Newsletters from the Groots

A Light that Gives Hope      God continues to give us a longing to see His hope and light brought to those who come to ALC. A new effort that has been in the making for over a year is our development project. Its goals are three-fold: Job creation and vocational training for women ...especially those who are home with small children Informal discipleship in the work setting Future self-support help for ALC ministry      We are excited by our recent sewing project. Currently we're sewing bags and purses out of northeastern hand woven material. It has been such a joy to see the excitement that this has brought to the women's lives. Added to this is a children's time during worship service where these women and their kids come to the sewing project room and learn kids games and crafts as well as have a short Bible lesson and prayer time each week. A special prayer for Yom, our sewing teacher, who has a fervent love for the Lord and a desire to share the Good News with these young moms.      May this project truly bring God's light to these families!

Yom… helping start-up the sewing project at ALC

And Hope Does Not Disappoint

Dear Father
     We pray that you would re-ignite our passion for Your Kingdom, for Your glory and for Your people. Our hope is in You and in You, only. We hold tight to your promises and to your truth. We pray that the Abundant Life Center would produce good fruit that will last forever. Amen.

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F.Y.I.

The Groots are returning stateside from July-Dec. 2002. Please pray for us as we prepare for that time. Specifically for: New schools and friends for Daniel, Naomi and Bethany Time to be refreshed, to re-group and re-connect with churches, friends and family Transitioning out of Bangkok: Our home, ALC, discipleship, mission and ICS school board responsibilities GOOD CLOSURE for Daniel as he says good-bye to friends and the "familiar" of Thailand

A note from Daniel     A month is left until graduation day arrives. Every day brings closer this passing from one reality to another. Many of my friends are counting the days to this momentous occasion while I find myself hoping each day stretches to an eternity. I won't lie, I'm pretty sick of school now; sick of the homework, the tests, the stress. But I am not sure if I'm ready to graduate. For graduation means change-change of lifestyle, change of surroundings, change of relationships-and change is something I am not ready for. I have lived the past 13 years of my life in Thailand. It is in this country that I have developed friendships, struggled with doubt, survived school, and grown closer to God. Because of this, my move to the U.S. accentuates this change of realities, from that of high-school teenager to college student. I hope and pray that I will be able to adjust. But beyond adjusting to a new and different culture, I know I need to be able to accept change as something healthy and good.     Thank you for thinking of us and keeping us in your prayers these past years. It is an amazing thing to know that people I have never met know about me, and care enough to give support in such a myriad of ways to our family. I ask you to continue to keep me in your prayers as I make this move to the U.S. and college life.         God Bless you all! …Daniel

CARL is not "falling apart", by the grace of God! His schedule is always full and over-flowing but he still makes time for those emergencies that come our way. He recently had an important part in mediating for a church group that was undergoing much pain and possible division. God is good and He brought victory as leadership was reestablished and healing was begun amongst the church members. As you can imagine, he was meeting regularly with different people... all this outside ALC ministry time…

DANIEL, our new high school student, survived a 15 foot "fall" when he miss-stepped on the cafeteria roof (getting his basketball) and broke through one of the plastic coverings. He thankfully fell feet-first and hit a table which broke his fall as it toppled over on impact. How he walked away from this accident is a miracle! ...the fall-out from this mishap was writing a paper on "wisdom" for the principal, losing afterschool privileges for two weeks (his parents went to bat on this causing the principal to reconsider her original "rest of the school year" punishment) and exclusion from a basketball game. After the initial shock (not from the fall but from the punishment), Daniel came out of this experience with a more humble estimation of his limitations and an openness to learn from this experience.

NAOMI, our 6th grader, looked for a "fall guy" when she and some of her classmates did a skit at the middle schools Talent-No Talent Night recently. She has become quite poised and can be quite the ham. She has a heart for her classmates and has made the adjustment to middle school with relative ease. She is falling-in-line with her homework and social schedule which helps make life easier on the home front. She is grateful for the new opportunity to be discipled by one of her middle school teachers.

