Belated…. Happy New Year to you all!

A snapshot of our family.

Luke and Pennie moved to Melbourne at beginning of 2011 and have settled well and are enjoying living in Ferny Creek. Sufjan’s little sister, Ursa Hero, was born on Dec 26th, 2011. We were blessed to be able to spend some precious family days together, as we waited for our newest grandbaby to be born.

Luke, Pennie Sufjan & Ursa Hero

Jaci will finish up her nursing degree at the end of this year at Uni SA, she has loved the opportunities she’s had to practice nursing on her pracs.

Jaci, Kak (& baby), Penny

Zac and Michelle. also still living in Adelaide have found great jobs throughout 2011. Zac is working his way through a bachelor of ministry at Tabor College, as well as working part-time. Michelle work at her ‘dream job’ making fancy cupcakes at a cute cafe in Adelaide CBD.

Zac and Michelle

Caleb, moved to Melbourne in September 2011 and found a couple of part-time jobs in food service and catering. His plan is to complete his bachelor of arts.

Caleb

Paul and Penny

We are back in Chiang Rai, travelling a bit here and there with our various responsibilities and for health reasons too. We love to be home together here in Chiang Rai but Paul will be away quite a bit in the months to come, teaching and helping to run a Leadership Development Course. He continues to oversee the northern region of Thailand for YWAM and there are many encouragement’s. Penny continues her treks to and from Adelaide for treatments, hopefully by end of 2012 that should be all finished. We know God is in control and we are blessed.

We appreciate your love and care, thanks for sharing about your lives too.

Paul & Penny

Dear family and friends,

Africa was an experience of a lifetime for us. The highlight for both of us was visiting with Paul’s brother in Mozambique – when we arrived they had no water coming from the taps in their home. A couple of days after we arrived Paul was able to help them connect a pump to their bore, as well as add bigger pipes which meant they then had water coming out of the taps in their house, what a joy! Washing hands and dishes under running water!  In Thailand we take this for granted. The family there also have no electricity, no fridge, they have solar power which allows a couple of lights at night for some time, and hopefully enough to charge up their laptop and phone. Made us smile and realize how very blessed we are!

We have seen poverty and huge needs in Thailand but comparatively, Africa was dirtier, dustier, poorer, drier, and generally a much needier country than Thailand. As you would already know HIV/AIDS is on a much larger scale there too. We went into villages with Paul’s brother’s family, visiting and praying for the sick in their homes and in hospitals. We rested at Malawi Lake for two days, camping there overnight with our friends Phil & Glenda from Adelaide, Owen from Melbourne, who we were traveling with, as well as with Paul’s brother, Peter, his wife, Debbie and their six children. We prayed for lots of people, as well as for each other. It was a joy to travel Africa with our friends from Oz, as well as be with Paul’s brother and family, to share some of their missionary life in Mozambique. We both found it to be an eye-opening, positive and encouraging trip. We came home to Chiang Rai refreshed spiritually and challenged to continue to pursue all we know God wants us to do with our lives. We experienced lots of African wildlife too, hope you enjoy these few photo’s but without any doubt at all, our highlight as well as being with the people, was being refreshed in our spirits to know and experience God more each day.

Swimming in Lake Malawi

Since returning from Africa….

We have hosted several teams who have helped us in a few areas but especially in getting much closer to the hospice building completion.

Paul has been teaching in two training weeks, as well as other shorter sessions both in Chiang Rai and beyond.

Our daughter Jaci, as well as Penny’s mum came for a two weeks visit in September.

Penny had another treatment in Adelaide (30th Sept) and is to return to Adelaide for CT scans in November, earlier than expected as her oncologist wants to check on the cancer.

We are excited to be hosting a DNA seminar at the end of this month when our mission founders Loren and Darlene Cunningham will with us in Chiang Rai. Inspirational people!

As well as attending an Asia/Pacific Forum Against Human Trafficking in Chiang Mai.

Thanks so much for praying for us both as we live here in Chiang Rai, also please remember our kids who are now living in both Adelaide and Melbourne. Life is full and we are delighted to be serving in this country. Thanks to all of you who partner with us. We cannot do what we do alone, we need you to continue to be part of our ‘team’.

