A letter from Leith and Carol Fujii in Thailand
January 28, 2011
Dear Family and Friends,
We’re off and flying in 2011 and hope that you are also off to a good start in the new year!
I (Leith) just finished clicking the button (with the usual trepidation) to confirm flight reservations for our upcoming return to the United States for interpretation assignment. It is not because we are hesitant at all about returning stateside, but it’s being aware again of how little control we have of the events and circumstances that lie ahead of us. With a click of the mouse button, a sizeable amount of money for airline travel on a particular date is committed, not knowing what conditions will be like when that time comes. I don’t know about you, but for me there’s a good bit of nervousness when I make commitments like this, knowing full well that I can’t predict or control the circumstances surrounding them. However, a recent message I preached from Psalm 1 comes back to remind me about experiencing happiness or the blessed life. The key is in choosing to delight in God’s will and sovereign way, whether my plans come to fruition or not. Uncertain, unfolding events and circumstances lose their power to intimidate. And a “Happy” New Year is more than just a good wish. We can live in that reality!
Here are some of the events and unfolding plans that we are amidst:
Dr. Rung Ruengsan-ajin passing on the “baton of leadership” to Ajarn Virat Setsopol.
Ajarn Virat Setsoponkul has just stepped into a new ministry role as our director of the Bangkok Institute of Theology-Christian University (BIT). Having served many years as the senior pastor of the Saphan Luang Church and as a teaching faculty and administrative vice president of BIT, this new ministry will give him the opportunity to use his strong administrative and teaching gifts at BIT. After serving as the director of our school for 30 years, Dr. Rung Ruengsan-ajin is beginning a ministry to the wider church as the newly elected vice president of the Church of Christ in Thailand (CCT). We have greatly appreciated Dr. Rung’s ministry, and though we will miss him at BIT, we are proud to have him serving in this key leadership role for the sake of the whole church. Please be in prayer for these two men of God as well as for BIT during this key time of leadership transition and personal adjustment.
Joy with a special colleague in Afghanistan.
Joy, our communications officer-daughter, should be completing her tour of duty with the U.S. Army in Afghanistan this spring, and we are certainly looking forward to being with her again during our time stateside. We are also planning a rendezvous in the Czech Republic with Karin, in the final stages of her two year assignment with the Peace Corps in Cameroon.
We will be finishing the BIT academic year in March and heading out as soon as possible for our interpretation assignment so that we can return for the new academic year beginning in June. This will be the first time that we will be able to almost squeeze this in during the Thai summer break now that we are “empty nesters.” We are planning to arrive in New Mexico in early April and use Los Alamos as our home base throughout the month. Carol will be assisting her parents (we thank the Lord for her mom’s 90th birthday this month!) while Leith will be available, as invited, to share in ministry. Both of us will be traveling in May to visit with churches as well as meeting with our leadership at the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) World Mission office in Louisville. We are trying to focus our travels in the southern and eastern parts of the States during the first half of May and then on the west coast during the latter half. Leith will then return to Thailand until the end of June, when he and a Thai colleague will join Carol in sharing at the Big Tent 2 Missions Conference in Indianapolis.
Well, that’s what we mean about the year getting off to a flying start! And we can feel the clock ticking to get the courses, relationships, house, etc. prepared to leave and also to get arrangements, appointments and so forth ready to make the most of the two and a half months ahead.
We hope this gives you a good idea of how you can be partnering with us in prayer now and in the upcoming months. We would request that you let us know as soon as possible if you are interested in having us come to share about our ministry. Your partnership and support for us is greatly appreciated, and we consider it our privilege to share with you what we have seen God doing in, around and through our lives in Thailand.
In the Blessed Bond of Christ,
Leith and Carol Fujii
P.S: If you are interested in having us visit you, the “Find a mission speaker page” provides useful and important information about finances.