KAREN'S life was "falling in" when we entered the Christmas season last year... God spoke to her during our family vacation as she was finally in a place of solitude and could quiet her heart and mind to listen... Cutting back in commitments and taking an "Intimacy with God" class is helping her to plan quiet times into her schedule.
"The problem is not entirely in finding the room of one's own, the time alone, difficult and necessary that is. The problem is more how to still the soul in the midst of its activities." -- Anne Morrow Lindbergh

Learning to "play" is one of the biggest challenges conscientious CARL faces with his kids on summer vacation and ALC ministry responsibilities still pulling on his heart and time slots. He is forever behind on e-mailing and mission tasks and he must schedule in regular times to relax (running at a nearby park) and have time with Karen (the Groot’s are kidded for being the only couple around who take their calendars on a lunch date!).
Pray that CARL can enjoy times of rest this summer.

BETHANY, on the other hand, sees everything around her as a potential "playground". She randomly goes through file cabinet drawers, kitchen cabinets and anything that is spelled, "No, no!", to wreak havoc, destroy and break. She is forever running everywhere and we’ve often commented how much she is like her ____!
Pray for safety as BETHANY explores her world this summer.

KAREN found out that there’s such a thing as "playing too much" as she finished off her involvement’s at the kids’ school utterly exhausted. She hopes to catch up at home this summer and take some time to play with the kids, teach them some new skills (i.e. cooking dinners) and work on some of her hobbies (scrapbooks, newsletters, reading, cooking). She will spend a definite time in prayer and discussion with Carl regarding next year’s focus for ministry (outside our home).
Pray for direction as KAREN examines her life goals this summer.

Wanting to "play" is the focus of NAOMI’S summer plans after a difficult 5th grade school year. She has been spending a lot of time with friends and wants to learn to sew from mom and put together her aquarium with dad. Her worst case scenario is having "nothing to do". We’ve begun journaling again this summer and Naomi has been able to express her thoughts, prayers, and frustrations through this writing form. She is definitely our creative writer.
Pray for contentment in all NAOMI does this summer.

DANIEL has no trouble with the definition of "play". He likes to "play on the computer, play basketball, and play the piano", which he would like to do all summer. He would like to "play" with his friends, Ryan and Justin (who are pictured with him here), as much as possible and he looks forward to having David, who moved last year, come visit in July. He is bummed because the school playground is being torn up and redone this summer, so there is no place to play hoops close by. Daniel acquiesces to his parents’ goals to make his summer purposeful by doing his chores and helping paint some of the rooms.
Pray that DANIEL would see purpose in his summer.

For over a year now, after struggling with and praying about all the dimensions of re-locating, we have found a new home to rent for the Abundant Life Center that we sense is God's choice for us. It is in another whole region of the city in the midst of a tight-knit community that is particularly appropriate to our ministry focus among Issaan people. A narrow building, but five stories high, it has more than twice the square footage of our previous location opening up a world of new possibilities for ministry.

The rent is reasonable, but this place was definitely a fixer-upper. From re-doing the basic plumbing and electrical right up to the leaking roof and missing doors and windows, the renovation work was a significant accomplishment (especially on a limited budget). We praise God for His faithful undergirding of strength, encouragement and stamina during a very taxing and intense time. We moved into the new center in late November. And now comes the challenge of "fitting in" to our new neighborhood. Some of the previous community-house members moved across town with us and will form the core of the new Abundant Life Center community. We anticipate outreach to this new community to take on a whole different shape and pray that God would be with us as we start anew. We know that the floundering Thai (and Asian) economy is having a major impact on the lives of the Issaan people, additionally pressed by increasing unemployment. Pray that the Lord would use ALC to meet both physical and heart needs in new and creative ways.

A neat Thai tradition is to have a "House Blessing" celebration which we will have on December 28th. People from various "Cell" groups from around the city, folks formerly linked to the center, new neighbors, and even all the folks who helped with the renovation will be invited. It will be a distinctively Issaan time of music and festivity and no one should feel out of place with the food, music and ceremony that we plan for this turning point occasion in the life of our organization. As we share of our hope in the Jesus of Christmas, pray that God would make this time fruitful in building His Kingdom through us as the Abundant Life Center moves into the "Ko Bo" community of Bangkok.