For HE is GOOD!

PRAISE the Lord! Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever. Who can utter the mighty acts of the Lord? Who can declare all His praise?

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 20^th 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

Times are Changing

Proverbs 19:21 There are many plans in a man's heart, Nevertheless the LORD'S counsel-that will stand.

Greetings from a very hot and humid Thailand, eight years have passed of calling Thailand home, I have never seem to get use to this heat. The months of March and April are usually the hottest, but this year May is bringing the heat. For the past week the temperatures have been in the mid 40’s, not Fahrenheit, but 45 degrees Celsius. That converts to 113 degrees Fahrenheit, with 90 percent humidity. When it is this hot, even air conditioning doesn’t help much. The best thing to do is to remain as still as possible, while the air con and fan are running at the highest speed. But when you have three little ones, who don’t like to stay still long, the next best thing to do is to go swimming. We have been to the swimming pool a lot lately, and at night time, we turn our bathroom into an indoor pool. Mam is doing great for being 5 months pregnant, and we are thankful for ice. The rains should be coming soon, and also some cooler weather. Until then we are pressing on and trying to remain cool (of course I have always been cool). The only time I can work on the computer is at night, and even then I have the fan blowing on me constantly. I have wanted to update you for a while now, and so tonight I am going to do my best to get this posted before the heat comes back tomorrow. There is a lot to share with you, and I know there is no way to cover it all tonight, so I have decided to write a trilogy. First we will look at the past three months, next week I will bring you part two dealing with what we are currently doing, and the third week I will share with you our family’s future plans. So please check in each week to see the trilogy of the Rutledge family’s life on the EDGE.

CHANGE: YOU CAN BELIEVE IN

Since I last updated this blog, there has been a lot of change in the lives of the Rutledge family. Often times we are leery of change because we are not comfortable with the unknown. But as the Bible teaches, change is inevitable and is something not to fear as we trust in God’s provision and directions for our lives. Currently the changes taking place in our lives and our ministry here in Thailand are stretching us as a famil

y but also are drawing us closer to God and to each other. As I share with you some of the changes that are taking place, I ask you to please continue to pray for our family and that as we journey through these times together, God will use our family to show His glory to everyone we meet.

THE TWO YEAR PLAN:

Two years ago, Mam and I gave our two year notice to Akha Outreach Foundation. We believed that after seven years of ministry, it was time to move on and open the door for others to rise up and serve the children at the home. Time flies by when you are having fun, and before we knew it those two years had passed and on March 31^st 2010 we officially stepped down from our roles of leadership at the ministry and turned the work over to some very capable men and women who we know will do a great job at shepherding the hearts of the children towards Christ. It has been hard to let go, and we already miss the children and ministry so much, but we knew it was time to move on, and trust God will continue to work through the seeds we planted in the lives of the children. For the past seven years Akha Outreach Foundation had become our family. Mam and I were married there, we welcomed the birth of our three daughters there, and we grew to love all the lives at the foundation as our own family. It will be different now, but sometimes different is good. We will continue to help out at the ministry from time to time, and our hearts and our prayers will always be there, but now it is time for a new adventure and we trust God will lead us as we move on.

FOR RENT:

Originally, we had planned to return to Mams village and spend the months of April, May, and June with her family before our big move to the States in June 2010. Funny though how things change, and we quickly came to realize that our plans needed to be rearranged, and our time line for moving back to the States had to be pushed back. In December, Mam and I both felt like three children were enough, and after Christmas and New Years past, I would do the manly thing and go get snipped (ouch). But the passing of the New Year brought news of a new pregnancy and to joy of looking forward to welcoming our fourth child in September. With the pregnancy, the hassle of traveling with three children, and the cost of medical care in the States, we decided to remain in Thailand until after the birth of our fourth child.

The plans to move back to Mam’s village changed as well, as one evening Mam’s brother, who had been sentenced to 6 years in prison suddenly showed up at our door. This was a huge surprise and a huge answer to prayer. We were the only ones taking care of Mams parents and we were praying he would be released early so that he could help take care of them while we were in the States. Well three years into his sentence they let him go. So with him back in the village there was no room for our family to stay. So we had to start looking for a place to rent. We weren’t planning on having to rent a house, but God was in control and after three days of looking, He led us to a small little three bedroom house within walking distance of Mam’s doctor, 5 minutes from the girls school, and surrounded by 5 aunties, 1 grandpa, and 1 grandma who love our girls and Mam. In April we moved from the foundation into our new house, and have been busy unpacking boxes and getting used to life in the city. Mam has been great at making this feel like home, and the girls love talking with grandpa and helping grandma water the flowers. It has been a crazy start to 2010, but God has been very faithful, and we are looking forward to how He is going to work in and through our family over the next year. We were looking forward to our move back to the States, and were saddened we had to push it back, but we are also excited for the chance to continue to minister here Thailand. God has already opened up some unexpected doors to new ministries opportunities and I look forward to sharing those with you next week. God has been so faithful, and for the past seven years we have been able to have all of our financial needs meet through your faithfulness in giving. These next few months will bring many changes, but as a family we are still committed to serving God full time and that will only be possible through the prayers and financial support from you and others. PLEASE, PRAYERFULLY CONSIDER CONTINUING TO SUPPORT THE RUTLEDGE FAMILY AS WE SHARE THE HOPE OF THE GOSPEL WITH THE PEOPLE OF CHIANG RAI. I have discussed the current situation and the new ministry opportunities with our church and the mission board, and they have given us the go ahead to continue on here. So all support can be sent to:

UBC Worldwide Ministries

845 South 9^th

Campus Box 8133

Pocatello, ID

83209

We are thankful for your willingness to partner with us these past seven years, and we look forward to continue working together to help minister to the lost of this world through the power and love of Christ. If you have any questions please email me at dan.rutledge@gmail.com, We do love hearing from you.

