Terry and Dave's blog

Remembrance and Love

The beginning of a new year, a new hope, a new purpose, a new vision…..whatever it is in your life, we pray that God is your source and He will lead you through all the trials, hopes, dreams, and visions you have. Happy New Year!!

We do apologize for being silent for such a long time. We have been going through the valleys…..keeping our focus on Him. In September 2016 our daughter Jennifer was diagnosed with colon cancer for the second time. She fought hard, with many drugs and chemo again, but the Lord took her by the hand on January 3, 2017. Jenn was a total example of His love and never dropped the gauntlet through all her pain and suffering. She said ‘Through all these trials He will be glorified.’ Praise God.

I, Terry, was in Thailand when Jenn first notified us. I flew home a week later and since the end of September, while helping Jenn, I was Home Schooling their girls. Jennifer has asked me to finish Home Schooling the two girls; Joy grade 3 and Olivia grade 1. (next year they will be going to the Christian School) At the time, Dave was in Canada finishing a teaching appointment. He flew to Thailand in November to care for our kids in the Home there, but soon returned to Canada as he was needed here.

There are no words for what we are going through; please keep us in your prayers. Dave is in Thailand now as we are trying to arrange for the six Thai kids to come to Canada to complete their Home Schooling. Costs to have the Thai kids in Canada will be difficult, but after lots of prayers, thoughts and planning it is the only way we see possible. We will not abandon the Thai kids and we also feel called to do His work in Canada. This has been a difficult decision but we pray that you will stand and believe with us.

We are looking forward to our missions in Canada, continuing to educate and raise our Thai kids in the ways of the Lord. Plus, we hope to spread His love in hospitals, retirement homes, and to reach out to the poor and needy. It will be totally different than in Thailand but there are souls to be reached everywhere in the world. The kids are also very excited about it. (and apprehensive, as they have never travelled anywhere)

We thank you for all your prayers, financial support, faithfulness and love. God Bless Terry and Dave

Jennifer Margaret Norstrom
April 11, 1984 – January 3, 2017

Hebrews 6:19AMP

‘..hope is the confident assurance we have as an anchor of the soul [it cannot slip and it cannot break down under whatever pressure bears upon it]—a safe and steadfast hope that enters within the veil [of the heavenly temple, that most Holy Place in which the very presence of God dwells]’

Strong and Mighty

Our God is so BIG, so STRONG and so MIGHTY,

there's nothing our God cannot do - for me or

YOU!!!

Every Tuesday evening we join Hand To Hand Ministry

in the Goh Pai Village Church. God is amazing and we

have seen how He has changed the lives of the people

in the community. Our kids lead worship, pray, translate

and help out in the children's church. Thank you Margie.

On occasion we get to help out in the Hand to Hand

Ministry, in the preschool. The kids love our kids and

we thrive on helping out. (mom and dad too)

Helping out Kim and Anchalee in Northern Thailand.

It was such a dry season we removed the fish from a small

pond to where they could be fed. The water was stale

and too warm for them to survive.

One of many mechanical jobs dad taught this year.

Here David is learning how to rebuild(included painting)

an air compressor for the village where we live.

Here mom is teaching David the art of tiling - like mom knows

how. Where is the professionals when we need them? :)

This is in our new outside kitchen the boys had built last year.

The registration of the Home Schooling did not go as we had hoped.

We have now registered the five youngest kids in a government

school for Sunday mornings. In doing this, they are registered

legally and we are continuing with Home Schooling. They don't

have to attend, except for odd outings with other students to give

them community service hours, which is very positive. We

are continuing Home Schooling and the government is impressed

with our curriculum, but because they are registered in a government

school we don't have to register the Home School.

Thank you for all your prayers as this ended in a smooth transition.

God has been moving mightily in our midst.

"Let our deeds, love, faith, service and perseverance now be

greater than at first." Revelation 2:19

Our family will pursue those things which will bring peace

and we will lift others up, edifying one another. (Rom 14:19)

We love you! We pray and hope this finds you healthy

and strong. Thank you for being there for us, we

could never accomplish His work without

YOU!!!

