In 2002 Kim and I met with a man named Todd Atkinson who talked to us about living a life close to God.  It has always been our greatest desire as a couple to live a life that pleases God and brings us closer to Him so we were eager to hear what Todd said.

Todd shared how he and his wife Cheri had thrown caution to the wind and placed their complete trust in God.  For them it meant asking their church, where Todd was pastoring, to stop paying him his salary.  For the next 10 years Todd and Cheri lived totally on faith relying on God to met all of their needs.  As Todd continued working in the church and traveling to teach bible school classes he found that it was easier to preach this life of faith because he was living it.  And God was very faithful to supply all of their needs.  Todd and Cheri were living proof that God is quick to keep His promises and look after us if we put our complete trust in Him.

 

Kim and I decided to follow Todd's example and resigned from our church, Oakbank Baptist, where I had been working for the past 5 years.  We both felt that God was giving us a challenge, an opportunity to take a big step closer to Him.

After much prayer Kim and I sold everything we owned (our house, Jeep, boat, etc) and registered with YWAM (Youth With A Mission) for a 5 month Cross Roads Discipleship Training School.  We traveled to Thailand and China for the winter where we did short term missions with local missionaries.

The local missionaries were an incredible help and example to us.  Among the local missionaries were a couple named Tongkam and Too from Chiang Mai, Thailand.  The two of them had been working with YWAM and doing missionary work for the past 11 years relying on God to supply all of their needs the whole time.  I was amazed by their faith and I asked Tongkam what is it like?  How is he able to do it?  Tongkam's reply was that God is very faithful and we need to pray and then wait.  But Tongkam did admit that it is not always easy.  Living a life of faith goes against everything the world teaches us and passes all human understanding.  Tongkam would always sum this up by saying "it's like standing on the water."

 

Here is Adam visiting Tongkam and his wife Thoo in Thailand, January 2008