Pastors Suradet and Yupa, along with our beloved interpreter Boy, will arrive on Thursday, January 8 around 9:30 in the morning. Of course, we are praying for good traveling weather and safety all along the way.
Because many of you have not yet had the chance to meet Boy, I thought I'd just let you in on some interesting and fun facts, so we can all get to know him a little, even before he's here.
First, Boy is a nickname, a common practice in Thailand. His given name is Udom Setthaya, but since we're friends, we can call him Boy :). [Also on the name thing, it's true that one of our sponsored kids at Hot Springs also goes by the nickname Boy. Often as not when we're there we refer to them as 'Little Boy' and 'Big Boy'. However, last October, when I saw how much 'Little Boy' had grown, we had to switch that to 'Big Boy' and 'Bigger Boy' :).]Boy and his family have been members at Hot Springs Church for several years. After his father passed away, his mother, Dao, moved into an open position at Hot Springs as cook and nanny. That makes for a wonderful visit whenever Boy can join Highview's Asia Team at Hot Springs to be our interpreter.
Right now Boy actually lives in Bangkok, serving with the YWAM RatchaburiTeam there. In that capacity, he has spent 6 months in South Africa and Mozambique training in medical missions. He has been working towards a transfer to YWAM San Francisco to work with homeless people. It is his hope that he can finish his nursing education, in order to return to Africa as a medical missionary. For more information about Boy's calling see: boy-marshel.wix.com/the-storyBoy is 29 years old, speaks excellent English (which he studied in university and through YWAM), and has a gracious, humble and open spirit. He has served us so very well every single time we've ministered together at Hot Springs. I have come to hold him with great affection as a brother in Christ, and someone whose faith inspires me.
When we started talking about the need for an interpreter for this upcoming visit with Suradet and Yupa, and realizing that our dearly loved Becky A was no longer available, another Team member, knowing Boy's heart for serving and how much he might benefit from an experience in Canada, suggested we invite him to come. It didn't take much to convince me!
We are so excited about having him here! I know you will come to love him too. And I encourage you to make him feel welcome, like I know you will, and to ask him more about his life and calling....and what he thinks of Canada ;0).
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