Kairos' Dedication

"Father, we thank You that You gave us Kairos and we offer to You so that You will use Him for Your honor and glory. We are so blessed and grateful that You have found us worthy to birth him and raise him. He is so precious. We are always grateful to You for him. Help us to be goldy parents who would raise Him with the complete fear and love to You. Amen."

Kairos:"Where is my other shoe then?"

Kairos: "Mommy, do you know where is my other shoe?"

Kairos: "The pastor called my name.. =)"
Kairos: "Amen!"

Morning in a Park nearby

God is a great Creator I know, of the universe. But I think that He "hides" something in the nature, something very special. My mind is refreshed, my heart is more open and my soul is renewed when I come to Him in His marvellous creatures. I see thing diffrently. Not in a box. I see life problems differently before the great Creator God, the Planner and Finisher of life.






We had a great time this morning, enjoying our family devotion time in a park not for from our house. And Kairos was so excited when he saw trees and many people. Thank God for a good morning!

Kairos' 4th month pictures

Long time blog silent

Long time blog silent ... It's not because I was busy with Kairos but life as a young mom is not easy at all. Moreover, there were some hardships in the past 2 months. In order for us to cope with that, God has been with us along the way, comforting, strengthening, providing, giving peace and instructing step by step. We are grateful for your prayers. We are grateful for so many friends and family members who have stood beside us. Here are some pictures of Kairos. He is so blessed by God and so loved by many people. Thank God! Thank you!

Kairos' third month pictures

Kairos is growing up every day!

Smile after bath

Play alone

Wow, Kairos can upturn now on his stomach!

...breakthrough skill... on his 2 months and 10 days...

Praise God for you, son!

I am a young julibiant Mom!

The memories of our son dear’s birth are still fresh with all of eargerness, excitement, and anxiety! Our faith has been stretched as we adjusted, learned, and trusted God for Kairos' every day growth, for financial and physical needs of Thuan and myself. And our faith are continually being challenged, and yet it is too good to be true that Kairos is now two-month old and I can go out some hours a day for work, for ministry or family concerns. As we now have a chance to prove that we have a great God and a loving Father, who really cares for us, we want to celebrate His blessings upon our baby. Please join us in our thanksgiving and prayer for his growth.

"Daddy, Kairos want to sleep!"

Baby Kairos is 63 day old, 63 cm long *he cannot stand yet to have height*, and 6,3 kg.
"So good, Mommy is helping me to sit up but it somehow gives me a hard time!"

Moving house...?

Moving house..? It's unexpected! Sudden. My first inner response: Challenged to trust God for the greater thing right. But how and When? Still something mysterious... Still something to be excited about.. but ... sigh...! Kairos is 1 month and 5 days today.

"Things come hard will be more appreciated"

Once answering to the interview, Rick Warren shared his insights on life: "No matter how good things are in your life, there is always something bad that needs to be worked on. And no matter how bad things are in your life, there is always something good you can thank God for." I totally agree with him.

The due day of Kairos' birth according to the doctor went, Thuan and I had to wait for the day according to God, Thuan and I and Kairos' heavenly Father. Waiting is always an umcomfortable experience. Kairos' two grandmas came just to be there when we were worriedly and eagerly longing to see our baby. God's perfect time came as our his name, Kairos, God's appointed time. I was so sure that I was going to experience a natural delivery. Nervous. Worried. But excited. After 5 hour laboring, the nurse hurrily brought me to delivery room, telling me that everything went so fine and I could deliver Kairos after some more spasms of pain. That's great! God had strengthened me throughout my delivery would surely sustain me these moments. I kept all my breath in my mouth, saving for the last effort when that time came.
Just 5 minitues entering the delivery room, amniotic fluid in my tummy flowed. After the doctor checked. To my fear, he said I needed to go through a surgery due to baby's unconvenient position. They needed Thuan to sign a contract in agreement for me to be operated. I was not prepared for this at all. In pain, a series of question came to me: Why? Why a surgery? Why couldn't I deliver my baby normally? I don't want to be operated. Since my birth, I never had an injection, why now operation? If I accept to be operated, is that an act of submission or lack of faith? What does God really want me to do now? I asked the doctor twice if I could try to make it naturally. The answer was no.

