5 months and still rocking! This little girl is such a joy! I seriously can't handle how cheerful, gentle and sweet her little spirit is!  Right now Evangeline has been growing and doing things at lighting speed! She is already starting to show signs
of trying to crawl (which makes her momma sad because she is growing WAY too fast). She is teething, rolling over, grabbing at everything near by! It is so much fun to watch her!

Five months has been such a blast! Speaking of months, this month is a special one because her Aunt Liz is here visiting us in Thailand! Aunt Liz will be here the whole month of July. Evangeline has been so happy to have family around! Evangeline also wanted to take Liz up to Chiang Rai to see the beautiful coffee farms and to breathe in the fresh mountain air!

Happy hearts because we are all together!

While Evangeline was up north she got to hangout with her favorite Thai coffee farmer, Pat! Pat is a old friend of ours. We spent time with him 3 years ago when we were in Thailand and we have reconnected with him randomly when we were at the airport a few months ago. Crazy huh?! We love how God has allowed our paths to cross again! Anyhow, Pat comes from the Akha hill tribe. This hill tribe is one that has faced a lot of oppression in the past and currently. Usually the government does not recognize this people group as Thai citizens even though they have born in Thailand and lived here many years. The Akha people are beautiful people. Pat has been working hard to provide a steady income for his family and for the Akha hill tribe. His passion for his people, coffee and diligent work ethic is amazing to see and we all had a wonderful time visiting him! Evangeline especially loved getting some hugs and kisses!

Pat and Evangeline enjoying the sunshine and beautiful scenery!

Can't stop kissing her!

4 months has been so fun! This little sweetie smiles all the time. She loves to look into peoples eyes, coo at them, and hold their fingers! She loves to talk and be around a crowd of people! I swear, our lives have become 10x richer with her in it! Evangeline has continued to make new friends. Just a few weeks ago we got to spend time with our Pakistani friends from church. They are asylum seekers looking for peace and refugee in another country. Our friends had to flee their home because of their faith in Christ. They are now in Bangkok waiting to hear from the UN if they will be placed in another country as refugees. We connected with this sweet family at the International church that we attend. 

After church they invited us over to their home for a delicious Pakistani meal and we had a wonderful time!

One of the Pakistani girls just recently had a baby too!

 

Evangeline and her little one are just 1 month apart! Our time at their house was deeply encouraging to Josh and I. The strength, perseverance and faith they have is beautiful! At the end of our time together we prayed for each other... We found solidarity with one another because Bangkok is still becoming home to all of us!   


[Reflections from a Momma's Heart]...
I had a very sobering moment the other night. I was in a taxi with my sweet Evangeline and we were stopped in heavy Bangkok traffic. Nothing new there BUT it just so happened that where we were stopped I had a front row view of one of Bangkok’s notorious red light districts. As I sat there looking out my taxi window I could see women dressed beautifully, men of all ages searching for company, and children begging on the busy streets. As I watched the hustle and bustle of the streets I saw a man in his late 60s with a young Thai women about 18 or 19 years old. The man grabbed the girls hand and led her to the nearest tuk tuk driver. The driver and the man were negotiating a price for the ride to his hotel. Just a few minutes of bartering then couple jumped into the back of the small 3 wheeled tuk tuk. My heart was heavy. It wasn't my first time seeing all this. I have been down that road a million times; talking with some of the children who beg or some of the women working. This area was not new to me but for some reason it hit me a lot harder than usual. As I watched all of this from my taxi window my precious Evangeline was tucked away in her baby wrap. Her head was leaning against my chest and then she turned, tilted her head to look up at me. Those huge blue eyes, smooth cheeks and pink lips melted my heart! While my sweet girl was cuddled up next to me I was contemplating a thousand thoughts! I was thinking, “How can I raise my daughter to have the courage to not turn away from the broken places like this?” “How do I equip her to engage the messy world with compassion?” “How do I teach her to love in a way that gives dignity and respect to some of the most marginalized people groups?” My mother’s heart so desperately wants her to be brave enough to engage society and to be able come alongside those who are vulnerable and exploited; to affirm and empower them with dignity. As a parent of course we all want to shield and protect our children from brokenness and evil; but I believe the best thing we can do for our children and the world is to teach them to be brave, compassionate and to know how to interact with pain; just as Jesus did. As a think about raising my child cross-culturally I pray each day the the Holy Spirit will give me wisdom to teach her how to gracefully engage life with not just her words or good intentions BUT practically and tangibly help people. It makes me think of James 2:14-17.

