JANUARY UPDATE

The last several weeks have been full and exciting. We fill our days with Iris Team meetings, group intercession, evangelism outings, team fun nights, Thai class, follow up meetings and lots of baby chasing.. haha. We have really been enjoying having our newest team members here, a couple from Brazil named Herb and Nai. They are committed to serving with us and Iris Bangkok longterm and they have already been such a blessing and encouragement. We are also finishing up the paperwork to officially register Iris Bangkok as an Iris Global location. 

Our Iris Bangkok Team--Lucas, Sara, (Tito and Mallu), Adam, Kayla (Jubilee) Josh, Cassidy (Evie) Herb and Nai. 

Disciple Making Movements

We met a young woman named Kookkik who works at a frozen yogurt shop at a mall close to our house. The second time we visited her we struck up a conversation and she very quickly opened up and shared about her history with depression. Josh shared his story and how Jesus had healed him from depression. She was deeply touched by his story and said she had chills all over her arms. We exchanged information, and a few more weeks went by and my friend Cassidy and I met her for coffee. We chatted and then she started talking about feeling lonely. I shared about how I used to feel lonely but Jesus showed me how he is always with me and that I can always talk to him and know that he is there. She said she had chills again and said “wow I think maybe Jesus chose me.” We told her we know he did, that he led us to meet her at her work. Cassidy said something offhandedly about her being Buddhist and she quickly interupted and said, "Well maybe I can change, I think I can change." We said, "do you mean change from Buddhist to Christian?" She said "Yes, maybe!"

We were so excited at how open she was. We asked her if the next time we got together she would want to read a story about Jesus, she said yes enthusiastically. We met with her again last week and read a Psalm about God being with us and the story of the Lost Sheep. She was very interested in the story and we told her that Jesus loves her like that shepherd loved his lost sheep. We explained that Jesus will never stop going after her and loving her. She said she had chills again. We asked her if we could pray for her before she left. We prayed a simple prayer for peace and that she would know Jesus' love. She began to cry and was so touched. She said "Next time I will come to your house and I will make you food!" We can't wait to have her over and share another story about Jesus with her. 

Kayla and Cassidy getting bubble tea with with Kookkik.

Pearls of Thailand

On Thursday, February 2nd we officially begin the Pearls Program! We have 4 women committed to coming two days a week to learn about Jesus, sewing, baking and English. We are so excited to spend time with them, share the love of Jesus with them and empower them with skills they can use to start a new life. We so appreciate those of you who have given to the Pearls Project. Please pray that we would continue to be blessed with the funding we need to run the program and that the girls would have the courage to commit to the program and receive all Jesus has for them. 

Everyone celebrating the grand opening of the Pearls House. 

Gospel Truck

I (Adam) had the opportunity to fly to the north of Thailand to be part of the healing team for the Gospel Truck event in a city called Chiang Kham, outside Chiang Rai. Chiang Kham is a small city of about 60,000 people. Around 6,000 people came to the event to hear the good news of Jesus! I served on the prayer and healing team during the event. I partnered with Jesus to see multiple blind eyes healed, prayed for a man with a deaf ear that was restored and saw many peoples body aches and pains leave in the name of Jesus.

The highlight of the trip was praying for a young boy about 20 who had a neurological disorder that caused his legs to not function properly. I prayed twice for healing in his body and didn't see any change. I then heard Jesus speak to me about the young boys heart. I quickly shifted my focus from outward healing to inward. I asked the boy if he knew who Jesus was and if he would like to invite Jesus into his heart to be the king of his life. He said "yes please" and with tears streaming down his face he asked Jesus to come and re-direct his life. The following day I was praying for and reflecting on my time with the young man. I still felt slightly torn, I really believed for his physical healing but there was no change, however his heart was given over to Jesus which is the ultimate prize. As I was praying, Jesus showed me a picture of me and the young man one day dancing in Heaven together. Right then I realized that although on the outside it looked like nothing had happened, on the inside everything had changed and the course of that young man's life is now changed forever.

Photo from the Gospel Truck event in Chiang Kham.

Next Steps

February is going to be a crazy but wonderful month of ministry as well as wrapping up all kinds of practical and logistical things here as we plan for our time in Cincinnati this spring. We are so excited and also trying to soak up the time we still have here and all the exciting things God is doing. 

Prayer Requests: 

• Pray for Kookkik and Panchika, that they would grow in their hunger to know more about Jesus. 

• Pray for all the logistics as we transition out of  our house this month and prepare to visit Cincinnati.

• Pray that the Pearls Program would be off to a fantastic start and that it would go better than we could even imagine. 

We love hearing from you! If you'd like to reach out you can just reply to this email.

If you are interested in seeing more of our daily life please follow us on instagram @kaylacoupe and @coupetroop. We also try to post on our Facebook Stories as well)