God Bless

Prayer Requests – We confess God’s Word by faith

and He will perform it.

Monthly finances
Growth of the local Thai Church
New Freezer
Thanking the Lord for the victory in the Name of Jesus!

Financial gifts may be sent to El Shaddai 2:

World Mission Continuum, PO Box 32056,

Edmonton, AB, T6K 4C2

Phone: 1.800.958.3352

WOW...

PRAISE report…..

….WOW~is our first response to our Heavenly Father. Second is a huge, heart given THANKS. Our Lord tells us to first seek Him, His righteousness, His kingdom and all these things will be given to us. Sometimes we put Him in a box but He just won’t fit! He is far bigger than he that is in this world, far bigger than we can imagine. We, as a family, were praying for finances. He has supplied food, money, love and our prayers are answered. Thank you too, for your partnership, in finances and in prayer. A three way union is the most powerful!

The kids love doing worship at the church. They are all involved, with Ruth doing the introductions and reports. The bass is just as big as Matthew. They all are practicing hard and you can hear the results.

We have been very busy once again preparing for government meetings. We first went to the government office and spoke with the head fellow of this office. He was very helpful and wants to help us in every way. This was on November 19. At that time we set up for the next meeting on December 9^th with the government officials that we will be dealing with our Learning Center.

We had much preparation to do in our home. Here is a picture of work being done in our home while others are working on schoolwork, on the computers. We do make due whether people are standing above us on a ladder or not. These kids are such troopers! They always make a game out of everything.

On the 9^th morning we were in meetings with 16 government officials. Two of them, from Bangkok, were there to support us. It was a very interesting morning indeed. Lots of arguing back and forth – the government officers, not us. In the end, nothing was accomplished. We had lunch together at their office, ending in peace.

Then we headed to our ‘Learning Center’, we can no longer call it our home. They questioned the kids, made them do silly things (in our minds), and looked at their work. In the end they called us angels and said we are doing good. They do have to find something wrong, which they are working on. On Monday the 14^th, we have more officers coming to our home. We believe for favor and will get the registration for our Learning Center, but not until May 2016.

We are teaching English at the new Chonburi Thai Church on Saturday’s. At present we have only four children but we are believing for more after Christmas.

Our kids, along with mom are teaching the kids through the Word of God, singing, dancing, printing, and crafts. Over Christmas we are doing neighborhood outreaches, which will help the people to get to know us.

Bang Saen, where our home is situated, is an area that has many Thai events. In November there was car racing for one week. We could hear them from our home. We did walk there one day just to see as the kids have never seen anything like it. They were very impressed. We have since found out it happens every year.

We thank God daily for His love and promises. We live by faith, not by sight. His word does not return void. We pray we glorify Him in everyway. Hallelujah!

Prayer Requests – We confess God’s Word by faith and He will perform it.

Registration of Learning Centre (favor with the government)
Monthly finances
To become stronger fishermen
Thanking the Lord for the victory in the Name of Jesus!

Financial gifts may be sent to El Shaddai 2:

World Mission Continuum, PO Box 32056, Edmonton, AB, T6K 4C2

Phone: 1.800.958.3352

RIVERS OF....

RIVERS OF………..

we were needing rain and rain we got, and it’s still coming down. We have been told this is the first year, ever, that they have had flooding in this MooBan (gated community). The kids think it is great – let’s play rain.

Going back a little bit;

In July, we packed up our whole house and moved. What a job. Cleaning, repairing, painting, cutting, tiling…..when we were done we wanted to move back in as it looked so good. We are thankful to be free from the 18+ howling dogs that lived next door, termites causing ceilings to collapse and the traffic noise.(We didn’t realize how noisy it was until we moved.) We are happy and comfortable. A much smaller home but it will do. The yard only takes ½ hour to cut the grass compared to 4 hours, which makes David(son) very happy.

This was the first of our 16 trips to the new house. We also had three trips of things we gave away and one to the dump.

Sanding and repainting our gym set.