"What good is it, my brothers and sisters, 

if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? 

Can such faith save them? Suppose a brother or a sister

is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them,

“Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about

their physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself,

if it is not accompanied by action, is dead."

O Lord my prayer is that you give me wisdom to equip my daughter with steadfastness in You; so that she can enter into the brokenness of the world with humility yet courage to stand up for justice and peace like you did! O Lord let us all who call ourselves followers of you be brave enough to enter into the mess. Let us be compassionate to move into action and not just talk about doing something for you. Let us be sensitive to ask questions and to truly learn from people. Let us empower them and give them dignity as we serve! 

Evangeline is 3 Months!

Evangeline is growing so fast, she is 3 months already! How can that be! This little sweetheart is such a joy! Just the other day I was riding on a 'songthaw' (a large truck with seats in the back) we were heading to the market and this sweet Thai girl who was 6 years old came and sat next to me so she could see Evangeline. This precious little Thai girl was so adorable talking to me in Thai, saying how cute she thinks Evangeline is. It melted by heart seeing this girl love on her. It amazes me how children are such natural bridges into relationships. It's funny, I felt like Josh and I have been doing a pretty good job building relationships in our neighborhood community. We have been intentional to get to know people over the year- having dinner with some neighbours, going out on walks & talking with them but sometimes it just takes time to develop deeper relationships.

But since having Evangeline it's like everyone who a little unsure of us "farangs" (foreigners) they all have come out of hiding to talk to us. It's beautiful how children breakdown any cultural barriers and make people feel safe! It's been such a thrill to see how she is a blessing in building relationships because of the joy the she brings! We are so thankful for her in our lives!

Here's what the little miss has been up too!

Not too long ago we did a home visit in one of the slums here in Bangkok. We were visiting with a friend of mine who is apart of the Dton Naam program. Our babies are one week apart so Evangeline already has a little playmate! 

Making friends and getting some cuddles from one of the children 

While we were doing a home visit, it was a great time getting to see my friend, meet her baby and get to know her community's specific needs. Evangeline also got to visit another friend in the hospital. Sweet little Jubilee just one day old in this picture! 

Evangeline has also had a few adventures at our local swimming pool. The pool is in our Thai neighbourhood, so there are a lot of families and little ones swimming around!  She was very talkative and relaxed in the pool! 

Evangeline caused quite a stir- all of the Thai people loved seeing her float with daddy!

As a new mom, it has been a great journey so far. It has been challenging at times to know how to balance work and motherhood. I thought for sure I would still jump right into my "official staff role" at Dton Naam ministries. But since being a first time mom, no one can prepare you for all of the changes. Your desires change. You priorities change. Your baby constantly changing. So,  just recently I have decided to lessen my hours as a social worker with the ministry. I will still be very much involved with the ministry- building relationships, making disciples, participating when I can in the program classes with the students. Josh and I have felt God call me to slow down, enjoy being a mom and enjoy focusing on the family. We really believe that having a healthy strong family unit will be a blessing and a place of healing for our Thai students. We believe deep restoration can take place as we model our family life and we pray that God will use us in more profound ways because of the three of us. Ecclesiastes 4:12 a cord of three strands is not easily broken. Three really is better than two! We love you Evangeline! You brighten up the world!

2 Months Young!

                                                                                                                                                  

 She is a happy baby!

Passport check! Ready to travel!

