The Crawford Chronicles #26

 Praise and Prayer items

1) Time in Canada - We are very grateful for the time we were able to spend in Canada.  As usual we were not able to see everyone we wanted to see.  Time always works against us.  Thank you to all the churches that were able to host us during your worship services.  After 8 weeks in Canada our cups were full.  

2) Back in Thailand - We had to do a quick turn around after arriving back in Thailand.  Staff orientation started shortly after and there was lots to do to prepare for the school year.  We were thankful we were able to get everything done before school started.  This was especially difficult as we moved houses at the same time.

3) New school year - This year all of us are in school!  Duncan is in Pre-school this year at Good Kids Preschool (the same school Austin went to).  Austin started Kindergarten at Grace International School.  Both boys are enjoying school and are making friends.  Kathleen continues to direct our Health Services department and Graham is still IT Director.  Please pray for Kathleen and Graham that they would be able to lead their departments well.  Pray that the boys would continue to enjoy their classes and the friendships they have made.

4) Tragedies in school community - We have had a number of very difficult situations to navigate as a community the last few months.  There was severe flooding in Chiang Mai that affected our staff and families.  One of our staff members lost their beloved son in a motorcycle crash.  There have been other families that have had family members pass away.  Please pray for our community as many are still going through the mourning process.  Please also pray for those affected by the flooding.  Pray that they would be able to get their houses back in order.

5) Canadian Thanksgiving - We were thankful (pun intended) for time together with fellow Canadians during Canadian Thanksgiving.  We had a delicious meal together as well as some excellent fellowship.  We are hoping to get together again during the Christmas break.

6) Visit with Caleb - My oldest nephew Caleb Reid is currently in Phuket, Thailand to be part of a discipleship training course called "The Justice Semester".  Our school had a 1 week break during October and I (Graham) was able to travel down to Phuket to visit him for a few days.  We are thankful for this time Caleb has to be discipled and pray that his experiences here in Thailand will bring him closer to the Lord.

7) AI Conference - I (Graham) was invited to attend an AI (Artificial Intelligence) conference in Bangkok at the beginning of November.  AI is something that many schools are having to deal with right now.  Pray that Grace International School would come up with great ways to implement AI at our school without compromising academic integrity.

Update Video

Picture Gallery

Austin on his first day of Kindergarten

We were all delirious with excitement!

Duncan on his first day of Pre-School

Duncan heading to school with our "Mae Baan" (House Helper) Lek

Austin enjoying his Gymnastics class

 

Austin at his Occupational Therapy class

Duncan learned to ride a bike with training wheels!

Canadian Thanksgiving Get Together

Austin the Elf

Celebrating my 49th birthday at school

Duncan getting ready to leave for Pre-School

Thank you to those who have sent us cards!

Austin loves to draw

Super Austin!

Enjoying lunch with Caleb in Phuket

AI Conference in Bangkok

Blessings,

Graham, Kathleen, Austin and Duncan Crawford

Online donations can be made at https://donations.sim.ca/workers/Crawford

The opinions expressed are our own opinions. They are not necessarily the opinions or views of SIM (Serving in Mission).

The Crawford Chronicles #25

 Praise and Prayer items

1) Alberta - Praise for the time we were able to spend in Alberta.  We were thankful for the time with family and friends.  I was especially grateful for the memories the boys were able to create.

2) New Brunswick - Pray that our time in New Brunswick will be just as great as our time in Alberta.  Pray that we would be able to create lots of great memories with family and friends.

3) Support - Please continue to pray that we would be able to add a few new monthly supporters to our support team.  We are hoping to raise $500/month in monthly support while we are here in Canada.

Update video

Photo Gallery

Enjoying donuts at our hotel in Bangkok

Austin enjoying the view on the plane

Movie time!

Duncan was pretty tired after the long trip

My nephew Caleb's high school graduation

Austin enjoying some smores

Family campfire in the backyard

The boys loved Jurassic Forest!

Swimming in the wave pool at Millennium Place

My Father's Day gift:  Skillet Concert!

