Full Sail Ministries
South East Asia Outreach 2023
Hello dear friends!
We have been stateside for two weeks now and still cannot begin to wrap our minds or hearts around what we experienced during the last 2 month of outreach in Asia!! Every single day, a firehose of fresh new opportunities and adventures were opened to us, and we watched firsthand as person after person encountered the powerful, beautiful, life-changing Love of God!!
What you are about to read only scratches the surface! There are literally hundreds of stories to tell – many of them too personal and too private to share the details of. But please know this…God answered our prayers far beyond what we could have even hoped or imagined! We wholeheartedly “give thanks to the Lord for He is good! His love endures forever.” (Psalm 136:1)
Cambodia (March 2-30)
We spent the first month of our trip at the YWAM (Youth with a Mission) base in Battambang, Cambodia, the largest base in SE Asia. Week 1 was focused on building relationship with the leadership team, as well as ministering to the 100+ DTS students (Discipleship Training School) who were in their last week of training. We got to teach on hearing the Voice of God, finding our identity in being His beloved sons and daughters, and then praying over each of them individually as they prepared to leave on outreach the next day. One couple who had literally sold their wedding rings in order to attend this 6-month school, shared their heartbreaking story of infertility. It was such a privilege to pray over them for healing. The young husband literally buried his head in Geoff’s chest like a child and wept, tangibly receiving the love and comfort of a father’s arms as we prayed.
Week 2, we set up and then hosted a week-long Oasis Retreat, open 7am-9pm daily, geared specifically to the 120 YWAM staff members. These precious staffers - who are lovingly and sacrificially serving God with their whole lives – came hungering and thirsting to meet with Jesus. The pace of ministry and the weighty needs of the people they pour into day in and day out, have left many of them bone-weary and longing for relief. It was so moving to see them receiving deep encouragement and refreshment from God. Throughout our devo times each morning, breakout sessions in the afternoon, worship times in the evening and 17 personal Reflective Station available all day, as well as many heart-connected conversations and precious prayer times, Jesus extravagantly poured out His love on every person that came.
Breakout Sessions
Our team was not exempt from receiving! In fact, one of our team members reflected, “How is it that I came to give away to the people here and He seems bent on giving TO ME?!!” There were moments of pretty intense spiritual warfare and our team felt it. The enemy would have loved to divide us. But God gave us EVERYTHING we needed to press through, and the hard moments served to bond us deeply!! We are still marveling at the grace and victory He provided!!
SE Asia Outreach Team Cambodia - Thailand Teaching at YWAM Discipleship Training School (DTS) Oasis RetreatCambodia (continued)
One example of breakthrough came for a precious little family of 3, beginning with their 10-year-old daughter Hannah, when her school came up to Oasis for their Friday chapel service. She was so deeply moved by the invitation to meet with God in the secret places of her heart that she kept returning to Oasis every chance she got. She received prayer from team members and had her feet washed. She was especially drawn to the Reflective Station called “Finding Your Oasis”, where she was encouraged to watercolor what her Oasis with Jesus could look like. Her mom noticed SUCH a different spirit in her (“She was being so loving and respectful!”) she asked her why. Hannah simply replied, “Mommy, I’m new!!” It so inspired her parents, that they both came for prayer, “wanting to experience God like Hannah is experiencing Him”!
During the last two weeks in Cambodia following Oasis, we focused our time on individual prayer ministry “sets” - 25 hour-long prayer slots for any staff members who desired further personal prayer ministry with our team. In most instances, hard and often very painful things came up for people during those prayer times, but God’s Presence to heal and comfort and deliver was so real and available and resulted in “before and after moments” of breakthrough, freedom, relief, and fresh joy. It was beautiful working together as a team - listening to the Holy Spirit, trusting each other, flowing together, growing and learning and receiving so much grace as we went. It was such a profound honor to listen to each uniquely beautiful story and to have a front row seat to see Jesus intimately encourage each person.
Hannah
Our “Theme”
Worship & Prayer
Foot-washing
Thailand (March 31- April 26)
After our time in Cambodia was complete, we took a couple of days to rest and then it was on to the second portion of our outreach: Thailand.
Our first day was spent in Pattaya with Nella Davidson of Tamar Ministries, whose focus is on the “bar girls of Pattaya”, women caught in one of the worst sex trafficking destinations in the world. We walked and prayed and dreamed into what kind of team and outreach we might bring in the future to specifically target the needs of these precious young women. Please pray with us as we are asking God to show us when, where, and how this might unfold.
