Psalm 106:1-2
It is 10:30 PM and the house is finally quiet, Mam and the four kids are asleep, and I too am feeling the weight of a busy day on my eyelids. The bed is calling to me, and my body is assuring me that this update can wait until tomorrow f
or sleep is important and the morning comes quickly. NO! Tonight I will not give in, time and time again I have tried to write this update, only to be pulled away by a busy day or a sleepy night. Yes, sleep is important, but so are all of you. The faithful followers of this Blog, you who have grown to know our family through the updates we post. You have been zealous in you prayers for us when hard times came. You have joyfully celebrated when God has showered us with His countless blessings. You have given so bountifully to help provide for ALL OF OUR FINANCIAL NEEDS! And you have waited patiently for the latest updates to appear. Tonight, I will fight the sleep, and will write this update for YOU, that we can rejoice together at the wonders God does with the lives of those who follow His call. Now with the Holy Spirits leading and a cup of coffee by my side, let’s get writing.
THE QUIVER IS FULL!!!!!!!!!
The best place to start is with the most recent development in the lives of the Rutledge family. Maybe you didn’t notice in the opening paragraph, I did mention that the FOUR kids were asleep. Last update, we only had three, but since then God has blessed our family with a new little one. I would like to introduce you to little Rutledge number four: Yutapahn Kyle Rutledge. HE was born on August 20th at 7:20 AM. 
HE is a strong healthy BOY, and over the past three weeks has already doubled in size. The three girls love their BROTHER, and always are asking to hold HIM. HE sleeps really well, and eats a lot. I know HE is a BOY, because HE also farts a lot. By now you have noticed that we had a SON. So our quiver is blessed with three daughters and one son. Before his arrival, we weren’t sure if we were going to have daughter number four or son number one. Everyone assured us it was a girl, and even Mam was 98 percent sure we were having another daughter. I had some hope it might be a boy, but Mam was right on the other three, so I was leaning towards us having another daughter. Don’t get me wrong, I love our daughters and if we had another one, I would be so excited. Girls are easy, we already have all the clothes and she would fit right in with the other three girls. But I was worried about when all four of them hit teenage years at the same time, what would I do then. I needed some help, and a son would be nice. God had mercy on me and blessed us with a healthy baby boy. We didn’t have any names picked for a boy until we got to the hospital and found out it was a son. Yutapahn is his Thai name, it comes from Ephesians 6: 11 and 13, and it means ARMOR or Armor of God. We chose this because we want him to be strong in the Lord and to stand firm in the Lord during his days on this earth. His English name was also an easy choice, we both agreed that we should name him after a man we admire with Godly character, so we named him after MY HERO, and someone I hope and pray my son grows up to be like, MY FATHER, KYLE. So our new boys name is Yutapahn Kyle Rutledge, we hope you all get a chance to meet him before he gets too big, and we welcome you prayers for guidance as we seek to raise him into a man of God.
CHRISTIAN GRACES:
In March 2010, when we left Akha Outreach Foundation, or plans included a short two month stay in Mam’s village with her family before our move back to the States in June. But God had other plans, and through His working we have been blessed with many opportunities to serve others while we wait for the big move to the States in March 2011. We decided to wait until March for the move, because that is the end of the school year here in Thailand, Gracie and Joy will be able to remain at their school with their friends before we move. Waiting for the girls schools to close before moving back was no problem, but we needed to find ways to continue to minister while we were waiting. I knew Mam would be busy with the new baby, but to be honest I wasn’t too sure what I would be able to do. We must remember though, that we are God’s workmanship, created for good works, which God prepared before hand that we should walk in them. I didn’t know what I was going to do during this year, but God had already planned it out. Within the first week living in our new house, God opened up a handful of ministry opportunities. Before the end of that month, I was faced with the problem of not having anything to do, to having to decide between the many opportunities that were presented to me. During this year, I will be ministering in a handful of ways.
First and foremost, I am focusing on my family. Leading them and help us grow together in the love and power of God’s truth. As a family our goal is to allow God to work in and through us to share His truth to others and proclaim His glory to those who we meet. All of our neighbors are Buddhists and everyday in the way we act with each other and with them is a testimony of God at work in our lives. I love watching the three girls go and practice saying their memory verses in Thai with the neighbors. John 3:16, Matt 7:7, Romans 3:23, and Ephesians 2:8. Also, as the neighbors watch me hang up the laundry, change diapers, vacuum the house, cook dinner, help the girls with their homework, always commenting to Mam that I am a good husband and must really love her, because these are all things that a normal Thai husband would never do. Ministry starts with the family, and if I can minister to my family, then our family can minister to others. I have also been blessed with an opportunity to help out with some collage students through Campus Crusade her in Chiang Rai. I have been meeting with and discipling the leaders of the nine Bible study cell groups which are on campus. I have also been able to help out a small church that most of the collage students attend, through teaching and sometimes preaching. It has been a real blessing meeting with the students, I forgot how much energy and also potential university students have. I have also been volunteer teaching English at a local jr. high school and also to four staff members who work with a ministry to the Wa people group. If this wasn’t enough, I have also started to meet with an owner of a coffee shop three times a week, teaching him English and sharing the gospel with him, the price for his private English lessons one cup of ice coffee.
So God has opened up many different ministry opportunities and I am able to spend the hours my daughters are at school ministering to others in the community. I have also been so blessed with the opportunity to spend quality time with my children and my lovely wife, being able to minister in their lives and we seek to grow in our relationship with God.
Please continue to pray that God will work in and through our family and me as we seek to share His glory among those He brings into our lives. Thank you again for your financial support and your prayers. 100 percent of our income comes from people who give, and even with the addition of a new child, we have continually had our needs met each month.
THE CHRISTIAN HOME:
As I mentioned earlier, ministry starts with the home, and that is why the next chapter in our life involves equipping myself to help lead my family in ministry and also teach and help enable others to do the same. In March 2011, we as a family will be moving back to the States, were Lord willing I will begin working on my master’s degree in Biblical Family Counseling. In my next update, I will share more about this move and why we have decided for me to go back to school. It was not an easy decision to leave Thailand, but we feel God’s lead and a looking forward to spending time living in the States and strengthening our relationships with you and other ministry partners. This is only a temporal move as we are already working on ways we can use the things we learn while I’m working on my masters to help minister to the lives of the families here in Thailand and Lord willing throughout Southeast Asia. I ask you to please pray for us as we spend these next few months preparing for our move. There is lots of paperwork to do before we head back. Passport and birth certificate for the new baby, updating old passports and making sure everything is in order before we leave, trying to deal with our things here, what to take back and what to sew back into the kingdom of God, also preparing things for our stay in America. We are looking at a minimal of two years in the US, so that means we need a house to live in, a van to drive, and everything else you need for day to day life. In America we currently have one box of clothes which we wear during our visits, that is it. We are looking at starting from scratch and we need your help. Please keep you eyes open for the next update, in which I will be sharing with you some very specific needs and asking you to join us in trusting God to provide them.
Well it is 1:20 AM and the coffee is wearing off. I must turn in now and I pray that as you read this you will see how much your giving has done to bless our family, and to touch many other lives we reach out to everyday, trusting that together we can proclaim clearly the wonderful name of our Savior and Lord Jesus Christ.
Good night (morning) and God bless
Dan, Mam, Gracie, Joy, Hope, and Kyle Ruledge