I look forward to sharing more with you next week in Part 2. Until then, I leave you with this prayer found in Ephesians 3:14-21. It is too long to type out, so I encourage you to read it and meditate on the power of Christ as He works in and through us for His glory for all generations to witness.

Thank you for your prayers, and all you have done. We look forward to hearing back from you, and please know you are always in our prayers.

Your Fellow Servants in Him

Dan, Mam, Gracie, Joy, Hope, and Faith(if a girl, no boy names yet)

Holiday Greetings

Good Christian men, rejoice, with heart and soul and voice;
Now ye hear of endless bliss:
Joy! Joy!
Jesus Christ was born for this!
He has opened the heavenly door, and man is blest forevermore.
Christ was born for this! Christ was born for this!

Season's greetings and happy holidays, I trust you are doing well.

Since my last update, life for the Rutledge Family and the ministry here at Akha Outreach Foundation has been busy but also very blessed. There isn’t a week that passes without some new adventure to face or storm to weather, but we don’t despair because we cling to the promises of Lamentations 3:21-25
21 This I recall to my mind,
Therefore I have hope.
22 Through the LORD’s mercies we are not consumed,
Because His compassions fail not.
23 They are new every morning;
Great is Your faithfulness.
24 “ The LORD is my portion,” says my soul,
“ Therefore I hope in Him!”
25 The LORD is good to those who wait for Him,
To the soul who seeks Him.

This is the hope we find in Him. I would love to share with all that has been taking place over the past few months, but I am desperately trying to get this update posted before the turn of the New Year, so I will just share a few highlights and have attached a link to a photo journal of the past months. I trust that the pictures will be more vivid in showing you the goodness of God and how He is working in and through the Rutledge family in Thailand. Thank you for taking the time to read this update, and I trust you will join me in rejoicing in God and His faithfulness.

http://picasaweb.google.com/dan.rutledge/LifeOnTheEdge?feat=directlink

The holiday season is upon us, and though this is my favorite time of the year, it is also the hardest. I love celebrating Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years here at AOF, but I do hate being so far away from friends and family during this time of the year. Please know even though we are physically apart, you are very near to our hearts. Mam and I have been frantically preparing a small Christmas gift to share with all of our supporters and prayer partners, and trusting that they will arrive in time for Christmas. We are always thanking God for you and all you have done to bless our family, but especially during the holiday season we want you to know how thankful we are. Without your prayers and financial support our family would not be able to minister here at Akha Outreach Foundation. 100 % of our finances come from your faithfulness in giving. Thank you so much for hearing God’s call and being willing to be used by Him to bless not only our family, but also 1000 of Akha and Thai people through the ministry here. This Thanksgiving our family took time to pray especially for you and thank God for His goodness to us, which we receive through you. We have so much to be thankful for, and because of your gifts there has not be a month pass by where we didn’t have enough money to cover our needs. God is so good, and thank you for your willingness to be used by Him for His glory. Thank you again.

December is always a very busy month for the Rutledge Family. On December 5th, Thailand celebrates Fathers Day and all the schools close for the day. December 5th is the king of Thailand’s birthday and this year he is turning 81 years old. It is a special day because he has been king of Thailand for over 60 years. He has been a good and just king and all the people love him. Over the years I have learned to see the love which the Thai people have for their king, and think back to the days of King David and what a love the people had for him. I also think about the King of Kings, and how wonderful His kingdom will be, and how blessed we are to be a part of it.

On December 10th Thailand celebrates constitution day, the day when freedom came to the common people. Thailand used to be a monarchy in which royalty ruled everything. But the king of Thailand decided that democracy was best and gave up his power to guarantee freedom for the Thai people. What a beautiful picture of sacrifice and love. We can’t help to think about Jesus and His willingness to give up His supreme power and rule, to come to the earth to be born in a lowly manger, and later to give up his life on the cross for us. That is sacrifice and true love. On December 12th we celebrate Mams’ birthday, followed by mine on the 19th, then on the 25th Bratanas’ birthday and also the birth of Jesus Christ. December comes to a close on the 31st, as everyone celebrates the passing of a year and the beginning of a new one. As you can see December is super busy for the Rutledge family, but this year we decided to add a little extra craziness to our Christmas time. Every year we celebrate Christmas here at AOF will all of the orphans and Bible students. Trying to get Christmas ready for 130 people is hard enough, but this year we decided to invite the members from the 16 churches under us to join us for Christmas. We can be looking at over 1000 people staying here for a three day Christmas celebration. How we will do this I am not sure, but I know it will be a truly wonderful time as we come together to celebrate to birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Keep checking the blog, I will be taking lots of pictures and posting them.

This is going to be a special Christmas for us, not only because we are expecting to host the largest Christmas party ever, but because this will be the last Christmas the Rutledge family will be spending with AOF for a while. For seven wonderful years we as a family have been blessed to be able to live and serve here at Akha Outreach Foundation. It has become our home, and we will be sad to leave, but after much prayer we feel it is the right time to move on. We will finish out the school year, which ends in March and after that we will begin preparations for a move back to the States. Why we are leaving and what we will be doing next will be explained in more detail in an upcoming letter. I just wanted to give you a heads up, and know that Lord willing we will be spending the holidays season with friends and family in the States. It is going to be hard to leave, but we feel a peace and know God has a new road for us to travel. Please be in prayer for us, as we begin the preparations for the trip back to the States. There are many steps and many things we need to do before we board the plane to the US, so please pray that we will be diligent in doing what needs to be done, but also have quality time with all the people we work with here at AOF. We have invested 7 years into the lives of this ministry, and we want the next 6 months to be invested wisely too. I promise to update you more about our move and our future plans, but if you just need to know now, please feel free to email me and I will give you a more detailed description of our upcoming plans.