A friend of ours took us for a ride in his semi truck

Blessings,

Graham, Kathleen, Austin and Duncan Crawford

Online donations can be made at https://donations.sim.ca/workers/Crawford

The opinions expressed are our own opinions. They are not necessarily the opinions or views of SIM (Serving in Mission).

The Crawford Chronicles #24

 Praise and Prayer items

1) Safe Travels - Tomorrow is the big day! We begin (the whole family this time) our journey back to Canada tomorrow afternoon (May 26th). Please pray for safety as we travel. Pray that we would make all of our connecting flights. Pray that our baggage would arrive with us in Canada. Please also pray that Austin and Duncan would travel well. It’s a long way to go for anyone but as you can imagine, the difficulty level goes up when you have a 2 year old and a 5 year old with you.

2) Connections - Pray that we would have time to make meaningful connection with our supporters, family and friends. Pray for Austin and Duncan that they would have some special times with my family in Alberta. This will be Duncan’s first time visiting Alberta so we are excited for this opportunity for all of us to be together. Unfortunately, we will not be able to visit all of our supporting churches during this trip. Hopefully in the future we will be able to make it to visit those we will miss.

3) Financial Support - We are currently receiving 89% of our monthly financial support needs every month which is great. However, this requires us to rely on one time gifts to allow us to continue to pay the other 11% of our monthly bills. It’s for this reason we are praying that we will be able to add a few more people to our support team. Our goal this summer is to raise $600 of monthly support. Pray that we would be able to reach this goal so that 100% of our needs can be met each month.

Summer Trip Itinerary

May 26th - Travel from Chiang Mai, Thailand to Bangkok, Thailand

May 27th - Travel from Bangkok, Thailand to Tokyo, Japan to Denver, Colorado to Edmonton, Alberta

June 2nd - Visit Fort Saskatchewan Fellowship Baptist Church

June 7th - Visit Cowboy Church (Sherwood Park, Alberta)

June 9th - Visit Redwater Alliance Church

June 16th - Visit Fort Saskatchewan Alliance Church

June 23rd - Visit Edmonton Chinese Alliance Church

June 25th - Travel from Edmonton, Alberta to Geary, New Brunswick

June 30th - Visit Oromocto Baptist Church

July 7th - Visit Geary Baptist Church

July 14th - French Lake Baptist Church

July 17th - Travel from Geary, New Brunswick to Edmonton, Alberta

July 18th - Travel from Edmonton, Alberta to San Francisco, California to Hong Kong

July 19th - Travel from Hong Kong to Bangkok, Thailand

July 20th - Travel from Bangkok, Thailand to Chiang Mai, Thailand

Blessings,

Graham, Kathleen, Austin and Duncan Crawford

Online donations can be made at https://donations.sim.ca/workers/Crawford

The opinions expressed are our own opinions. They are not necessarily the opinions or views of SIM (Serving in Mission).

The Crawford Chronicles #23

Praise and Prayer items

1) Good Kids Preschool - Please pray for the School Directors (Tom and Amy) of Austin’s Preschool (Good Kids Preschool). Pray that they have the strength to remain faithful to the work the Lord has for them. Pray that children and members of the community would see Christ and follow Him.

2) Austin’s Kindergarten Application - Please pray that everything goes smooth for Austin’s kindergarten application to Grace International School. Pray that the transition to a new school would go well.

3) Duncan Begins Preschool - Please pray for Duncan as he starts Preschool. We are praying that he will enjoy school and makes friends his own age.

4) Graham’s Sister visit - Praise the Lord that Lori (Graham’s sister) was able to visit us in Chiang Mai. It was the first time Aunty Lori was able to meet Duncan. We are thankful to the Lord for this special time.

4) Summer trip to Canada - We are thankful to the Lord that we were able to find affordable plane tickets back home to Canada. Please pray that the boys would travel well and that we would have quality time with family, friends and supporters.

Good Kids Preschool Testimony

Greetings everyone!  We wanted to do something a little different in this edition of The Crawford Chronicles.  We wanted to share the testimony from the directors of the preschool Austin has been attending.  We hope you enjoy it. 

