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Bruce  News   May  |  2013  

 

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In  April  we  received  some  discouraging  news:  

our  future  home  won’t  be  completed  until  later  

in  May.  Although  this  news  set  our  plans  back  a  

bit,  it  has  turned  out  for  the  best  in  so  many  

ways.  For  one  thing  this  extra  time  gave  us  an  

opportunity  to  take  an  extended  (week  +)  trip  

to  the  village  to  meet  new  friends,  work  on  the  

language  a  bit  and  continue  to  get  to  know  our  

coworkers  while  at  the  same  time  heading  

“home”  to  recuperate.  Additionally,  Sharon’s  

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doctor  is  here  in  Chiang  Mai.  Coming  back  to  

Chiang  Mai  for  monthly  checkups  would  have  

put  a  kink  in  our  village  time  anyways.  All  is  not  

lost!  We  still  hope  to  move  before  our  

maternity  leave  begins  in  July.  We  can  still  have  

a  blue  baby  room  ready  when  we  return!  

Festivals,  Travels,  Meetings  and  Doctors  

Ric  and  Sharon  Bruce  ricandsharon@gmail.com  

Greetings  from  Thailand.  

“I  want  to  know  Christ-­‐-­‐yes,  to  know  the  power  of  his  resurrection  and  participation  in  his  sufferings,  becoming  like  

him  in  his  death.”  

-­‐  Philippians  3:10  

PO  BOX  2  Hang  Dong,  Chiang  Mai  50230  Thailand  

Prayer  Requests  

In  God’s  time,  the  house  will  finally    be  finished  and  we’ll  have  to  move  all  our  stuff  out  to  the  village.  

Moving  

Sharon’s  baby  bump  grows  each  day.  Pray  for  safety  for  Mom  and  baby.  We  will  deliver  in  the  US  in  August.  

Baby  

As  we  move  into  hot  season  it’s  HOT  here  in  Thailand.  Pray  Sharon  and  the  baby  stay  cool.    

Heat  

Pray  that  we’ll  find  the  perfect  truck!  We’ve  been  looking  around  and  good  trucks  are  expensive.  Thanks.  

Truck  

As  we  move  we’re  leaving  behind  some  friends  and  making  new  ones.  Pray  for  life-­‐giving  relationships.  

Friends  

www.ntm.org/ric_bruce    

 

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Bruce  News   May  |  2013    

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When  we  were  in  the  village  last  week  we  

took  the  time  to  begin  mapping  out  the  

final  details  for  the  construction  workers:  

electrical  outlet  locations,  ceiling  fan  

locations,  sink  locations,  cement  counter  

top  locations,  etc.  It  was  great  to  finally  

see  them  begin  to  think  about  the  

finishing  touches…  but  we  realized  then  

we  still  had  a  long  ways  to  go.  In  other  

cultures  many  times  a  “deadline”  really  

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means  “helpful  suggestion.”  We’ve  

learned  during  this  time  to  wait  on  the  

Lord  and  to  think  outside  the  box  in  terms  

of  how  we  can  continue  to  work  toward  

our  goals  while  not  living  in  the  village  

itself.  In  May  we  will  again  split  our  time  

between  the  village  and  Chiang  Mai.  We  

will  spend  our  time  in  the  village  doing  

surveys,  literacy,  language  warm-­‐ups,  

culture  exercises  and  team  building  

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activities.  Coming  up  right  away  in  May  is  

a  trip  to  the  village  to  work  on  a  revised  

team  strategy  statement  with  our  

leadership  here  on  the  field.  Overall,  

we’re  encouraged  by  the  progress  we’re  

making  during  this  transition  time.  Again,  

however,  please  continue  to  pray  that  the  

house  will  be  finished  ahead  of  schedule  

so  that  we  can  move  before  our  home  

assignment  in  June.  Thanks.    

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In  April  we  celebrated  seven  years  of  

marriage!  Sometimes  it’s  hard  to  believe  

we’ve  been  on  this  journey  so  long.  At  our  

wedding  reception  we  placed  maps  of  the  

world  on  each  table,  a  Bible  and  other  

missions-­‐themed  materials.  We  knew  

even  then  that  God  had  called  us  to  

something  special.  Together  with  you  we  

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will  bring  the  Good  News  about  our  Savior  

Jesus  Christ  to  a  group  of  people  living  in  

darkness.    

Warmly,  

Ric  and  Sharon  Bruce  

Please  keep  praying  with  us  that  the  block  layers,  electricians,  plumbers  and  installers  will  have  an  inexplicable  urge  to  work  faster  

Though  our  move  to  our  future  home  has  been  delayed  by  a  month  that  doesn’t  mean  we’ll  be  sitting  on  our  hands.  We’ve  been  travelling  back  and  forth  to  the  village,  meeting  new  friends  and  getting  ready  to  move.