Well the time has come to sign off. Thank you again for taking the time to read this, and please do check out the web photo journal of the past few months. I trust you had a great Thanksgiving, and our family is wishing you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. I leave you with the chorus from a Christmas Carol which is not very well known, but has a wonderful message. The Wassail Song, and the chorus goes like this:

Love and joy come to you,
And to you your wassail, too,
And God bless you, and send you
A Happy New Year,
And God send you a Happy New Year

Peace and Love through Christ
The Rutledge Family

ALL or NOTHING!

Greetings from the Rutledge family and everyone here at Akha Outreach Foundation, we are currently engaged in a battle which I’m not sure we’ll win. The flu bug came to the foundation and of the 150 people who call AOF home, close to 100 people have bit hit with differing flu symptoms. I am honest in saying I have never seen a flu hit so fast and spread to so many people like this last weeks flu. It is also challenging because the whole world is worried about the swine flu (H1N1 virus), every time one of our kids get sick we have to deal with the fear factor along with the other flu symptoms. To date none of our kids have been diagnosed with the swine flu, and for that we are thankful. I believe we just got hit with a really bad flu bug, and with so many people living together, it is only natural for it to spread quickly to everyone near by. We are not the only home dealing with sick children, and as the number of flu cases increase we are seeing more and more schools closing. These are short closers, lasting 3 to 7 days in length and it is helping everyone find some time to rest and recoup before going back to school. Currently two of the schools which our children attend have closed and so we have decided to let the children return home to their villages for a week. We have also closed our Bible School for a week and will take this break to clean and disinfect the rooms and buildings. For the last week we have been working hard trying to deal with those who are already sick and prevent the flu from spreading to others, but we have found ourselves in a losing battle. For each child that gets better, we have four more that get sick. The staff have been working tirelessly to help distribute meds and care for those who are suffering from fevers. In their efforts to aide the sick, they themselves have been infected and now of the 15 person staff team that work here, 9 are sick but still working hard to care for the children and Bible students.
If dealing with the flu was our only problem, I believe we could make it through. But over the past month I have taken three trips to the hospital to deal with emergency injuries and ailments. Not only I but the staff as a whole have been pushed to the max with all of these health issues. It hard enough work managing our day to day operations, but to aid in unexpected heath issues, makes our work here virtually impossible. Nancy, the director’s wife used the example of the “Bang a Mole” game they have at carnivals. You just finish pounding one mole and then another one pops up. We have seen crazy days before, but never for as long and as consist as the past month has been. We had a girl in the hospital for over two weeks with what we thought was appendicitis but turned into be something more complicated then that. She returned home from the hospital just in time to catch the first attack of the flu bug. While she was in the hospital, we had another girls sprain her left arm which left her in an arm sling for the next two weeks. One week probably was enough, but she thought she needed it another week, so we let her wear it. We also had a boy fall off his bike while doing a “wheelie” and break his left arm. Two days later another boy fell while playing soccer and we think suffered a hairline fracture on his left arm. So for a week we had three children running around with their left arms in slings. Just as we were getting them all better, the Swine flu hit Thailand, and we began to pass out the face masks. Seeing all 92 children line up for morning prayers wearing their face masks was sure a funny sight. With all of our children home from the hospital and everyone equipped with a face mask we believed we were ready for anything. But that is when everything got crazy. We had a boy slip and split his face open, praise God not doing any damage to his eye in the process. After 14 stitches above and below his right eye he was able to return to school. Then last week we had another boy jump kick his way through a glass door. (No more action movies for these kids) He learned that jumping through glass doors will always result in one winner, the glass door. We took him to the hospital for stitches in his head, arm, hand, and leg. But if these trips to the hospital weren’t enough, the next day began the flu. One by one the schools began calling asking us to pick up different kids who were suffering from high fevers. And thus began the “kry what yie” as they say in Thai. The big flu as we would say it in English. The Thais refer to the Swine flu as the “kry what yie” but we have borrowed the term to help describe the madness which has been taking place here over the past few weeks. One by one the orphans, then the Bible students and now the staff experienced the flu which brings with it high fevers, sore throats, coughing, body aches, and if this isn’t enough, it also drains all of your energy for the next four days. We are thankful that it isn’t the H1N1 virus, but it still is a bad virus and I am sorry for anyone who gets it. Praise God there still are a few people left who haven’t come down with the flu bug and we pray that they can remain healthy. It feels like one of those “post apocalyptic” movies, where there are only a few remaining survivors left after everyone else on the earth is gone. It is a strange feeling around here right now with everyone back in their villages. We have around 20 people still here, but when you consider this morning there were 150 people here and now only 20. Strange, but quiet and for that we are thankful.
I am sharing this with you because 1st I haven’t updated my Blog in a long while and I really needed to get back to blogging. Second we are in need of your prayers, and would ask you to please remember us in your prayers for the next week. Third this is a good example of what daily life is like for the Rutledge family while we are ministering here at Akha Outreach Foundation, just incase you were wondering.
I am thankful that our family is healthy and even though I had to pick up Gracie today at school because she had a slight fever we haven’t been hit with the flu bug. I know that it is by the grace of God that we are still all well, and I know that you must be praying for us. Thank you.
Please continue to pray for all the orphans, Bible students, staff that are sick that they will get well quickly and completely during this week of rest. Pray also for those who have yet to get sick, that they will remain healthy and not have to experience the flu bug. Pray also for the 30 plus pastors and village leaders that will be attending our monthly training which starts tomorrow and runs through Saturday. Pray that they will be protected from the bug as well and that the staff will have enough strength to help minister to them while they are here with us. Pray also for the people of Thailand and the rest of the world as well as the fear of the Swine flu has struck and more and more people are living in fear of H1N1 virus. We have hope in the promises found in Romans 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. God is in control and we can find hope and joy in this truth.
In closing I would like to leave you with a little nugget from God’s Word which I have been blessed to be studying over the past few days. This nugget is found in truth of the following two verses.
Joh 15:5 "I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.
Php 4:13 I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
I can sum it up in this simple phrase: ALL or NOTHING. The past few weeks have once again reminded me that I can do nothing, not some things, NOTHING apart from Christ in my life. I can’t heal these sick children, I can’t make this children obey, I can’t do anything if Christ is not in me and working through me. It is real sobering to realize that we are completely helpless. I came here to help these children, to teach them God’s truth and help them live a life for His glory. But the longer I am here, the clearer I can see that it is not what I do, but what God is doing in me and through me that is going to truly help the children here. This doesn’t only apply the 92 orphans I help care for but also my own three daughters and my lovely wife as well. The truth is that I can do NOTHING. If we were to stop here, then it would be very easy to lose hope and give up on trying. But if we look at the second verse in Philippians, we see that in truth we can do ALL THINGS. Wait, didn’t I just say we can do nothing, and now I am saying we can do all things. Check my forehead, am I hot? Do I have the fever? No, we can do All Things, if and only if we have Christ. This is the key, without Christ I can do Nothing, with Christ I can do ALL THINGS, even take care of 150 sick people if needed. God is good, and I am so thankful that He revealed this truth to me during this time of despair. I find myself filled with Joy and Hope due to the Grace of God and His Son Christ abiding in me. I do not know what may happen tomorrow, but I am not afraid, for Christ is with me and through Him I can do ALL THINGS. Rejoice with me, for this nugget of God’s truth is not just for me, but for all of us who abide in Him. Let us draw near and abide in the true vine, allowing Him to enable us to do ALL THINGS.
Thank you for your prayers and support, we look forward to updating you next week on how mightily God worked through your prayers. We are dependent on your prayers and cherish the time you sacrifice to lift them up for us. We miss you all and are so blessed to be partnered with such a wonderful group of supporters. Thank you again and remember we can always find Joy in the Hope found in the Grace through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen and Amen