We desire to be making a difference in this country and in people’s lives.

We would love to hear how YOU are, so when you have time, please email us.

with love,
Paul & Penny

Update from Paul & Penny, June 2011

Or read here without any pictures…

Dear Family and Friends
Time has flown by and Penny and I have already been back here in Chiang Rai
for nearly two months. It has been so lovely to get back to life here and
begin to feel much more settled.

Penny has really enjoyed reconnecting with the staff and children at BNJ.
They continue to fill her heart with love and joy.

Thailand Travels
The past couple of months have seen us travel to the province of Lampang
where we were able to spend a couple of days encouraging Tdai & Jumnong,
leaders of the Friend to Friends ministry there. ‘Friend to Friends’ care
for Karen hill-tribe children who come from the mountains to be able to
attend school.

Paul made a trip to Chiang Mai for regional leaders mtgs

Paul also travelled down to Maesot to teach for a week on the Karen DTS
there.

Some exciting news…
Our family continues to grow – Luke and Pe are expecting their second child!
Whoohoo, this means being grandparents again.

This does also mean that the tugs of home will pull even harder now! Please
be praying for them as they prepare for their second child. The baby is due
in December.

Australian Travels
This month sees Penny returning to Australia for another round of mabthera
down in Adelaide. The blessing of this trip is that it also coincides with
her nieces wedding in Brisbane so Penny will be flying into Brisbane to
catch up with her family, attend the wedding and then fly down to Adelaide
for her treatment.

Please be praying for Penny as there have been lingering problems
(infections) which don’t seem to want to go away! She also has an
appointment to see a specialist while she is there in Adelaide.

While Penny is in Australia I am planning to make another trip to Chiang Mai
but this time I want to be able to spend time with the leadership team there
in Chiang Mai, especially the location leader.

I will also be holding the fort here at BNJ as Quan will also be leaving for
Australia with her husband for about a month.

African Travels
For quite a few years now I have had a growing desire to travel to Africa. I
have not felt the time was right but continued to hold the desire with an
open hand. My brother and his family work in Mozambique and I have been
hearing of some incredible miracles happening there. I have also had a
growing hunger to experience the Lord in more tangible ways. I want to see
the hand of the Lord move in powerful ways here in Thailand and believe the
supernatural will be a vital key to revival in this land.

Well, at the beginning of this year I felt the Lord encouraging me that this
was the year to go! As I prayed I felt that August was the month to travel
there. You would have thought I’d had enough travel already! I contacted my
brother in Mozambique to see if there were any pastors conferences occurring
during the month of August. He responded positively. I also asked if Penny
and I could go there and attend this conference. The reply was positive once
again. I felt the Lord had opened the door and so I began to walk through
it.

At the same time I had a very unexpected provision in that our international
economy travel was completely covered!

It was not long afterwards that I had heard that I was being invited to be
one of the speakers for this conference and to also teach in some of the
workshops as well. I have since found out that they are expecting several
thousand people to attend! I will really be stepping into the deep here and
would greatly appreciate your prayers as I prepare.

I do simply marvel at the way God leads and speaks!

The conference is at the beginning of August (10th-14th) and is being held
in Beira. After this Penny and I will be travelling to Lichinga where my
brother and his family work. We’ll spend a week with them before beginning
our journey homeward. What is lovely for Penny and I is that we have some
dear friends travelling with us – Phil & Glenda Farlam from Adelaide and
Owen Jenkins from Melbourne. It should be loads of fun being able to spend
time with some of our very good friends.

Quote of the Month
To learn, listen. To understand, watch. To appreciate, contemplate. To do
none of the above, speak incessantly. – Author unknown

Prayer Points

True spirituality is to live from your centre where the indwelling Holy
Spirit dwells. It is in deep dependency upon Jesus to live his His life
through us, that we learn to activate our spirit and to constantly hear and
obey the Father’s voice – Marriette Louw

Safety for Penny in her travels in Oz

Healing for Penny

Protection for Pe and her baby

Paul as he holds the fort at BNJ

Paul as meets with the leadership of Chiang Mai

In Conclusion…
We thank you for your continued prayers towards us. Keep up the great work.
Your prayers are making a difference. With love, Paul & Penny.

