothing?" 25:33 And they said, "No, nothing." 25:35 And I feel like that was when I realized, 25:37 these people don't have... 25:39 They don't have anything. - [Kasey] Purpose. 25:40 - Yeah, they don't have purpose. 25:42 They don't have purpose in life. 25:44 I don't know what that's like. 25:46 But that's so weird and foreign to me 25:48 because I've grown up with some sort of purpose. 25:54 And I just find it so sad, 25:58 living in life and you don't expect anything 26:00 more than the life you're in and that's all you have. 26:04 I, yeah... I don't know. 26:07 - Those relationships that she built 26:08 while she was in school, 26:10 now that she's not even in school anymore, 26:12 those relationships are still there. 26:14 And so, it's- 26:15 - [Natalie] You guys keep in touch? 26:17 - Yeah, we do. Mostly through message. 26:18 Sometimes I'll meet up with them. 26:21 - Wow. So did it help you learn a little more Thai? 26:24 - Oh yeah, yeah. 26:25 My friends were really super helpful. 26:27 They were also like to make fun of me. 26:31 (laughing) 26:33 - [Natalie] Because of your accent? 26:34 - Yes. 26:35 - But also their English, 26:37 it was fun because we just got to share our languages 26:41 and they would ask me questions. 26:44 They'd be in the middle of the class. 26:45 Maybe like, "Hannah, what's this in English?" 26:48 And then the teacher English teacher would look at me 26:50 and say, "No, you can't tell them." 26:51 (laughing) 26:52 I was like, "Okay". 26:53 But yeah. 26:54 So it was a really nice experience. 26:55 It was really cool. 26:57 - I'm sure there were some hard times. 26:59 - Oh, yeah. 27:00 - But yeah. Wow. 27:01 Well, that's a neat opportunity. 27:03 And seeing, 27:04 and maybe understanding more about them 27:09 and what their culture is 27:11 and what their religion teaches them and all of that. 27:15 It gives you a heart of love for them. 27:17 It's a heart of understanding that they need. 27:20 They need the hope. 27:22 They need the opportunity for joy, 27:25 the purpose that comes from knowing God 27:28 and knowing that there's eternity coming with him. 27:31 Wow. 27:33 Well, I just appreciate so much you taking the time 27:34 to be here and share with us. 27:36 We'll just be praying for you. 27:37 And I would like to invite our viewers also 27:40 to pray for the Norton family. 27:42 For the spiritual battle and the warfare 27:44 that is so real in Thailand. 27:46 And if you would like to sponsor them, 27:49 you can contact us at Jesus for Asia. 27:51 PO box 1221. 27:53 Collegedale, Tennessee. 27:55 37315. 27:57 Call us at (423) 413-7321. 28:01 Or visit our website at jesusforasia.org. 28:04 May God richly bless you until we see you next time 28:07 on Jesus for Asia Now. 28:09 (closing music) |
Revised 2021-07-27