We recently celebrated our daughter’s first birthday. As I marvel at how quickly this past year has gone by, I also reflect on how she has changed our life and ministry. I admit that for several years I was reluctant to entertain the thought of having children. Jesus is coming soon! This world is getting worse and worse, and it just isn’t a safe place to raise children. The time required to raise children will take away from my ministry. These were some of the excuses I used to justify my reluctance. But in the end I realized that I didn’t really have any good reason not to have children. Now that I have a year of parenting under my belt, I can honestly say that having a child was one of the best decisions we ever made. Rather than hindering our ministry, little Ali has actually enhanced it.

Not only has Ali endeared herself to Daddy and Mommy’s hearts, but she has quickly won the hearts of Thai people. No matter where we go, people stop, gawk, and comment. “She’s so cute.” “She looks like a doll.” Ali quickly breaks down barriers and opens doors for us to have conversations. She has also deepened our friendships with our neighbors. For example, there is a lady named Daw in our village whom we would often see out walking at night with her friend. She was friendly to us, but she kept herself at a distance. We found out at the beginning of the year that Daw and her husband had decided to adopt a baby boy who was born just one day before Ali. Now that we both have infants, our connection has naturally deepened. Daw comes over to talk with us when she sees us outside, and she has even offered to babysit for us. She and her husband have also joked with us that if Ali ends up marrying their son, we can all live together in their big house!

We are grateful for the ways God has been using Ali to touch the hearts of Thai people, and we pray that as she continues to grow, our ministry will develop as well. Please pray with us.

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