Over the past year we have had the privilege of sending Austin to Good Kids Preschool.  It is a Christian Thai-English preschool about a 15 minute drive from our house.  We were nervous at first about sending Austin there as he didn't know any Thai and he wouldn't know any of the other students.  At the beginning, he didn't want to have to go to school but he quickly settled in.  This past week, I picked him up at lunch time and he asked why he had to leave early.  We have been so touched by the genuine love of the School Director and the teachers.  We are thankful for Austin's time there and are excited as Duncan will start attending next school year.  I wanted to share the testimony of Good Kids Preschool with you, at least in part, as it is amazing to see what God has done in and through them.

Teacher Tom and Teacher Amy (Teacher M) are the ones that run the school on land that was once part of Amy's family farm land.  Amy grew up in San Pa Tong and was the first Christian in the community.  Amy's dad passed away while she was still young.  Her Mom worked hard as she wanted Amy to attend school and do more with her life.  Coming from a Buddhist background, she felt that the struggles she and her Mom went through were because of karma.  It seemed that people didn't want to help her because her karma was bad.

BUT GOD...He continued to provide for her needs and she was able to continue to attends school.  Eventually, she went to university.  That is when she first heard about Jesus and she wanted to know about this Father she could have.  A Christian friend invited her to cell groups and a church camp.  She was overwhelmed by the people's love and openness to her despite her past.  The leader challenged her to honestly seek God for 3 months so she joined a church and church camps.  She started reading the Bible on a regular basis.  She knew something was different and people continued to care for her.

God became the Father she didn't have growing up and she became a Christian.  Once she finished university, Amy and Tom ran a children's home through the Itapon Foundation.  They were able to teach the children about God and watch as He worked in their lives.  Eventually, the foundation was able to help Amy and Tom build what would become Good Kids Preschool.  Children from all backgrounds are welcome at Good Kids.  They are taught academics as well as practical skills for life.  Last year, the classes planted and harvested rice by hand.  More importantly, the children were shown God's love and were taught His truth.  The teachers help the children prepare food for the elderly in the community.  The love and care that the teachers show to the children leaves us in awe.

The Good Kids Preschool campus is used for church meetings every Sunday.  God remains faithful as the attendance has increased and they now need to build a larger meeting room.

Amy and Tom also work hard at investing into their community by teaching people skills that will allow them to make extra income.  They are active in the Grace International School community as well as Amy is on the school board and Tom helps coach sports.

Please pray for them to have the strength to remain faithful to the work the Lord has given them.  Also pray that people in the community, young and old, would accept Jesus as their saviour.

Family update

The beginning of this year has flown by so quickly!  Kathleen was able to attend a child safety conference in Malaysia for 5 days.  It was the first time Kathleen has been away from the family that long and the boys did well while she was gone.  Graham's sister, Lori, was able to visit us the last week of February.  It was great having her here and showing her a bit of our life in Chiang Mai.

Austin has graduated from K2 at Good Kids Preschool.  In Thailand, preschool is usually about a 4 year process which includes Kindergarten.  We are currently going through the application process for Austin to attend Kindergarten at Grace International School next year.  He is excited to be attending the same school that Mom and Dad work at.

Duncan will start the summer program (Summer break is from March to May here in Thailand) at Good Kids Preschool later this month.  We are excited for him to be able to be with kids his own age.  Please pray that his transition into school goes well.

We have finally been able to book flights home for this summer (May 27-July 18).  The plan is to arrive in Alberta in May and then travel to New Brunswick in June.  From there we will fly back to Thailand in July.  We are excited for this time with our family.  Graham's sister is the only member of Graham's family that has ever met Duncan.  Its been 4 years since Kathleen and Austin have seen Graham's family.  We will plan to visit as many of our supporting churches as we can.  Unfortunately, we won't be able to visit all of them since we only have a few Sundays in each province.  I'll try to send out a more detailed schedule once we know what churches we'll be visiting.  If you'd be interested in seeing us please let us know so we can schedule a time with you.  We'd love to see as many people as possible.

Blessings,

Graham, Kathleen, Austin and Duncan Crawford

Online donations can be made at https://donations.sim.ca/workers/Crawford

The opinions expressed are our own opinions. They are not necessarily the opinions or views of SIM (Serving in Mission).