After wrestling with God and myself in pain and shock, Thuan and I decided to trust God for whatever would happen. The surgery went very well. God gave me the peace of mind, expecting my Kairos. Just after few minutes, I heard a crying. It's my baby! It's Kairos! The assistant nurse took him to the adjacent room. I silently saw my baby from far, my tears just overflowed..! There is God's given gift to us, Kairos and here I am, still alive!

Although to avoid pain many women nowadays tend to prefer having an operation than a natural delivery, going through an operation was not what I expected. However, I have seen God's grace upon me through all of these. No matter how unexpected things came before I could see Kairos, there was actually many things good I could thank God for.

Moreover, I thank God for He has used that event to help me feel my family's love in a deeper and a more real way. And now the more I think about Kairos and how God has brought all things work together for our own good, the more I treasure Kairos and appreciate God's work!

"Things come hard will be more appreciated!"

Mommy, Baby, and Valentine's Day!

Thuan still remembers Valentine's Day!

After Kairos' birth around a week, Thuan got invited to travel 2000km away from home to teach in a training course for tribal pastors. He missed Kairos more than me this very first time (of course Mommy not jealous!). He came back one day before Valentine's Day, great, he still remembers. A sweet Valentine for both Mommy and Baby! It was a chance for us to thank God about Kairos, God's gift for our love for each other after more than eight year in our relationship. We know that the love of our King Jesus is the central and the foundation of our family. Praying that we will live and love like Jesus.

Kairos - God's gift came in person

There are no ways in which we can express how grateful we are to God for you, Son. You are precious! You are our treasure! It was so hard for us to wait for your birth when your due day was over and it was tough to accept that Daddy needs to sign the contract for Mommy to be operated in the last minute because your unconvenient position during the labour. However, God is good in all! We praise God for you and your existence. You are a perfect gift of God for Daddy and Mommy.
Mommy cried over and over in expecting your birth and then came to acknowledge God's awesome work when your grandpa discovered the blessing of your birthday.

You were born in 1.30.09 at 16:00 pm. So when you think of your birthday, just remember Psalm 139:16, which says,

"Your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your

book before one of them came to be."

Praise Him! This is the verse including in your "countdown to your birth calendar" (Dec5, 2008 entry).

You are Kairos! You are God's appointed time!

Seasonal Discoveries - January Prayer Letter

Dear Ministry and Prayer Partner,

It’s been a long while since you heard from us. We missed greeting many of you “~Happy New Year!~” because Christmas is often the most busy season for Christian ministers in Vietnam when all focus on evangelism works and nurture one another in our Heavenly Father’s great love.

Though we are just new comers in this city, we thank God for using us in different ways in the past six months for His glory and purposes. You know it well that you play a very important role in our service to our King. Thank you so much for your love, prayers and financial support. We do pray for you often as we think of you and your labor in Him through us and how you have adopted us as your church and family members to uphold our heart and vision. May you never get tired of laboring with us in reaching Vietnam for Christ!

It’s been always a great joy for us to share with you regularly some highlights about God’s work in and through us as days pass. Sometimes there may be a great and significant change or move and the other times it may be just a personal spiritual lesson to learn and grow in our walk with Him or merely a gift to thank God for. However, just like you, we truly appreciate His works in us, believing that He is weaving something beautiful and lovely into our lives through each detail. We entitle this prayer letter "When we do our best, He will take care the rest" because we have seen it true in our marriage life and ministry last month.