Our first crop off our banana tree that we have been nurturing for four years!

The excitement of receiving our new school books for the year.

Needed time for R&R…us girls
went fishing with the boys.

Good catch.

And games with the 7 Weeks
Team. (www.victoryasia.com)

BEAUTIFUL!! Our view
on our 5am walks…..we are
so blessed. The beach is
only a five minute drive
from our home.

The rain is still coming down.

This morning the water was
gone in the yard, but now it is
rising again. Crazy! Now the
kids want a boat – might be
a good idea.

There are new things up and
coming for our family. A
new church has been planted,
in Chonburi, by our Pastor.
We will be working with him,
evangelizing and bringing His
people in. We are excited and ready.

We are happy, healthy and at peace, which we pray over all our
partners and family. We love you and thank you wholeheartedly
for your commitment to enriching God's Kingdom. God Bless you.

Prayer Requests – We confess God’s Word by faith and He will perform it.

· Registration of Learning Centre (favor with the government)
· Increase in our monthly finances
· Thanking the Lord for the victory in the Name of Jesus!

Financial gifts may be sent to:
El Shaddai 2 World Mission Continuum, PO Box 32056, Edmonton, AB, T6K 4C2

Phone: 1.800.958.3352

March and April 2015

We were ready and prepared when hundreds of young children arrived. The Hells Angels Motorcycle Club from Pattaya funded and participated in a Children's Fun Day for Hand to Hand Ministry in Pattaya. Margaret, the founder of the ministry, asked our family to lend a helping hand. What a joy it was painting faces and decorating cookies. Our kids just love on the children. What a blessing to be involved.

We had a fantastic day.

Our first time leading, organizing and running a youth camp was unbelievable. Peter organized all the activities. There were 18 youth in this, our first outreach. The youth were from other home schools. All the kids were so excited, a couple were filled with the Holy Spirit, all participated with no complaints.

There were some crazy activities but everyone was game, even for the 6 am exercise. Lets get down and get dirty.

The name of the camp was "Who We Are in Christ". We are looking forward to more camps in the future, our kids are pumped and willing.

Naomi is leading the Children's Sunday School at our Thai Church. She spends many hours organizing, copying and creating the lessons. This is a song that they sang last Sunday morning. They have between 40 to 60 kids, a fantastic turnout. God is moving!

We, Peter and Mom, have been working hard getting all the paperwork done in order to get our Learning Center(home school) registered with the government. We cannot be a Home School as the kids are not legally ours, but the learning center has the same rules and regulations. This past week, on Thursday, we had thirteen government agents and school teachers invade our home. The teachers were from Darasamut Catholic School and the government wants them to test our children so they don't have to do it. Also, most of the teachers can speak and understand some English.

The 2 1/2 hour meeting went well. They pounded our kids with questions regarding home schooling, trying to convince them to return to school. The kids did not bite as they love being at home and being able to participate in other activities too. After they saw all our curriculum, the science kits, and heard of the extra classes such as cooking, sewing, music and mechanics, the agents and teachers want to attend our school. It did go very well. They just want us to put up a flag pole, raise the flag every morning at 8 and lower it at 6pm. We already have a Thai flag and we are sorta leaning towards - that is good enough - we shall see. We will be working with them to ensure all goes well.

At the end of the visit we could all relax and smile. Naomi is taking the picture and the other family of three came for support. (They have been home schooling for seven years.) Peter is doing a fantastic job of teaching the younger kids, Mom teaches the older group and Naomi teaches them all Thai and Art. Dad also teaches mechanics and Mom teaches Home Economics.

The kids will be tested at the end of April so they can get their official transcripts from the government for the past two years of school.

Please keep us in your prayers for...

Our school - El Shaddai International Learning Center- to be registered quickly.
The children will do well in their testing without worrying.
A new rental home as the present one is infested with termites.
New books for the coming school year.
A new dining room table.

Thank you all for your support in prayers and finances. We love you and pray for abundance in each and everyone of your lives.

Let His light shine in YOU!

God Bless