Introducing Change the Map

A Small Personal Update

Amidst building our partnership team and preparing to return to Thailand, we are also working on fixing up my grandparents' farm house for our family to move into before we leave the US. As our larger family discusses how this property will be used, we hope it will be a landing ground for us when we visit the US for those longer furloughs.

We have been blessed by a couple from our church who has helped us immensely with renovation work and now it's just the final touches of painting, cleaning, putting on trim, and actually getting moved in. While my dear mother & sister watch the girls during the day, I go to the house (about 20 minutes from where we are now) and work.

As I work, I have been listening to podcasts and books. I have the Kindle version of the book "Change the Map" so I found an app that would read it to me. This is the book I give to churches and individuals who chose to partner with us on a monthly basis because it is such an great introduction to the community in which our family will be serving as well as an excellent educational tool to better understand Buddhism.

Change the Map

Change the Map is a prayer initiative for the Buddhist world. There is an app that provides several resources to learn about Buddhism. They provide weekly prayer points and prayer updates from those serving in the Buddhist world. Our family will eventually have our own prayer space there as well. Each month a podcast episode is put out as well. Those podcasts are recorded in Chiang Mai where we will be living. Mark Durene is the founder of Change the Map and the author of the book "Change the Map". I love when they do an interview with Mark. I don't know how much time we will have with Mark and his wife, Janie, once we get to Thailand, but I cannot wait for the opportunity to meet them personally and glean as much wisdom from them as I possibly can.

I want to periodically share podcasts with you all, especially ones with Mark because it allows you the opportunity to hear stories of where we will be serving and the team we are joining. You get to hear about some of the churches our family will be a part of and how they began. You also get to hear more about the culture in which we are walking into (or that Pope came out of), why it is so difficult for the gospel to go forth, and how you can be a part of impacting the nation of Thailand (and other Buddhist nations) through prayer.

Enjoy this podcast episode called Changing the Spiritual Atmosphere! The story Mark shares about Ban Pong reminds me so much of the Buddhists in Pope's home village and their way of thinking.

We hope this podcast helps you connect with our area of ministry a little bit more, encourages your faith in the power & faithfulness of our awesome God, and inspires to you pray!

Thank you!

As always, thank you for your partnership with us! We cannot go to Thailand without you - your prayers and your financial giving. If you'd like to further connect with us, please shoot us an email at popeandsteph@gmail.com and we would love to set up a time to meet with you in person or over the phone.