“Huh!” I laughed as we drove past a large blue house with a sign that read For Sale/Rent.

“We could never live there, on this busy road. No yard at all, and it looks so dark, completely covered with roof extensions.” We did not even call to ask about it. We just continued driving in and out of housing subdivisions in Surat Thani, looking for the rental house that God had chosen for us.

Nine days passed, and we still had not found a place that felt right. Still, we had to leave Surat Thani and return to Khon Kaen, even if we were not finished with our house-hunting mission. It was disappointing.

Arriving in Khon Kaen, we found our lovely home clean and stocked with food left there by our dear supervisors and some other good friends. It felt so good to be home, perhaps too good! As we lay down to sleep that night, I heard Shannon weeping in the darkness. “Everything in Khon Kaen is so good—our house, our church, our Sabbath School, Peace Music Academy, our church members and friends. But in Surat Thani, we have nothing.”
Over the next few weeks, we tied up loose ends and prepared to move. Where exactly we were moving to, we still didn’t know. We continued checking Facebook Marketplace daily, hoping to see a promising rental. Then one day, we saw that same blue house posted. We recognized it immediately and chuckled again. Facebook showed it listed as just a little too expensive for us. But we were curious: What was included in the house?

When we discovered it included four bedrooms, five bathrooms, an office, a living room, a kitchen and enough space inside the gate to park two cars, we began to feel differently about the house. Maybe it could work. After all, it seemed big enough to both live in and host a house church, complete with children’s programs. Outside the gate, there was even more space for parking. Best of all, it was close to the Koh Lampu exercise park, where we could conveniently meet with anyone and conduct outreach programs for people of all ages.

We prayed about the house, and God delivered it at a discounted price!
Jesus once said: “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden” (Matthew 5:14). Here we feel like that “city on a hill,” easy to see, in a house that literally cannot be hidden. Everyone knows of Koh Lamphu, and most have seen our unusually blue house near its entrance.

Though we are still settling in, and it does not feel quite like home yet, as time passes and we meet more people, we feel even more confident that God blessed us with this place for ministry and planted us here to be clearly seen by all.

Please pray that God will cause us to shine so brightly that when people see our good works, they will glorify our Father in heaven.

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