We thank God for the opportunity to attend a mass evangelism program during
the Christmas celebration where around ten thousand people gathered and hundreds of them received Jesus as their personal Savior and Lord. God’s open door for Christianity in Vietnam inspires us to have faith and confidence in fulfilling our God-given vision. We know He has a reason and purpose for that.For Thuan, it was a busy but a fruitful month with his music, preaching, and teaching ministry. After three years being away from home, he had been enjoying his service in the choirs for the church Christmas gathering and other gospel meetings. Just as many others, it’s always special for us to celebrate Christmas in our own homeland in Vietnamese way of celebration. With a very humble and limited ability in music, Thuan did his best in all he was tasked in church. He just enjoyed his time with the choirs whenever they had practice. As the service was over, we were both rejoicing on the way home because the music brought joy, refreshment, and recommitment to worship King Jesus into the choir members’ hearts and the congregation. It’s all about Him and for Him, the Lord of Christmas alone. However, what surprised us most was the pastor’s words when Thuan met him a week after that: He and his wife experienced the best Christmas service ever since in their five-year ministry in the church. Truly, “when we do our best, God will take care the rest.” We were just “faithful in a very little thing” (Luke 16:10).
Esther’s highlight was her Christmas sermon for kid evangelism program although she completed her eighth month of pregnancy during the Christmas. It happened because God is the One who gave her a very good health during the pregnancy. She has not experienced any dizziness exhaustion, pain, or abnormal symptoms throughout the months. It’s just that she’s getting heavier everyday as the delivery approaches soon this month.
We know that you prayed for Thuan’s teaching in Baptist Bible School last month.
It was his first time in life handling a class of 30 students composed of old experienced pastors and young inexperienced students. So, it was truly a learning experience for him. Thuan really learned to communicate well so they all could understand but manage time allotted and goals set for the subject.
As a couple, we praise God for His provision, preparing for the delivery of our baby, Kairos. In requesting you to pray for it, we asked Him a specific amount required for a natural delivery and our God is an awesome God, He did provide us exactly what we asked through His servant, who is a channel of blessing from God for us. We are now counting down to Kairos’ birth anytime this month. Please continue to remember us in your prayers. We do pray for you each. May God see you through in your life, family, and ministry this New Year!

Please pray for..

• ¨ A safe and natural delivery for Esther, wisdom to take care Kairos, and adjustment as we welcome our little one.
• ¨ Thuan’s involvements in one more new Bible school. He will be helping the school to do the set-up work.
• ¨ Thuan’s ministry in church this first quarter: music ministry and especially preaching as he will preach in our church main service more often.
• ¨ Our prayer life, we need to discern God’s directions in the new year.

GoD hAs HiS oWn TiMe FoR eVeRyThInG!

I cannot describe clearly what we have been thinking and feeling these days as we are so expecting our baby, Kairos. I got a strange pain 3 nights ago with many signs of the delivery, Thuan called our Mom to come and she took a coach during the midnight. As she arrived early in the morning, we went to the hospital, I became like a "sOoN-dEliVeRiNg" lady... with all kinds of pain and exhautions in and out, and even with the way I walked, (just as all of other moms in that emergency room). Finally, I was rejected by the doctor...
-There are signs that your day is approaching but the process may take some days in your case so just stay at home and be alert if the pain increases then come again!
So, we went home, waiting for Karois on his way out. Thuan reminds me always about our baby's name, Kairos - God's appointed time. He Has His own time for everything and He will make all things beautiful in His time despite of how much I am expecting! Thuan does not have any schedules, just be available for his arrival. He cleans the house and is very ready...
I thank God for the strength that He re-enforces in me during these days with my Mom's help.
Thank you for all of your prayers. May God bless you back in return! And please continue to keep us in your daily prayers.

A gift to thank God for

Yesterday Thuan's sister-in-law bought all stuffs for our baby as they are also expecting his birth. Another gift to thank God. I have a habit of recording God's gifts in my thanksgiving journal so I added one more gift. They may not know how much it means to me, an expectant mother, to receive clothes and things Kairos. Not things but even a question how I am doing with the baby, how I am feeling, how I am expecting, does he moves in me...? These kinds of questions always brigh smiles to me... It makes me feel the whole world is expecting my baby...