Contact Details:
Paul: asiatraining@gmail.com
Penny: penny@baannamjai.org
Paul & Penny: pwilcox@lannalife.org_

Website:
www.lannalife.org

If you want to read Paul’s Blogs:
www.lannalife.wordpress.com

Our Need:
This does pose a need for us that we didn’t expect and therefore have not budgeted for…… so if there are some of you who’d be willing to sponsor a trip (or part of) to Oz for Penny, we’d be most grateful. Of course we are believing that this will work out and have a good long-term result, so please pray with us to that end.

We arrived in Thailand just over two weeks ago and met the Baan Nam Jai children, along with a couple of staff, at the beach. It was a terrific time and we both loved the opportunity in a more relaxed setting to catch up on lost time, we missed the kids so much. Then once two groups of kids had come separately to join us at the beach, we returned to Chiang Rai with the younger children just this past Sunday, their school break is nearly over. Our staff did such a wonderful job of caring for everything in our absence, we applaud them for their efforts and achievements.

Our own children are all keeping busy in Adelaide and Melbourne with their various work and university studies. We valued the precious times we were able to be together and be a part of their lives while we are in Oz. They did such a good job of caring of their sick mummy while we were with them and did all they could to ‘nurse’ her back to health.

Thanks for partnering with us, for those who pray and support us…. we are so grateful!
we appreciate your love,
Paul & Penny

Dear family & friends,
Trust you have all had a wonderful Christmas and New Year.

As you all know we’ve been in Australia since mid September for Penny to have treatment for cancer. We wanted to wait to write to you, as Penny was scheduled for tests yesterday and we wanted to wait for results to let everyone know. More of that in a moment!

Firstly, here is news of all our family…

Luke, Pe and Sufjan moved to Melbourne just recently. Luke has work there but also hopes to study “Fine Arts” full-time at RMIT, as well as continue his work part-time. Their move will give Pe more opportunities in the art scene, which is one of her loves also and we will have to travel to 2 cities now, when we want to visit our children! Sufjan turns one on January 23rd and it has been more than a delight to have been a part of her life the last 3 months since we’ve been in Adelaide. Grandparenting is fun!

Jaci continues her study, 12 months ago she switched track, instead of heading for medicine, she will now graduate from nursing at the end of next year. She loves the study but I reckon she will love to be finished and I know she’ll be a great nurse.

Zac & Michelle have settled well into Australia, been in Adelaide 2 years now. Michelle is still bakery manager at a supermarket and Zac is still studying. He had hoped to get into the paramedics course at Flinders university last year but was accepted for his second option instead. So now that he is in the uni system, he hopes it can be easier to transfer, so he has re-applied for paramedics and finds out soon if he’s in.

Caleb is continuing his Bachelor of Arts majoring in philosophy, heloves it and is doing very well. He and Jaci continue to rent a house together and keep busy looking out for each other.

Penny’s great news is that the scan she had yesterday showed no trace of lymphoma, so the chemo did it’s job! As much as she didn’t want to have the chemo again, it has worked and we are all grateful and “quite the happy family”, as we recieve this news. There is still a small mass in her abdomen but the doctors say this could be scar tissue and more tests will come. She does need to complete her chemotherapy course, which means one more chemo on January 28th and then stem cell therapy.

We are awaiting further instructions but after that we will take some time for Penny to regain her strength, then our plan is to return to Chiang Rai of course. However we are guessing that will take about 3 months.

Paul has been commuting back and forth to Chiang Rai since we’ve been in Oz, to take care of business there but also be here to be a support to Penny during her chemotherapy. He will go again on January 17th for 3 weeks. Apart from that he has been keeping himself occupied, helping people and being here for family.

If you didn’t get a Home of the Open Heart/Baan Nam Jai 2011 calendar, we would be glad to post you one. It has the beautiful faces of our precious ‘second’ family in Thailand on it and I am sure you’d want one for your wall, so you can remember us throughout 2011. Please hit reply and let us know if you’d like one, but send your mailing address too.