Ps 57:2 I will cry out to God Most High, To God who performs all things for me.
Mt 19:26 But Jesus looked at them and said to them, "With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible."
Mr 9:23 Jesus said to him, "If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes."
Ro 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.
2Co 6:4 But in all things we commend ourselves as ministers of God: in much patience, in tribulations, in needs, in distresses,
2Co 9:8 And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work.
Php 4:13 I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

Joh 15:5 "I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.

Easter Blessings

“Many, O LORD my God, are Your wonderful works Which You have done; And Your thoughts toward us Cannot be recounted to You in order; If I would declare and speak of them, They are more than can be numbered.” Psalm 40:5

Happy Easter and happy Songkran from Thailand, I rejoice to report, that over the past five months, God has been doing some amazing things here at Akha Outreach Foundation. And as a family we have also been richly blessed since our last Blog update. So much has taken place over that the past five months, that it is impossible for me to share them all with you, but I will do my best to update you on what God has been doing here, and what we are trusting Him for as we look towards the next few weeks.

Let’s start with a praise report for the past months. In December we welcomed a small team from Singapore who joined us for Christmas. It was a great time celebrating the birth of our Savior with our friends. The children love Christmas and even though we usually start the day early at 5:00 AM, many of them stayed up late into the night celebrating this special day. After Christmas, it seemed like the weeks flew by and before we knew it we were heading into March and preparing for our yearly Bible school graduation. This year we had eight Bible school graduates. Shortly after the bible school graduation, all the schools our orphans attend closed for summer break and all of our children were able to return home to their villages to spend the next six weeks with their relatives. Summer time here is always an interesting time, all the staff are glad for a chance to rest but at the same time, the home here is really lonely without all the children and bible students here. Even though the children are not here, there still is a lot of work to be done, and over the past few weeks we have been busy preparing everything for the new term which starts on the 18^th of May. We also have been preparing for the youth camp which we will be hosting starting the 13^th to the 16^th of April. We are expecting around 200 teenagers to join us for this camp. Please pray that these days spent at the camp we will see those who have a personal relationship with God will grow, and those who do not know Christ as their savior will open their hearts to Him.

Today is the first day of the Thai New Year known as Songkran. It is a four day holiday where the whole country takes part in a nation wide water fight. April is the hottest month and it actually feels great to get splashed with some water, unless they have put ice into it.

Every year we hold this camp during the Songkran festival because this is the time of year that most teenagers go out with their friends and are most likely to experiment with alcohol, drugs, and sex. It is also the holiday that sees the most deaths due to motor accidents. Songkran is a fun holiday, but it is also very dangerous.

Today is not only the first day of Songkran, it is also Easter Sunday. Every Easter morning all the local churches get together at the cemetery for a sunrise service. I know that sounds strange, but after joining them, you come to see it is a wonderful experience.

