Beyond: Brave Little Seedlings: Starting Again

2014 was a year of many, many changes. We had a beautiful daughter, moved twice, had our ministry location taken away and then blessed with a better one, hosted a team from Purdue University, helped host an international weightlifting tournament, had some great events with our ministry including: Valentines, Halloween, Loi Krathong, Thanksgiving, and Christmas; and we've started a coffee shop that is slowly getting more customers each week. We've been blessed with new friends, getting to see old friends we had lost touch with and have had out current friendships grow stronger. It was a great year, even as rough as it got.

Now we are looking forward to this next year and all that it holds and we are asking you for lots of prayer. I'm just going to list everything that could potentially happen in the next 12 months.

January:

Hosting a faculty dinner at the coffee shop (this week)
Mini-vacation, two nights in the mountains (please pray for safety)
2nd term starts
Setting up an activity with a group from a Texas high school and my students (next week)

February:
Valentines Day party @ Classic Coffee
7th annual NCU English Camp

March:
Midterms
Sending out requests for interns (to help w/ coffee shop and ministry)

April:
Easter Celebration @ Classic Coffee

May:
End of Year Celebration @ Classic Coffee
Finals

June-July:
Travel to the USA
Visit family and friends, Speak at some churches, Do a lot of fundraising

August:
Return to Thailand/Prepare for the 15/16 school year
(Prayerfully hoping) Welcome an Intern (or 3) for the next 6 months

September:
School starts
Back to School Celebration @ Classic Coffee

October:
Mid terms
Halloween @ Classic Coffee

November:
2ndAnnual Loi Kratha @ Classic Coffee (Loi Krathong/Yii Peng)
2nd Annual Thanksgiving Buffet @ Classic Coffee

December:
Christmas @ Classic Coffee
Finals

Of course this will really fill in. I am involved in two research projects with the University, I need to re-write my textbook for my Public Speaking class, have several other projects in the works with the Uni.

Goals this year for our ministry: Be able to start at least one discipleship group with our students, have better relationships with the 1st and 2nd year students, and want to start a time of worship at the shop as well.
The church Anne and I attend is growing and starting to meet out nearer to where we are so we will be more involved there as well as they will be more involved with the ministry here.

Goals for Classic Coffee: Build a new counter/bar, Add food to the menu, have one month in the black before we head back to the USA. After we come back, be able to remodel the kitchen and get more food on the menu, be able to start remodeling the inside.

Goals as a family: Continue spending time together, Move out of my mother-in-law's place and into a place of our own, get insurance for Anne and I (finally got insurance for Deanna in December)

So this is a much longer post than normal, but this is where we want to be headed this year. We really need your prayers. We are also going to need help raising funds to get to the USA and get around while we are there. The round-trip tickets alone will be at least $3,000 for Anne and I. Fortunately Deanna doesn't count as a full ticket just yet. But to end off this post, here are photos to highlight the past year.