We are so very grateful to you all. We know so many of you have prayed for Penny and us all, as we’ve walked through this journey of cancer together; well, for years now but more specifically in recent months.
Also grateful to those of you so many who helped us out with financial support, especially through these few difficult months here in Oz. We are grateful for the Australian medical system and being able to have treatment here for minimal costs. We are so very thankful to God for helping us through each day, as He has done in ways too many to write
here….

Please be praying for us as it is difficult living in “no mans land”, trying to be “settled” here for this season yet yearning for Thailand. We know this has been Gods time for us to be with and close to our kids and He has done so much in us and through us but it doesn’t take away the missing of Thailand.

God bless
Love
Paul and Penny

I have spent most of the past 3 weeks in hospital, getting pain relief and having tests/biopsies to ascertain the options for treatment. The short version is that I will begin chemotherapy this week…. definitely not excited about that but I do have peace about it and it seems necessary at this point.

This past month we have felt loved and overwhelmingly cared for by so many of you as you’ve written kind words of encouragement, including messages of love sent in many different forms. Thank you so much to each of you who have helped us cover the costs of the “life journey” so far, we deeply appreciate your kindness and your generosity.

I am uncertain if I will spend more time in or out of the hospital in the next month, waiting for doctors orders!   I am so grateful, so blessed to have the support of Paul & my kids here in Adelaide. Paul will probably go back to Chiang Rai for a couple of weeks from this weekend to give some needed support of our work, especially at Baan Nam Jai, then he’ll return to me/us here in Adelaide by the end of this month. While he is gone, I am hoping my mum and sister will be able to visit for a bit from Brisbane.

We appreciate your prayers for us,
Paul & Penny

While there I had a CT scan and found that the cancer has grown significantly, now it has spread through my whole abdomen, from under my ribs down to my pelvis, not good. Due to this, the doctor has advised me to to go to Australia for 3 months of radiation in conjunction with the Hoxsey tonic to give the cancer a good kick!

So we are doing a quick organise in Chiang Rai and I am planning to be in Adelaide for 3 months (where I will have the support of my children and other friends). Paul will stay with me/us until he feels our situation is stable then he will probably return to Chiang Rai to keep things going there.

So even though things didn’t go as we expected, we are okay, we totally know God will bring good out of this. God isn’t surprised by this and He has a good plan for my future, I know that…. that’s His promise.

We need you to pray for us, and our children – both our birth children and our Baan Nam Jai children – as well as the rest of our family, and those we love here in Chiang Rai.

If it were me, I could think of so many reasons why it would be better if this weren’t happening BUT life is not about what I think is best. I know I have so much to learn, so I will look to Jesus with joy in my heart… I want to learn to be all I am meant to be.

with love from us both,
Paul & Penny

Dear family & friends,

Things haven’t been so great in my body the past few weeks, I’ve been having more pain and the past week or so at night it’s been intense, wrestling with pain….. trying to sleep. All that to say, we finally acted on a decision that we’ve had in the back of our minds for a long while now, that is to go to the Hoxsey clinic in Mexico, just south of USA border town San Diego. While there at this cancer clinic as a day patient, each day the oncologists and other medical professionals will formulate a regime for me, then they will send me home with medicines to continue taking. 

My practitioner in Australia recommended this a long while ago and with the new pain levels and inability to sleep we decided that we needed to take further action. We expect to be back in Thailand Sunday 12th September, so it will be a very quick trip…. only 7 days, including travel, if all goes well.

We both feel that this is the right decision, and even though it was a quick decision, we are glad to get some more help. I will have a full day of tests on Tuesday 7th, then the team of oncologists will make a decision about treatment for me. That is probably about when you should be getting this email in your inbox… so thanks for praying for me. 

If you’d like to help us pay for this we’d appreciate it, it was a huge step of faith, please ask us if you’d like to know what our costs are. Our travel agent said she’d front the costs and we could pay her later, once we have the funds. She is awesome and we so appreciate her support in this way. Even though our tax-deductibility for the ministry (Baan Nam Jai) changed recently and can no longer be tax-deductible, gifts to us personally via ARMS are still tax deductible.