I washed his clothes before putting them all in cabinet. It feels so good! The shirts, socks, hats, handkerchiefs.. are cute and so small...! Looking to my tummy, I told Kairos: "Mommy will be washing clothes for you from this small till your clothes will be bigger, bigger, and bigger..." What an experience!


As I was washing the clothes, I was also thanking God for our sister-in-law and I prayed for Kairos that God would be pleased to choose him for His work. I prayed that Kairos will meet Jesus personally in his young age of life and commit to serve Him. I am overwhelmed by the thought that my son will be used for God's glory in our country.


A gift can be just a gift if we just take it. But it will be more than just a gift if we think about the giver and his or her care and especially the ultimate Giver and His great love in providing it for us. When we think that way to come to God in thanksgiving and giving back to Him all that belonged to Him, we may find another kind of joy. Those moments are precious more than the gift.

******************************************************************

Note: The picture is Thuan when he was around one.

Bring Jesus to kids

People see it hard to hold an evangelism program for kids and tasks are not given to "amateur folks" because it's real hard to get kids quiet, sit, and participate properly. So, I felt hard, too after being asked by our pastor to be the speaker of the kid's evangelism program in church this Christmas. But Thuan agreed right the begining as the pastor asked him if I could join. I don't know if Thuan remebered his wife was moving to the ninth month of her pregnancy but Thuan said yes after telling me that I could do it well and that I should take it as a privilege. Well, of course I am always aware serving God is a privilege but... However, I obeyed God and Thuan. I know He had made a way for me to serve. And it was a great night! There were 70 kids as we prayed and we all enjoyed our night together. It was so cute when they answered the Sunday school teacher's question of what was there in the place where Jesus was born. One of them said there was horse and another ostrich! =) =) =)=)=)

...like angels sing...

I always love seeing kids singing and I am thankful that their teachers taught them many beautiful songs. And they really love singing to God.

It was funny to me, too as I started relating me with the pregnancy and one day my baby will be born and we would celebrate his birthday next year. They got the idea that Jesus was really born, that's why the world celebrate His birthday.

I guessed Kairos, my baby was tired because I needed to take long and deep breaths to speak loud enough and to do the actions along the story.

But I finally finished it! Yes, baby and mommy did it with a very great help and empowerment of God.

And these kids prayed to receive the gift of the Christmas, Baby Jesus into their lives. We all know they are too young to understand properly about faith and the importance of Jesus in their life but many churches over the world were planted by reaching kids.

One of them is Anh Thu, my little neigbour. I had her name in "my evangelistic prayer list" with the other nine. I prayed for her and her family members daily and I am grateful that He saved Anh Thu. Thuan said she would be my "peace of man" to reach the family. It sounds funny but why not? I am continually praying to invite her grandma, mother, and auntie to other gospel meetings. God loves Anh Thu and He truly has a wonderful plan for her life. I am convinced about that as the Proverbs said: "Train the child the way he should go, and he is old he will not turn from it." (Proverbs 22:6)

I thank God for the chance and I thank God for all the labors of the teachers!

My daily prayer for Kairos, my baby is that he will acknowledge God in His young age and grow in the knowledge and the grace of God as his father, Thuan. We always pray and ask God to teach us how to build an independant faith in our children in the future.

You can join praying for us.

It's a BoY!

Today we went for our baby monthly check-up. We came to know through the doctor that I am bearing a baby Boy. We know God's will is perfect in spite of what our culture says, we believe it's Him who brings people into existence, either male or female.

Pregnancy is a journey. Day after day I experience something new. And being first time pregnant, everything is new to me. This journey is full of joy, excitement, and amazement. I am wondering what my Mom went through when she was bearing me. I heard from her that my Dad was far from home for his training during that time and she missed him so much. My Dad also missed Mom and me, too. He even composed a poem, titled "My dear little daughter Na." (My family call me "Na") Up till now, he still uses that title to start the letters written to me. How sweet!

However, my parents back then were not yet believers of Christ. We are now both servants of God. I pray that we will be God-fearing parents to our child and children later.

Note: It was Thuan's picture.