A couple weeks ago we shared about two possible directions that we were considering for our future outreach to university students. (Check out the post Two Answers for more info.) At that time we asked for you to join us in prayer as we waited on the Lord and His direction. Now we’re inviting you to celebrate with us in thankfulness and praise for what the Lord has done! Please keep on reading to find out how God worked to very clearly direct us to a ministry at North Chiang Mai University.
Go North!
We began our move toward university ministry by surveying the campus of North Chiang Mai University (NCU or North) during the second week of March. This school is actually located south of the city of Chiang Mai, just outside the town of Hang Dong. At that time, we didn’t know anything about the school and only knew a bit about the community in which it is located. We took a morning to drive around the area, look for housing near the university and generally explore. We also stopped at the school and spoke with a professor who put us in contact with a missionary who had been teaching English part-time for the past couple terms. From there we arranged a meeting with this man for later that week. Also, we met with others who were able to tell us about the school and the surround area. Overall, we just set out to ask questions and gather as much information as possible. After only a few days, it appeared that God was already opening doors for ministry at North, but our hunt for housing was going nowhere. We had searched on our own (both online and in person), asked others who lived nearby NCU to look for us, and even called several real estate agents. However, each of these methods only resulted in houses that were much too small for a family of five or situated too far from the university. At that point, we were at a dead end and began wondering if North was the wrong direction!
Is Mae Jo the Way to Go?
While keeping the possibility of NCU open, we began focusing our attention toward Mae Jo University (MJU) around third week of March. This school is located about 10 kilometers north of the city of Chiang Mai and nearly a 40 minute drive from where we now live. Within only a day of searching online and one morning of driving around, we were able to locate and view a suitable house that was only 4.5 kilometers from MJU. It was a good size for our family and ministry needs and the owner, who was very kind, lived just down the road. We assured her we were interested and agreed to call her within a few days. We also visited the campus itself and met with two teachers in the Language Center, the second of which turned out to be a Thai-Filipino Christian. She spoke English well and was very helpful as we shared our burden to reach out to students. She told us that there was a possibility of assisting in the English program on campus, but she would need to speak with her director first. After exchanging email addresses and phone numbers, we left feeling hopeful, wondering if this was the place God was leading us to. Later that night, brought even further excitement as we received an email from the lady we had met with, asking us to scan and email Nathan’s education documents to be reviewed by the director of the department. Mae Jo was looking promising! On top of that, toward the end of the week, the owner of the house we had viewed called and told us there were other people interested in seeing it, but she was waiting to hear back from us because she liked our family. We told her that we needed a little more time (both to pray and because we wanted to hear from Mae Jo before signing a lease) and she graciously allowed us until early the following week to make a decision. Surely we’d hear from the university by then!
Decision Time…Right?
That weekend (March 26-27) we spent a lot of time in prayer, asking God for His wisdom as we made a very big decision. Monday morning came and we still hadn’t heard anything from the English teacher at Mae Jo, despite having sent her several messages by email and Facebook. What’s more, although the house near MJU was attractive in many ways, we were simply not at peace about saying yes to it. So now what? How can we go with a house we don’t have peace about? At the same time, how can we go in a direction where there is no house?
An Unexpected Door Opens
That same Monday morning (March 28), Nathan left to teach English to children at an orphanage in Sanpatong, a town south of Hang Dong. He had begun teaching there on Wednesday the week before at the request of a friend. On that first day the director of the children’s home, knowing we were considering ministry at North, told him about a possible rental house in that area. At that time, however, the information wasn’t too promising: “Well, I think it’s located near the university. I don’t think anyone is living there right now. The owner might want to rent it out.” Even though this description wasn’t too hopeful, Nathan agreed to look at it the next day. Thursday came, but there was not an opportunity to go view the house, so we put it out of our mind. Then, the director mentioned the house again on that Monday and even offered to take us to it. Really instead of “it,” we should say “them.” That’s right, the property she took us to included not one, but two houses. The owner explained that they were originally built for her family who wanted to live next door to one another. In time, though, the family moved away and now she was in the market to sell the homes. However, she would also be willing to rent both of them to us for an unbelievable price of $330! Part of what made this so amazing was that Jessica had specifically been praying for a house that would have ample room to home school our kids, provide Nathan with an office space, host university students, and house friends, family and other visitors. Well, God graciously answered with not just an extra room or two, but an entire second house, all for an unbeatable cost. Plus, the house is situated a mere 3 kilometers from North. This was indeed an answer to prayer!
Look What’s Behind Door #2!
After looking at the house, it occurred to us that we hadn’t really talked with anyone at North since we’d first begun our search. Even then, we had only asked some informal questions about helping out on campus. So before going home Nathan stopped by NCU in hopes of meeting with someone in the English department. However, since he didn’t have an appointment and it was already 4:30pm Monday (during summer break, no less) he wasn’t too certain of making any progress. So then, it was quite a surprise when, after asking to see an English professor, he was directed to the office of the Dean of the English Department! Nathan introduced himself, explained his goals (which primarily consisted of assisting a professor in teaching an English course), and then sat in stunned silence as the Dean asked if he would be able to begin teaching a course when the new term begins in June. The next day, Tuesday, Nathan returned to NCU with his résumé and copies of his education documents and it was confirmed that he would begin teaching the sophomore Listening and Speaking English class in just over 2 1/2 months.
Closed Doors
The same day Nathan handed in his credentials, Jessica spoke with the house owner near Mae Jo University and told her that were no longer interested in renting her house. The only thing left to do was contact the English teacher from MJU to let her know that we had decided to go another direction. But, before sending her an email message, she sent one to us in which she apologized for not writing sooner, but that she had never received Nathan’s education documents (we had sent them to two separate email addresses and her Facebook account) and asked if we could send them again. After triple checking to make sure we had sent them to the correct addresses (we had), we could only conclude that God was confirming His call to North by firmly shutting the door to Mae Jo.
All of this took place in about 4 weeks worth of time. Looking back that seems rather quick. However, the reality is that we were able to accomplish what we did during that period because God had been working in advance to prepare everything. We’re confident that He had his hand in these events in order to lead us in His direction. We’re also certain that He responded to your prayers on our behalf. Thank you for partnering together with us to seek God’s leading and for trusting Him to work. We will continue trusting Him as we prepare to move at the beginning of June and begin our work at North later that month. We can’t wait to see what else He has in store!