We are not losing hope and I am determined to continue to fight this battle with all that is within me…….. Thanks for remembering us,

Paul & Penny 

Dear Friends,

We wanted to take some time to share with you what has been happening in our lives. We have some encouraging and exciting news regarding Penny! We are grateful that you care and pray for us. We enjoyed some quality time with our children in Adelaide and were able to meet our granddaughter, Sufjan. She is such a treasure and a delight. Being grandparents is indeed a fulfilling experience!!

Jaci has switched from health science to nursing studies. We know she will make a wonderful nurse when she is finished. She is enjoying her studies and has made her house a real home for her and Caleb who share a rental house together.

We rejoiced with Luke & Pe and they continue to settle into life as parents. Please continue to be praying for them. Luke still has not heard from the specialist yet about what will be happening with his hip. He is needing a hip replacement but the doctors are wanting to delay this as long as possible. Luke’s condition has meant he has had to quit work. He is enjoying his visual arts course and is producing some fine work!

Zac is enjoying settling into life as a student and both he and Michelle are now feeling more settled here in Adelaide. Zac is studying community and disability rehabiliation, his end goal still being paramedics. Please continue to be praying for them as they seek the Lord regarding their future and as to how long they will stay in Australia before relocating to the States.

Caleb has pursued a Bachelor of Arts majoring in philosophy but due to a misunderstanding within the Sth Australian Tertiary entrance board about his year 12 certificate he going to have to wait until mid-year to apply again. Once he begins then, all our kids will be studying in Adelaide.

Penny has finished all her tests and scans which resulted in the doctor saying he was quite confused and didn’t know what to make of the results. The cells which fight the cancer have been increasing in number and the cancer shows signs of retreating and being treated. The wonderful thing is that Penny has not treated her cancer the traditional way and so when the specialist says it shows signs of being treated he is presuming Penny has been undergoing chemo and radiation! What is confusing our doctor is that while the cancer cells are decreasing in number, the tumour is increasing in size. This increase in the size of the tumor accounts for why Penny’s pain has been increasing. We left our last doctors appointment very encouraged, and Penny remains determined to see this cancer finished off, once and for all.

To help this process Penny and I are going back down to the health clinic in Malaysia for more intensive treatment. Please be praying for her during this time that the cancer will continue to retreat and that the cancer fighting cells continue to multiply. Penny didn’t go to the health clinic last year and has felt the effects of not going. Their treatments really seem to have a positive effect on her health and wellness.

Penny was also able to make a quick trip up to Brisbane to see her family and to spend time with her Dad. This may well be the very last time she sees him. It was a bitter sweet time but a joy to her to hear Dad say that he was proud of her and her work. They said goodbye knowing that they would probably not see each other again.

I (Paul) continue to enjoy my new roles as location leader for YWAM Chiang Rai as well as regional leader for YWAM Thailand. These new roles have meant a rather rapid increase in the amount of meetings and travel I have had to undergo. It has been challenging yet rewarding. I am very grateful for Joanna, a lady who has stepped in to be my PA. My passion for leadership development and training is still very strong and my roles now afford me the opportunity to actually start to put some things on my heart into place.

To help me in this I have felt to go to Spain to do a Leadership Development Course, after which I hope to be able to see it implemented in the northern region of Thailand and to see our young Thai’s and other YWAM staff mentored and developed in their leadership. Please be praying for me in this as it means I will be away for six weeks (in April/May) and this is a long time to be away. Fortunately I have a good leadership team working with me. Because of the length of time I will be away we have felt that it is important that Penny will also travel to Spain midway through this course. This is a real sacrifice for Penny as it means more travel, and flying is not so comfortable for her.

Thanks again for your love, your prayers and for your support and encouragement. I hope that you can take heart in what you have read and can see God at work. God is good and He is faithful, we are very thankful. You have played an important part in this. May you experience the love of the Lord in your life.

With love,

Paul and Penny.