NOVEMBER 2014
H O W T O P R AY •
Pray for our photography exhibition of my students’ photos that was moved to the beginning of December. Pray that my students will be proud and their voices heard. Pray that family and neighbors would be inspired by this public display of their own community’s strengths
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Pray for the continued growth of our youth leaders as they become the unique leaders God made them to be.
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Pray for my team in a season of transition. There are staff coming and staff going. Pray that we will our peace and assurance in God, the one sure thing in this world.
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Pray that God will provide for all my financial needs this year!
Hi Family and Friends, Praise God for his perfect provision! I have just closed out my first full fiscal year, and I am glad to say that God has provided for all my financial needs for that year! It is encouraging to see that God has provided for all my needs as I follow him where he leads. Know that he is that very same God in your life as well. This season, I’m starting to see what my next year will look like financially. My bare-bones budget for this next year totals to $26,570. You can see my budget breakdown to the right. Praise God that I currently have $23,400 in monthly pledges! This means that next year, I will need to raise an additional $3,170 in support to come out in the black. To achieve this, would you consider supporting me financially in one of the following ways? 100
100
100
10%
1x
ANNUAL BUDGET BREAKDOWN Living Expenses (rent, food, transport, recreation, etc.) 9540 Savings, Retirement 3000 Giving 1500 Health Insurance 1560 Team Expenses (retreats, office supplies, Thai staff support, etc.) 3120 Employer/Employee Taxes 4662 Organizational Overhead 3188 TOTAL 26570
Join my team as a new donor! Support my work in Bangkok. Three new donors at $100 per month would just about get me out of the red! Your monthly pledge will help my ministry overseas be focused and sustainable for years to come! Up your monthly pledge! If you are currently supporting me, would you consider increasing your monthly support amount by 10% to help me stay in Thailand longterm? Give a one-time gift! If you are not able to support me with a monthly pledge, would you consider a one-time gift to support my ministry here in Bangkok?
If you would like to support me, please let me know! I praise God for your love, your friendship, and your support of my work here in Thailand! I am grateful for having been blessed with such a fantabulous community. Know that my love goes out to you during this season of Thanksgiving!!! In Christ,
ผู้นำ�ไทย INVESTING IN THAI LEADERS
Part of the Servant Partners vision for Thailand is to join with God in building up and partnering with strong Thai leaders—both inside and outside the Church. Join me over the next few months as I share about the young leaders God has placed in our midst.
YOUTH LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT I love the smell of campfire in the morning, mingling with fog and damp earth. The sun just began to peed through the smooth lines of the nearby banana grove, and the campers were hungrily stumbling out of their tents. The only thing is that half the kids didn’t know how difficult it can be to light dew-damp grass for your breakfast fire. This, and many other difficult lessons contributed to a challenging but character-building camp.
L E A D E R S
Last month, our Thai Peace Foundation staff and interns hosted a week-long camp for students in our Youth Leadership Development program. The goal of this camp was to share about God’s vision of leadership, to build stronger relationships with our youth, to encourage them in their ongoing education, and to challenge them to grow in their leadership capacity. Tum, one of our Thai staff, shared from the Bible about how God used David to be the unlikely leader of a nation. We discussed how God does not care about things that people often think is important, like our outwardly appearances or our backgrounds. Rather, God looks to our heart. In David’s case, he was the youngest of his family and had the unimpressive
The Lord doesn’t see things the way you see them. People judge by
career of a shepherd. Yet, God used
outward appearance, but the Lord
him and his abilities to overcome huge
looks at the heart.
challenges and lead his nation to victory.
1 Samuel 16:7
The thing that impressed me most was how God revealed to my small group how deep and rich the word “leader” is in all its nuances. Fah is a young girl who comes from a community on the other side of town. She and four other teens made up team Lion, under my care. As the days progressed, we found that our team was made up of the shiest and least athletic of the camp. One of our teammates had significant health challenges and actually required a lot of care. But time after time, I was impressed by how the other four, especially Fah, cared for this boy’s health and did their best to include him.
L E A D E R S
Yet, game after game, we lost. The strenuous hikes and activities were tough. When campfire skits came, ours passed unnoticed and unawarded. Through tears one day at team time, Fah confessed that she and the team were feeling defeated. Compared to the other teams, they felt like they came in at a distant last place in everything. They weren’t the funniest, the most outgoing, the most athletic, or the most competitive. Weren’t these all the very things that people look to in a leader? But then it clicked: though people may judge based on our outward appearances, God sees to our hearts. During that team time, we began seeing that leadership is not about being the most outgoing, having the most stage presence, or about winning the race. Leaders must know how to love, to include, to empower, and to look to the least. My team displayed these qualities in abundance that week. Yes, we did not get the awards. Yes, we did not get the applause. Yes, we often feel tempted to compare ourselves to others along these lines. But God looks to the heart, and even I can see that Fah’s heart and the hearts of my team were ones of loving, caring leaders. May God grow them to be the men and women God created them to be, fully confident in their unique personalities and abilities. Amen!
ก
U P D AT E S
การเรียนภาษาไทย STUDYING THAI
After 17 months of Thai tutoring, I’m pretty fluent, literate, and have moved onto informal, personal study! Praise God for a wonderful tutor who was not only helpful with language, but with understanding culture as well!
POLITICAL CLIMATE
NEW ROOMIE
Thailand is under the rule of an undemocratically elected Prime Minister following the military coup earlier this year. This doesn’t present any problems to me being here, but Thailand is still in need of political stability.
I have a new roommate! His name is Ryan, and he is one of our twoyear interns. He will be living with Sprite and myself for his final year.
PHOTO EXHIBIT The photo exhibit for my students’ work was pushed back to next month. Hopefully we will be able to make it happen in the beginning of December. Please keep this in your prayers!
KYLE'S CONTACT INFO: Phone: +66-090-979-8187 Email: kyle.apuna@gmail.com Blog: rootandflourish.wordpress.com Mailing Address: Thai Peace Foundation 3750/9 Ladprao Soi 146/1 Khlongchan, Bangkapi, Bangkok Thailand 10240