J+D in Chiang Mai: As We Return

Dear friends,

Last month marked the end of our first year in Chiang Mai, and it flew by without us even noticing it! Suffice to say that we’ve been kept busy, even as we prepare to return to Singapore at the end of August. But we’re extremely grateful to receive opportunity after opportunity to give back and bless the people and communities around us, especially during these trying times.

And God continues to bless us in surprising ways.

After our rental contract at our apartment expired, we were invited by our fellow Singaporean missionaries, J and S, to stay with them for the rest of our time here. And we’ve really enjoyed sharing our lives with them – making delicious food, going camping in the wilderness, playing video games, talking about our experiences serving in ministry, and so on.

We also got to celebrate National day with some fellow Singaporean missionaries (with Singaporean food, of course – to which, we made curry puffs and it was so much fun 🙂

Our pastor also brought us on a very adventurous 2d2n fishing trip, where we (read: our pastor) managed to catch a haul of nine fishes! It was quite unlike anything we’ve done before.

To the unacquainted: there’s a lot of downtime in between waiting for fishes to bite. So we spent that time wandering around under the sun, napping in the shelter, chasing away wild dogs, and cooking meals with firewood. Truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience!

With Content

I (Daniel) officially went on sabbatical at the end of July. While I enjoyed my newfound freedom initially, it increasingly became harder to keep my mind clear of any previous attachments – particularly to my work at With Content. Over the years, I’ve become aware that my identity has become synonymous to my career, work, and industry – and one of my biggest goals during this sabbatical is to figure out who I am beneath all of that. Pray that God will continue to reveal this (and more) to me, in His time!

Thankfully, I know that With Content is in extremely capable hands – with Katrina as our interim managing director, and Jan continuing to lead all things operations and business-wise. It takes a huge load off my mind, giving me true mental and emotional space to explore other things.

In fact, the team has been far more proactive in Daniel’s absence (Jan here), and have stepped up to fill in the gaps (and beyond), which was a very pleasant surprise! Thank God for small mercies 🙂

Design Workshop

The design workshop for the five boys at Pastor J and A’s children’s home began in earnest in mid-July. Together with J and S, we conducted six sessions with them, bringing them through graphic and web design basics such as color theory, mockups, and wireframing. And we were so happy to see their interest grow session after session, as well as their skills!

Check out the fruits of their labor!

During the concluding feedback session, they also expressed interest in continuing to develop their design skills alongside us. We will be working closely with Pastor J and A to come up with a schedule to continue helping them to develop their skills. In the long run, we also hope to bring them in on real-world projects with our clients too – potentially kickstarting their careers in this industry.

At this point in time, however, we’re unsure how we can continue to be a part of this journey with them remotely from Singapore. Do pray with us as we attempt to figure this out with the rest of the team!

Puhada

Look out for our new collection on Puhada.com!

Just few days ago, P’Da was just sharing how thankful she was that Puhada has still been able to generate some income and tithe/support some ministries in Chiang Mai, amidst the challenging economy. And we couldn’t agree more. By God’s grace, we thank God that Puhada has been growing slowly but steadily. What’s really satisfying for us also, is seeing the business systems and processes come together, as well as the locals learning to use them and work more efficiently. We believe this is only the beginning towards a sustainable income stream.

We recall being pretty eager, yet impatient in our initial stages of working with Puhada. God was and still is, teaching us to surrender our worldly desires (the hustle and the need for instant results, in this case), and to submit all to Him, the true Owner of it all.

Moving forward, thank God that we’ve managed to find a couple of Thais and missionaries who’ve agreed to help Puhada in different ways. On our end, we’ll also continue to support Puhada from Singapore, mainly in its operations and marketing.

Pray for God to continue to use Puhada as a blessing to the community and ministries in Chiang Mai.

Little Lamb, BB, and BDR

Over the past couple of months, BB and Little Lamb’s English lessons have been going on in big groups. Despite some challenges, in terms of the kids’ varied English standards, teaching space, and weather (had to teach 30+ kids in the canteen on a couple of rainy Saturdays), thank God that the kids managed to pick up and remember the sentences they’ve learnt.

Most of them were also able to recite the memory verses (Philippians 4:13 and 1 John 4:19). In fact, the Little Lamb kids were so enthusiastic about letting me (Jan) know that they can remember Philippians 4:13 after a week, that they recited it close to 10 times last Saturday 😀 The BB kids also started learning simple prayers in English.

We’ve yet to find an English teacher to continue English lessons after we leave. This means that there’ll be a gap in the English program. Pray that God will provide someone to come alongside and serve in His time.

After a year of getting to know the BB kids personally, it’s with a heavy heart that we put a pause to our weekly teaching and meal sessions. Nevertheless, we want to continue to support them in any way we can, even when we’re back in Singapore. Some of these kids are in their final year of high school and will be sending in their portfolios and taking the university entrance examinations at the end of this year/start of next year. A few of them with challenging family backgrounds are looking for financial support for their university fees. If God has placed a burden in your heart to support young people and would like to contribute, we’d be happy to share more with you!

Pray for this generation of youth that they’ll continue to place God at the centre of their lives, regardless of their life stage. Pray also for eager hearts to serve God and His people, even as they grow into young adults.

I (Jan) finished teaching a term of English to P4 to Sec3 kids at BDR. It was such an incredible experience getting to know the children individually and witnessing some of their hunger to learn (even if they’re no longer going to school at 12). Oftentimes, beyond the actual learning of English, what these kids really need is someone to encourage them, journey with them, and to build their self-worth and self-esteem.

Pray for these kids that they’ll continue to persevere and grow in the ways of our Lord, and for people to come alongside them in every stage of their life, to encourage and point them to God.

Personal Updates

We’ll be heading back to Singapore on 30 August (coming Sunday), and we’ll have to be on stay-home notice at a dedicated facility for 14 days. We’re trying to make arrangements amidst the uncertainties. Pray for a smooth transition back to Singapore!

Thereafter, we expected to receive the keys to our BTO by the end of this year, which is why we made plans to return to Singapore by Q4 2020. However, we received word from HDB that key collection might be delayed for another quarter, which means we might be homeless (!) for up to seven months.

Ok, “homeless” might be a stretch – we’ll be staying with Jan’s parents in the meantime. Still, having our own personal space is important to us, particularly as Daniel continues on his sabbatical and Jan juggles her work with Puhada and With Content. Do pray with us that our HDB will be ready as per the original schedule, and we can move in by the end of the year.

Still, we’re really grateful that we managed to secure our air tickets and confirm all the COVID-related measures in Singapore ahead of time. Thank God for small mercies!