Easter is a special holiday, and even though it is celebrated a little differently here in Thailand, it still is a great day to reflect on the promises we find in the resurrected life of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Thailand is a very religious country and most Thai’s are devoutly committed to worshipping their statues, but it is agonizing knowing that all of their prayers and devotion is for not. I pray that the truth of the Gospel message and the hope that comes through life of Christ will penetrate deep into the heart of Thailand and the Thai people. We as Christians have the promise that Christ is risen, and that our prayers are heard through His blood, and this is the hope I cling to, that our prayers for the lives of the people God has called us to serve are being heard, and He is working in their lives. I do not know when, but I truly believe that one day, the true message of hope found in Christ will shine brightly in and through the lives of the Thai nation. I ask you to please join me in praying for Thailand. Not only on Easter, during Songkran festival, or during this national crisis Thailand’s in right now. But please join me in praying for Thailand everyday. Thailand is 98 % Buddhist and that means that if Christ was to return today, then almost 100% of the Thai people would not be joining us in heaven. This is a sad truth, so please join me in praying for the Thai people.

On a newsflash, right now the capital of Thailand is in a state of emergence, as anti-government protestors are calling for the removal of the current prime minister. We are in no physical danger where we live, but as a country as a whole this is a major problem, and every four months we have a different group riot, causing the country to shut down. In December one group took over the international airport and closed it for two weeks, now it is another group. Thailand is a democracy, but it is a very fragile one, please pray that the current protests will end quickly and peacefully.

As I mentioned earlier, May 18^th is the start of the new school term, and all of our children will be returning from their villages on the 14^th of May. This year we are said to see that two of our staff are moving on, but also welcoming two new staff. We will have 93 orphans living here along with close to 40 bible students next year. As I look towards the next year I am excited but also scarred. Of the 93 orphans, 53 will be teenagers. In years past, the majority of our children were younger, but now they are grown up and we have over half of the children in their teenager years. This is exciting because with teenagers you don’t have spend as much time helping them with the little things, but it is scary because there are a lot of new areas that new to be reached. Please remember us this year as we begin down the exciting road of the teenage years. This is also our family’s finale year here at Akha Outreach Foundation. I have been serving here now six years, and I feel lead of the Lord to move on. We are sad to leave but are looking forward to taking this finale year to invest fully into the lives of the staff and the children here. I cherish each life God has entrusted to my care here, and I ask Him to continue to guide me and empower me to love each child as I love my own. It is hard sometimes, but I know God has called us here, and through His strength we can share His love with all of these children. Please pray also that as I work with the orphans, that I am able to Biblically share my love with my family. Mam is such a great wife and a wonderful Mother. Gracie and Joy are growing so quickly and this year they both will be attending school. Hope is such a blessing, and we are looking forward to celebrating her 1^st birthday with my parents when they come to visit us in May.

The summer break has been a great time of rest. I have been able to spend lots of time with my family, and feel 80% refreshed and ready for the new term. As a family we had lots of plans to go travel and spend time as a family, but that all changed because of the chicken pox virus that started to break with us. All three of the girls have now had the chicken pox, poor little Hope getting the worst. She is just now clearing up from them. It has been a long four weeks, but we are thankful this is behind us. After the camp, we will be traveling to Mam’s village to help build a new outhouse and kitchen for her parents. The girls love going to visit Grandpa and Grandma in the village. After we are through in the village we will most likely travel to Chiang Mai to meet my parents and my niece who are flying in during the first part of May. We are looking forward to spending a few days with them before the new term starts and all the children come back. Please continue to pray for complete healing for all of the girls and also for a restful remainder of our vacation. Please also be in prayer as we look towards the future and what God has in store for us following our time here at Akha Outreach Foundation. We still aren’t 100% sure where and what we will be doing next year, but we trust God will lead, and we are willing to follow.

Thank you for waiting patiently for this update to our Blog, I am so thankful for all of your prayers and financial support, and I long to share with you more frequently what God is doing through your help. I guess that could be my new year’s resolution, to update this Blog at least once a month. I promise to try. Thank you again for everything you have done to bless our family; your prayers, your letters of encouragement, your care packages full of goodies, and your faithfulness in giving. We are truly blessed by you and we constantly pray for you and your families. Joy won’t let us put her to bed without praying for our supporters. Thank you and God bless, wishing you a happy Easter and a happy Songkran from Dan, Mam, Gracie, Joy, and Hope Rutledge.

Planes, Trains, and Automobiles

Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice! Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand. Philippians 4:4-5