Evangeline has been a busy one! She's only 2 months but she has done a lot of traveling already! When she was just a few days old she had to go to the American Embassy to apply for her passport. She got the passport just in time to travel with her mommy and daddy. They had to go on a visa run to Cambodia to apply for a brand new work visa. Usually visa runs take a long long time, with lots of long long lines to wait in, BUT this time is was a breeze! We waited for about 3 minutes for the whole visa process! Everything went smoothly and God provided all that we needed! While we were in Phnom Penh, Cambodia we also got to visit with some fellow laborers. We enjoyed the time with our friends and got to visit a temple, see some monkeys, visit other NGO cafes and eat some delicious Cambodian food called Amok which is like a casserole type curry!

In Cambodia at the Wat Phnom temple

Right after Cambodia, Evangeline had to catch a flight to Chiang Mai, Thailand for the Dton Naam ministry staff retreat that her mommy & daddy are apart of. While the whole Hilts family were in Chiang Mai we did some planning and dreaming for the future of the ministry and the cafe. Evangeline got some cuddles and love from the Dton Naam staff too! After the staff retreat Evangeline made her way down to Hua Hin for the Songkran Festival (the Thai New Year). We all got away for a few days down by the beach with some of our colleagues from The Mission Society. It was a great time for community, encouragement and rest.  

Pii Bpoo is our office administrator Evangeline loved getting cuddles from her!

At Hin Hua celebrating the Thai New Year!

One month young today!

 Evangeline is 1 month old today! It's hard to believe that this little bundle came into the world- this crazy city of Bangkok 4 weeks ago! Oh how time goes by fast... This month she has had so much fun because her Mimi came ALL the way from Florida to be with her for 3 weeks. Mimi and Evangeline have had quite the adventures! They have gone to the mall, the American Embassy to get her passport, the Thai markets, rode in tuk tuk taxis, had dinner outings with our Thai neighbors, and even went to a Rabbit cafe (yup with actual real bunny rabbits). Evangeline has been so blessed by having her Mimi here and having so many visitors love on her. She has had friends from Nepal, Japan, Thailand, and America come to hangout. 

Evangeline came two weeks early so we had to reschedule our baby shower and she got to be there too. She is like her mommy, she doesn't want to miss out on anything!

Her mommy and daddy have been so deeply blessed already by her presence in their life. Words do not do justice to describe the immense love and honor they feel to be her parents. They can not wait to see how her little life will grow and impact the world. May Evangeline Nora truly live into her name and see the greatest honor in this life is to be a message bearer of the gospel.

Our Birth Story: 

My water broke at 1:30 AM on February 9th, however I wasn't sure if it actually broke because it was a small amount of fluid. Throughout the night I was having contractions but they're just small ones at this point.  The next day Josh and I got up because we had a training with our ministry, Dton Naam. We woke up at 8 AM, got dressed, got on our motorcycle and rode it to the Bangkok Train System to get to DN. During the training I was in a little bit of pain, the contractions were feeling a bit stronger, but I just sat through it.  I was sitting there trying to focus but all I could think of was, I feel like this could be the real thing. After the training ended I went downstairs where our social justice cafe is located. You wouldn't believe it, it just so happened that there was a group of Bangkok midwives meeting in our cafe (no coincidence right). When the midwives finished their conversations amongst each other, I thought I would ask one of them for their opinion about whether or not my water had broke. I told them, "I think it broke in the middle of the night, but I am not positive." One of the midwives named Haley, who was is total stranger was willing to check me in the restroom to see if indeed my water broke. After she checked she said, "yes it definitely seems to be your amniotic fluid." Haley said, "you better call your doctor and go see her right away to get her opinion." At this point Josh had just left the cafe to go to language school so I called him to come back and meet me so that we both can go to the doctors together. He agreed to meet me at the hospital. After I got off the phone with Josh I grabbed a motorcycle taxi and jumped on the back of it with my little Thai taxi driver. Moto taxi's are the quickest way to get through traffic. As we were weaving in and out of the Bangkok traffic I was thinking and laughing to myself, "I could be having this baby today and here I am riding on the moto, this is crazy!" Anyhow, I made it safely to the doctors and Josh got there a few minutes after me. We walked up to my doctors office, she checked me out and confirmed that my water broke and that I will be having the baby tonight or tomorrow. At this point, I was only 2cm dilated and I wanted to labor at home as long as possible. My doctor agreed and suggested that we go home and try to stimulate the labor process. She told me, "come back to the hospital when your contractions are so intense that you can't talk." Josh and I jumped into a taxi and headed home, it was about 3pm. 

