Our first furlough has finally arrived! For the last several months we have been planning and preparing for our first trip back to America since launching to Thailand in November, 2012. I felt eager to come back and re-connect with family and friends, but slightly anxious as I thought of trying to re-adjust to living in America for four months. So much has changed in three years. We have learned how to live and navigate in a new culture, speak a new language and even re-learned how to drive (on the left side of the road). One of my biggest fears in coming home is accidentally driving on the wrong side of the road and getting into an accident!

Our experience in Thailand has taught us many things, and we have grown in ways that we probably never could have otherwise. As I have grappled with how to effectively reach the Thai people for Christ, I have been challenged in my own walk of faith. As I have watched our little church plant steadily grow, I have seen the power of Christ-like love manifested in the midst of Christian community. Our successes have come largely through our church—people being attracted to Christianity because of what they have seen in our lives. Although we at times struggle to communicate and often make blunders, we are reminded that it is the Holy Spirit Who draws people to Christ, and our job is to cooperate with Him. He can do more through a humble, bumbling missionary who is conscious of his need than He can through the most gifted worker who is self-sufficient and feels no need.

Reflecting on these experiences has brought me back to the basics of Christianity and has given me the desire to have a genuinely converted heart emptied of pride and self and completely filled with love and the other fruits of the spirit. It has caused me to seek deeper spiritual healing so I can truly be a light that shines brightly for Christ in a dark land, and it has given me the desire to share the lessons I have learned with others during my time on furlough. My prayer has been, “Lord, please use me to bless and minister to others during my time in America,” and it didn’t take long for Him to answer.

On our flight from Seoul to Chicago, I sat next to a Vietnamese teenager who was traveling to America to start his senior year of high school. After talking with him for a couple of minutes, I learned that he attends a Christian school and lives with a Christian family. However, he was quick to point out that he was Buddhist. As we continued talking, he shared that during the school year he attends church every week and had learned a lot about the Bible. I asked if he believed in God. He said he did, but if he became a Christian his family would probably reject him. I began to sense that he was under conviction, so I started to pray silently. I shared Bible promises and told him that if he were to make a step of faith, God would honor Him and take care of his family situation. I encouraged him to begin praying to God and to be open and honest with Him about his fears. Before we parted ways, we exchanged information and prayed together. As we got off the plane, I praised God for the divine appointment and prayed that He would continue to use us to bless and minister to others. Please join us in this prayer.

• Twitter