Wow, I am astonished how fast time flies. I guess when you keep busy, it speeds everything up. The last time I wrote it was mid September and our family was getting busy ready for our upcoming trip to the States, now it is mid November and we are busy getting ready for Christmas and the New Year. Our family has been back in Thailand now for two weeks, and I am afraid that if I don’t write you right now, it will be 2009 before I get another chance to write. The past few months were busy and full of many blessing, I know that the next few months will be busier and I trust that they will be blessed.
November is a month that we take time to remember all our blessings as we celebrate Thanksgiving. Since being in Thailand, I have come to see that we don’t and shouldn’t wait until November to count our blessings. We should daily be thankful for ALL that the LORD blesses us with. Thailand doesn’t celebrate Thanksgiving as a holiday but as a family we still try to set aside some time to reflect back over the past year and thank God for all His blessings. This year we have so much more to be thankful for, we may have to take a whole week to celebrate God’s goodness.
I know we all are thankful for Moetana Hope, our third daughter and such a blessing to our family. I have been richly blessed with four lovely ladies to daily share my life with. They do keep me on my toes, and challenge me to be a better husband and father everyday. Moetana will be six months old this month, and we are so blessed to have her in our family. As a family we are also thankful for the opportunity to live, work, and minister together as a family. It is hard sometimes, living at your job but it is also very rewarding to be able to be a family serving others together. We are so thankful for all of our health. The past year we caught a few small colds but nothing serious and for that we are so thankful. We are thankful for the changes we are beginning to see take place in the lives of the orphans and Bible students we work with. God is at work in their lives, and it is great to watch them willing submit to His direction and watch them grow in their relationship with Him and with each other. We are also thankful for the way God is working in our lives, I have great joy hearing Bratana ask to pray before we eat all of our meals, and if she doesn’t fill like the first prayer was enough, she won’t eat until we pray again. It is a blessing hearing Garuna and Mam sing praise songs before bed time, and also seeing how God is working in my life and Mam’s helping us to become better partners and parents through His Spirit. God is so great, and He blesses us with so much, it is hard not to be thankful. I believe sometimes we all get too busy to stop and really look at what God has been, is doing, and will do as we live our lives through Him. We are so blessed, and I can’t write all the things we are thankful for without including YOU. YOU being all the people who help make it possible for us to live, serve, and thrive here in Thailand. Your prayers, financial support, goodie boxes, emails of encouragements. All of these things that seem so simple truly impact us in a huge way. We couldn’t be here without you, and that is the truth. You are what helps make this ministry work, buy helping us you are blessing every life that we work with everyday. We are so thankful for all of you, and we are extremely thankful for the time we got to visit with most of you during our recent trip to the States. It was great to be back in Idaho again, to see the fall colors and the purity of fresh falling snow. It was the first time we had taken a big trip as a whole family, and even though it was challenging sometime, it still was well worth it. Our one regret is that we did not get to spend more time with you. Two hours for dinner isn’t enough time, and if I could have I would have loved to spends hours sitting and talking with you. For those who took the time to meet with us, thank you so much. You blessed us with you homes, your food, and especially your willingness to let us share how God is working in and through us here in Thailand. Our daughters loved spending time with your children, and it is such a blessing that so many of my friends have kids too. I could write for hours sharing with you all the blessings that we received during our trip but instead I would like to take this time and personally thank each and everyone who took the time to meet with us.
1. Kasey and Suzy and family: Thank you so much for rescheduling your time with us and giving us an opportunity to share at your church. Your family is precious and such a blessing to spend time with. The girls love their bracelets and I loved the apple pie and cigars. Sorry we couldn’t stay longer and have a second piece of pie, it was good. Thank you.
2. Darrin and Sunny: Wow Darrin it was great to meet your new bride and she is a great girl. Treat her right or I will come back and pound on you. Thanks for getting together and for letting me invade your evening just to use your internet and printer. Thank you and if you are every looking for a good place to vacation, please know you are always welcome at our house.
3. Justin and Trish and family: Thank you, thank you so much for opening up your house and your home to us for a week. Sorry we were messy; we are trying to master this living out of a suit case routine. Sorry also that we couldn’t spend more time with you, but know we love you and our girls are so thankful your children took the time to help them build a snow man. Thank you.
4. Mark and Christy and family: Your family is always there for us and such a blessing to our daughters and to Mam, thank you for letting us crash at your house and also for all the wonderful food we enjoyed while staying with you. Thank you so much for all the clothes you passed onto our girls, they look so girly in all their new clothes, thank you.
5. Dave and Alyson and family: You guys are awesome, and thank you so much for the truck and car seat that you let us borrow the whole time while we were in the States. Thank you also for helping get to and from the airport, and for taking the time to have us over for lunch. It was so nice to talk to you and let our families play together. We pray that one day we can return the favor. You guys are great and we love you, thank you.
6. Chris and Chrissie and family: Thank you for taking the time to schedule a special meal with us. It meant a lot to spend that extra time with you and also with the Jenkins family. We are sorry we couldn’t spend more time together, but we are thankful for the time we did spend for it was truly blessed. Thank you.
7. Gary and Judy: Thank you for the car seats that you let our family use while in the States, we are sorry that it didn’t work out to get together with you for a meal. We would have really loved to visit with you, but due to sickness and fatigue, we had to take a few days rest at the end, and we just ran out of time. Thank you for the car seats and for your willingness to share.
8. Thank you Emma for taking the time to have breakfast with us on a very early and cold morning. It was nice to meet with you and the girls loved spending time with you. Thank you for your prayers, they are so precious to us.
9. Thank you Mr. Dean, for the time you took to hang out with us, and also for the wonderful meal you made from Pizza Hut. Joy loved that pasta meal so much and it was fun hanging out with you and seeing you again. Thank you
10. Thank you Pettit Family for taking the time out of your busy schedule to be with us. Thanks Kevin for the time at breakfast, it was great to have some good man time and talk about life. It was also great to see your family and hear how God is working in and through your family while you serve Him over in Asia. Wow how your kids have grown.
11. Thank you Pastor Mike and everyone at University Bible Church. Thank you Pastor for taking the time to meet with me and talk about future plans and also keep me accountable in my personal walk with the Lord and my time with my family. Thank you for all your words of wisdom and the wonderful 2 foot burrito we shared with the guys. Also for everyone at UBC who have been supportive of us and our work her. It was great to see and visit with many of you, I wish I could have stayed the whole month fellowshipping with you all. Your prayers and support are so wonderful and we are so grateful for your willingness to be used by God. Thank you.