Side note: One of the cool things about my birth story is that I always thought if my mom wasn't able to be here in time for the labor then I would really want my friend Pam Attaway to come and help me because she's a nurse and a sweet friend of mine who also works with The Mission Society in the Northeastern part of Thailand. So after we got done with my doctor we called Pam to ask her a few questions about labor. However, to our surprise Pam was actually in Bangkok that day!!! Pam agreed to come help us throughout the labor if we wanted her help. She told us to call her back if we needed anything.

Anyways, Josh and I got home at 3 o'clock and we began to stimulate the labor process, I got on a birthing ball and I took a warm shower. We also tried resting just a little bit because we knew this would be our last time to get a good sleep. I fell asleep for just a few minutes in between contractions and at one point the baby moved really hard and a huge gush of water came out. I knew that labor was really in full swing now. We continued to labor through the contractions and Josh was a huge help to me. I would lean on him and hug his neck while I was going through the contractions. He would help me focus and breathe. About 8 o'clock at night the contractions were getting really really strong and like my doctor said, "come to the hospital when its so strong that you can't talk." Welp... I was definitely not wanting to talk at all, I was in the zone and focused, but I did I tell Josh I think it's time now that we go now. He began packing up the rest of the things we needed for the hospital and then we both decided we would ask our next door neighbor Pii Pat if we could use his car to drive to the hospital. Pii Pat is our closest neighbor and has always said, "if you ever need to use my car, it's yours." Pii Pat is also the Muay Thai instuctor who has a mini training gym in his patio, so every night the neighbor kids and their parents come to hangout and train... Well, when Josh went over to ask him to borrow his car, in his state of anxiety he mumbled in Thai, "BABY COMING NOW!" All of our Thai neighbors of course were interested in seeing the "farang" (which means foreigner) in labor. At this point 5 people follow Josh into our house to see all of the hustle and bustle. There was a grandmother, a seven-year-old girl, teenage guy and girl and Pii Pat. It felt like the whole neighborhood popped their heads in to see how I was doing. The grandmother was giving Josh advice, she was telling him, "hurry you need to take an ambulance because traffic will be bad, stop packing your bags and just go!" Poor Josh, he was so overwhelmed, he was speaking to the grandmother in Thai, packing our bags, AND helping me through my contractions that were every 2-1/2 minutes apart. He was great, what a champ for handling all the people and pressure. Me on the other hand, I was so focused and my contractions were too strong to even talk to people. But I do remember looking up and seeing the little Thai seven year old girl peeking through the crack in my door. I somehow mustered up a smile to her and she grinned back. Finally we got all of our things and jumped into Pii Pat's car. Both of us were a little concerned because traffic in Bangkok is nuts! It was 8pm and a true miracle happened... there was no traffic at all which is so unheard of at this time of night! Anyhow, we zipped down the street and made it to the hospital in 20 minutes, by 8:30pm I was checked in. They checked me and I was only 4 cm dilated, the roads were really bumpy and I think it caused my labor to slow down and I was a little bummed out, but Pam joined us at the hospital and she encouraged me to move around as much as I could. I decided to get on the birthing ball and rock my hips back and forth and then I would hug on Josh's neck during the contractions and Pam would rub my lower back. I stayed on the birthing ball for about an hour and then I started feeling like I wanted to push, so Pam went and got a nurse and within that one hour on the birthing ball I went from 4 cm to 9 cm. The nurse called my doctor in and she checked me and saw that my cervix was slightly swollen so she pushed on it to create more space for the babies head and it worked I was finally at 10 cm and my doctor said, "OK you can push now!" Strong contractions came on and I took two deep breaths and began pushing. I could feel the babies head crowning but I didn't have the enough energy to push her all the way through- it was really difficult, but I remember saying "I can do this, I can do this." Pam put a cold cloth on my forehead and Josh continued to encourage me to take deep breathes and push. At one point I whispered, "Jesus help me" and Josh and Pam thought that I said to them please help me and I told them, "no Jesus help me." I kinda laughed inside and then we all began praying and the next contraction I took three deep breathes and pushed. I could feel the baby's head moving forward and I saw that her head was out and then I pushed again and her whole body came out, it was beautiful. They placed the baby on my belly and Josh got to cut the cord. Since the baby was in my womb for such a long time since my water had broke, they needed to check her to make sure she was healthy. She didn't cry very much and they were concerned that amniotic fluid was in her lungs. I was with her just for a few minutes and then they had to take her away but Josh stayed with her the whole time. I was just in awe of what happened, it all went by so fast! I was only at the hospital for about 2 hours before Evangeline came and I pushed for a total of 45 minutes. I was on cloud 9, I was so happy to be with my baby girl and her sweet daddy! Our hearts were full of praise! God really did answer all of our prayers, I wanted to try having her all natural and I wanted her to be healthy, there was no traffic, and our sweet friend Pam was there to help... the whole 9 yards! It was amazing!   