Then it was on to Chon Buri for a week of pouring into the staff and orphaned children of Abundant Life Home, established in 2013 by dear missionary friends, Ricky and Karen Sanchez, to provide a loving home and tender care for children who have tested positive for HIV. We had the privilege of providing teaching, worship, and individual prayer times for about 15 of the house moms, staff, and children. In one of the prayer times, a very hard memory came to the surface for the person and we spent considerable time asking and allowing Jesus to bring healing and restoration to this profound wound. Afterwards, she could not stop talking about how light and free and filled with hope she felt! Honestly, who else but God could do this kind of healing?!
Next, we drove 10 hours to the city of Chiang Mai where we stayed with another close friend and longtime missionary, Cynthia Friesen and her adopted Thai son, Maceo. In addition to spending hours talking, praying, playing games, and sharing good meals together, we had the beautiful opportunity of joining her in her world of outreach: sharing testimony at a girls’ juvenile detention center, visiting the homes of several brand new believers from a newly-launched house church, leading worship and prayer ministry for the members of Cynthia’s Life Group, and praying with the women at Naomi House (a refuge for at-risk women to learn a trade and find financial, spiritual and emotional stability).
One of these women was struggling with severe digestive issues and tremendous anxiety over the lifestyle of one of her grown children and she knelt to receive prayer. Jill was reminded of the story of the woman with the bleeding disorder in Mark 5. Crowds of people were touching Jesus for healing, but Jesus felt ONE woman reach out to Him with trust and belief. Jill encouraged this precious woman to reach out to Jesus too. “He’s right here in this room! Just let go and let Him come and meet you” and she did!!!! Tears of relief flowed as, right then and there, she entrusted her fear and pain to the One Who heals!
Chon Buri Abundant Life HomeOrphanage for HIV+ Kids Mae Sot Women’s Event for Burmese Refugees Chiang Mai Women’s Juvenile Detention Center Mae Sot Burmese Refugee Church Mae Sot Burmese Refugee Men Chiang Mai Sharing w/New BelieversOur final stop was the city of Mae Sot, a city on the border of Burma (Myanmar), where we ministered to several small groups of men and women who had literally fled for their lives from the Civil War happening in their country. In each setting, we spoke to them about a God Who hears the very cries of their hearts and is leaning in close to meet them right in their places of deep pain, trauma, loss, and fear. In one of the meetings, the man sitting next to Geoff asked how he could be freed from fear and healed from the trauma and PTSD he was experiencing. His best friend had been shot right in front of him. Geoff looked into his eyes and they took a moment to really see each other. Then Geoff prayed, asking God for healing and the power to forgive such horrific offenses. God was present. Jesus was in the room. And the Holy Spirit knit their hearts together as they began the process of releasing their lives into the hands of God. It was a powerful, beautiful, and life changing moment for all of them.
Help Us Go!
Suffice it to say, we are overwhelmed with God’s goodness and our hearts are filled with gratitude. We can relate to Peter and John when they exclaimed in Acts 4:20: ‘It’s impossible for us to stop speaking about all the things we’ve seen and heard!’” Thank you Lord! It’s true. You do all things well.
We are also filled with gratitude for all of you. Your powerful prayers, your warm friendship, and your generous financial support played a key role in helping to send us to the other side of the world with the Gospel. We cannot thank you enough.
Coming Up!
Israel Study Tour
June 19-30
Leader's Retreat
July 16 - 22
Next Gen Leader’s Retreat for Believer’s Church, Chesapeake, VA at Word of Life Bible Institute in Pottersville, NY
International - Canada
September
St. John’s, Newfoundland
+ We are prayerfully considering various invitations in the US for Home For Weekend Retreats (www.homefortheweekend.org) as well as international outreaches in South America and Asia.
The truth is, we simply cannot do this on our own. Friends, it’s humbling and vulnerable to ask for help, but partnership and connection seem to be some of God’s highest values!! He made us to function as a body, working together for something bigger than any one part could do alone.
If you are not already a part of our support team, may we humbly ask you to consider joining us? We could really use another 20-30 faithful monthly prayer and financial supporters. To those of you who already pray and give, thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your partnership and friendship. We think we make a really great team!
If you would like to give a gift toward our ongoing work here at FSM, please use the enclosed envelope or give online at www.fullsail.org/give.