12. Thank you Dave and the mission committee at UBC: Thank you Dave for being so faithful in helping manage our finances and support. It is such a joy to see your heart to serve, and please know you are a big part of our ministry here, without you, we don’t know if we could continue as productively as we are. Also for the mission committee, thank you for taking the time to meet with me and hear how things are going. Thank you for your faith in our family and enabling us to serve here in Thailand. We do pray that one day soon you will be able to come visit us. Our home is always open.
13. Thank you Linda Rankin for setting up the time to share at your church and to meet with us. Sorry it was so short we wish we had more time. Your heart and love for our family and ministry is such a blessing. Thank you.
14. Thank you to the Myers Bible study group and their willingness to listen to what we had to share about what God is doing here. Thank you for being patient as our daughters adjusted to your little white doggy. The food was great and we were blessed that you opened your house to us. Thank you.
15. Thank you to all of you from Twin Falls Reformed Church who took the time to have dinner with us. I am sorry that Mam and the girls could not make the dinner, it just means that you will have to come back and visit us soon here in Thailand before they all grow up. The food was amazing, specially the Idaho potatoes. Funny it is the simple things that you find you miss when they aren’t around. Potatoes are what I miss. Thank you.
16. Thank you Ken for taking the time to come visit us briefly before we left Twin Falls. We do wish we could have seen your whole family, but we understand. It was great to see you again and great to hear that God is still working through you.
17. Thank you Ken and Grace Young for the wonderful home made chocolate chip cookies and the little cherry tomatoes. The girls loved them so much, it was also great to hear how God has blessed your family and to just rejoice together as we watch God at work. Thank you for the afternoon you spent with us, and we pray that your house will sell soon. Though we will be sad not to be able to visit you anymore in Pocatello, we will just have to take a little longer road trip.
18. Thank you big sis Catherine, Carl, and Hannah for inviting us to your wedding and do so much to help make our stay with you fun. The girls loved the pumpkin patch and Mam loved all the color of the leaves that were changing. I loved being able to see you all again and meet your new husband. He is a good guy and I am happy for you. Hannah, wow you have grown up so much, please do come and visit us soon, you are always welcome.
19. To the Alexander family. Hey there guys what can we say. We always loved visiting you in Bangkok, and even though now you have moved back to the States, it was still so great to spend time with you. We miss you guys, and trust we can see you again before too long. The girls all say hi, and Matt, thanks for the golf game, even though you beat me, it was still great to get out and swing the clubs. Thanks guys we love you.
20. To Mitch and Becca: Thank you for having us over for dinner, Joy and Gracie loved it, I too really enjoyed it. Thanks also for inviting so many people to come and hear about our ministry and how they could be a part of it. We wish we had more time to spend with you guys, your daughter is absolutely lovely. Congratulations and thank you again.
21. To the Shoemakers and Ayabei Family: Thank you for having us over for dinner and taking time to hang out. Again we are sorry that the girls couldn’t make it. They would of loved playing with your daughter, next time for sure. The food was great, but the fellowship was out of this world. God is so good, and it great to see how God is blessing your two families. Thank you for your prayers and support. Kelly and Jaqaie your boy is so handsome, congratulations.
22. Brandi, thank you for taking to time to meet us for dinner. It is always great to see you and hear how God is working through you. Keep up the great job and thank you for your prayers.
23. James and Rachel and family thank you for dinner, I had no idea you had a little girl, wow she is so cute and your family is so sweet. Thank you for dinner the food was great. It was great to spend more time talking with you and hearing how God is working. We will continue to pray for you.
24. To the Michaude family: Wow we almost missed you, thank you for taking the extra time to get together. We would have been heart broken if we didn’t get to see you guys during our visit. Your family is growing and is such an inspiration to us and so many others. It was great to see you, and even if it didn’t work out to stay with you, we still enjoyed our time greatly. God bless
25. The Pollock family; we are so sad that we missed you, we understand the busyness and we are so grateful for your willingness to still try and meet up with us. This time it didn’t work out, but next time for sure we will get together and Lord willing we can get together with Ben and his family too. You are such a blessing to us, thank your for your support and prayers.
Thank you Maxine, for taking the time for lunch, it was great to visit with you and hear how God is working in your life, thank you for your prayers and support.
27. Thank you to all of our other supporters who so faithfully give and have blessed us so much over the years. We wanted to visit with all of you, but lack of time and finances just made it impossible. Know that we love you all very much and are so thankful for all you have given.
28. Joel thank you for taking time off of work to have lunch with us. It was great to see you again, and we hope to see you next time we are through the Boise area.
29. Pastor Matt and everyone at Riverside Community Church for allowing us the opportunity to come and share with you what God is doing here in Thailand. It was a blessing to come and fellowship with you and she how God has blessed your church. We will keep you in our prayers and thank you again for the opportunity to come and worship with you.
30. Finally, thank you Dad and Mom. Truly the main people we wanted to spend time with while home was with you guys. Sorry you both got so sick and also we were so busy all of the time. I look forward to spending more time with you in the near future and letting our girls get to know their grandparents better. Gracie and Joy still ask about you and really miss the raspberries, any left? Mam loved driving the car and I loved just hanging out with you. We love you and thank you for sharing your time for us to visit friends and supporters. We miss you and are looking forward to visiting you soon. God bless.
Our time in the States was rushed and it seemed like most of our time we spent driving, but it was still a great time to visit with many friends and family. We also we blessed with some time to just get away and be a family. Most of that time was spent in the car but still we had a great family vacation. The weather was lovely, Mam got to see the autumn leaves changing, Gracie prayed for snow and God blessed her with two days of beautiful snow. Joy fell in love with Macaroni and Cheese and was able to eat it a almost every restaurant we went to. Hope just loved being held buy everyone and spending time napping on Grandpa and Grandma’s shoulder. I enjoyed visiting with so many dear friends, and of course filling up on Mountain Dew and all the beef I could get. God blessed us with safe travel, wonderful accommodations, and almost perfect health. We only had four weeks in the States, and I feel like we were able to complete three months worth of work. We are thankful that we are back to work now, and look forward to the next trip stateside possible in summer 2010. It is in the Lord’s hands.
I will bring this post to a close, thank you for taking the time to read it, and remember that we don’t have to give thanks only on Thanksgiving day, it should be something we do everyday. God is so good, and we are so richly blessed. I pray that you and your family have a happy Thanksgiving and a blessed holiday season. Your prayers and support are so welcomed. We had a goal of raising $1000 more a month for our support, we aren’t sure if we met that goal or not, we will have to wait until I we look at this month’s giving. If you are or would like to support us, could you PLEASE email me and let me know how much you will be sending, so I can make a correct budget for the upcoming year. Thank you again for your willingness to give and for the time you spent with us.
May God continue to bless and protect you, and remember to always allow God to work in and through you daily for His glory!
Your fellow servants in Him: Dan, Mam, Garuna, Bratana, and Moetana Rutledge