We stayed at the hospital for 2 days and had so many sweet visitors. Evangeline was surrounded by the nations- we had friends that were Thai, Japanese, Nepalese, and Americans came to love on her! One of the students that we have been working with in the cafe came to see her and he said the most precious thing. He said, "Josh and Bekah, I know when you first moved to Thailand you were not expecting to have a baby soon, but I know that God has a plan for you guys. Evangeline is a gift to us!" This brought tears to my eyes because we have given Evangeline a Thai nickname called "Kong-kwang" which means gift. We have been praying over her that she will be a gift and source of light to the Thai people. When our student said this, our hearts rejoiced to feel the confirmation from God through him. Our hearts are full!

A Place to Call Home!

Do you ever have those weird moments when you feel like time is flying bye so fast, but then at the same time it feels like it's been forever? I feel like that right now! It's so weird. It's like I blinked and got here a few days ago, but it's already been 3 weeks since arriving!

A lot has happened... One thing that has been such a blessing is that 

we found a place to call HOME! 

It has been quite beautiful to see God's hand in this whole process. Since arriving, we have been able to stay with some Thai friends which has been a huge gift and now we rather quickly (considering it's Bangkok) found a place to rent.

This home is ideal especially for our first year! The neighborhood is all Thai, it has a great marketplace, it's a friendly community who is eager to speak Thai with us, and there is a park close by! (Yahh for some trees, right?!!) Another great thing, our next door neighbor is a old Muay Thai fighter. He is about 60 years old and he has a mini gym on his patio! Clearly, Josh was excited about this and quickly made friends!

Our landlords are 'kon jai dee' very kind in Thai! They have even given us a mattress to use so we don't have to buy one! We can officially move in on April 29th! We are so thankful for this timing too  because it gives us a little bit of time to settle in before language school starts on May 6th.  

Please continue to pray for us and our new home! 

Our desire is that this home becomes a place of warm hospitality, renewal for the weary soul, safety for the unsettled and just plain fun for whoever walks in our doors! 

Our 1st Week in Bangkok!

I can't believe it has already been one week since we landed in Bangkok! 
Our week has been, hmmm... how could I describe it? 

Amazing. Crazy. Hot. Beautiful. Welcoming. 

There are so many ways to describe this new transition! We were welcomed so graciously by our Thai friend, Kumtorn. He and his parents have been hosting us. They live on the outskirts of the city and they are allowing us to stay with them while we look for a place to rent. They have taken such great care of us; feeding us & teaching how to speak Thai. 

We have jumped right into language.

We have been very adventurous with our tastebuds. 

Pig intestines & cow stomach just to name a few. 

We also enjoyed reconnecting with our Thai friends at the coffee shop. We celebrated Good Friday together; painting easter eggs and watching the movie 'Passion of Christ.' 

Please continue to keep us in your prayers as we really get into language learning & building friendships.