"Enjoy your flight"

Greetings once again from Chiang Rai, Thailand, were the Rutledge family is busy making final preparations for our upcoming visit to the States. It is amazing how much work goes into preparing for a four week trip. We have been busy getting passports for the girls, a visa for Mam, plane tickets for all of us, and lining up places to stay once we arrive in America. Mam is busy sewing lots of cool things to give out to supporters and friends, Garuna and Bratana are working on their English, and I am trying to put together a prayer card of our family and a short video about the ministry. Lord willing come September 30^th we will have everything finished and be able to truly enjoy our visit with you. For those who haven’t heard of the latest schedule. Here it is one more time.

We arrive in Boise on the 30^th of September and will be in the Boise area until the 6^th of October. Then we will drive to Pocatello and be there until the 13^th of October. We will drive back to Boise and on the 14^th of October we will fly to Michigan for my sisters wedding. On the 19^th we will fly back to Idaho and drive to Twin Falls. We will be in Twin Falls about two days and on the 21^st drive to Hailey. We will be in Hailey until the 22^nd or 23^rd and then we will drive back to Boise. We will be in the Boise area until the 28^th of October when we fly back to Thailand. It is going to be a busy time, but we are truly looking forward to visiting as many of you as we can.

Please continue to pray for guidance as we firm up travel dates and complete all the necessary preparations for the trip. We are thankful that over $2000 has come in to help cover our air expenses. The total cost of our tickets is $5800 so we are trusting that the rest will come in soon. Also we have been so blessed with many offers of places to stay. Thank you everyone who so willingly offered the use of their houses during our visit. What a sweet aroma your gifts are to God. Thank you. We are still looking for a vehicle to use while we travel. Please pray that we will come across one that will help transport us during our travels to Pocatello, Twin Falls, and around the Boise area. (Praise God, for He is so good, as I was writing this letter, I received an email from the Stauffer family offering us the use of their vehicle while we are in the States. Thank God for His answered prayers and for everyone’s willingness to be a vessel of service for our King).

We have been busy getting ready for our trip, but that has not stopped us from having lots of fun here over the past two months. Since my last update we have been planting rice, husking corn, pulling teeth, and doing everything else that needs to be done to keep this huge family running.

This year we were blessed with an abundant amount of rain, and so when it came time to plant rice, we almost had too much water. But God is so good, and the week we started planting rice, the rains stopped and helped us be able to get all the paddies planted before it rained again. The price of rice has almost tripled and so if we have a good harvest this year, that will help cut done on the expense for next year. We also planted a huge field of corn and for the past two weeks, everyone has been working hard to husk all the corn. Not shuck, but husk. That means taking each and every kernel off of the husk. It has been fun sitting around with a bunch of kids on a big pile of corn working our fingers to the bone, literally. We all have nice blisters on our thumbs and palms after husking corn for hours. Our meeting hall is full of corn, and with so much corn around it is hard not act “corney”. Ok bad joke, I am sorry.

Right after our rice was all planted and all the corn harvested, we had a team of dentists come to do a yearly check up on all our teeth. Dr. Luce has been offering his dental skills to Akha Outreach Foundation for the past five years. Each time he comes, he spends the week; filling, cleaning and pulling teeth for all the children, Bible Students, staff, and even pastors and church members from the village. He has established a portable dentist office, and each year he comes back he adds to it. He also adds to his staff, last year he brought two assistants with him, this year he brought a group of nine, included was an oral sergeant. During their one week here, they divided into two teams, one traveling to a village and offering basic dental care. The second group staying here at the foundation checking on all the children, and Bible students, both groups together did more work then we could have accomplished in a year of going to the dentist. On one after noon alone I assisted in pulling over 18 wisdom teeth.

Growing up I was not a big fan of dentist, but after spending time with Dr. Luce and his fellow dentists, I have become a huge fan of dentist. In fact I am a huge fan of anyone willing to use the skills God gave them to serve His Kingdom. We all don’t have to be dentist’s to serve God in big ways, just being willing to offer your self to serve others, as Christ offered Himself for us, this is what the world needs to see. If we as Christians would live our lives for this, then we would begin to see people longing to know more about Christ.

Thank you all for your prayers and for your servants’ hearts. So many of you give so freely of your time and finances to help our family be able to live and work here at Akha Outreach Foundation. Your partnership with us is such a blessing and we do look forward to sharing with you how God is using YOU to reach the Akha with His hope. Thank you for taking the time to read this blog, and we do look forward to catching up with as many of you as possible once we reach the States.

God bless and protect you, and remember that we are daily thanking God for you.

Your fellow servants in Him

Dan, Mam, Garuna, Bratana, and Moetana Rutledge