This last year of REFRESH had been a blessing -- both for the worshippers participating and for the artists, dancers and musicians.
Starting a new ministry is always interesting and challenging -- listening to God, praying, and then stepping out on faith that it is what we are supposed to do. So we stepped out.
The first REFRESH was at First Thai Church, and then due to their renovations we moved to the auditorium of Chiang Mai International School. It turned out to be a great move -- initially challenging in terms of logistics, but a much better place for REFRESH -- room for the art, the cafe (thanks to SoJo's!) and a good stage. The remainder of the REFRESH evenings were at CMIS, with a variety of art, dance and worship.
We received a lot of encouragement from people who attended and participated, urging us to continue, and are now planning for and looking forward to a new year of REFRESH.
So here is some of what we are looking forward to:
- A lot will stay the same -- we'll be at CMIS, and will feature art -- both visual arts, dance, poetry, and other ways to celebrate and worship God.
- We will be doing REFRESH more often -- we are planning now on doing it monthly, making it easier for people to attend, and allowing REFRESH to serve more people in the wider community.
- We are hoping to continue the cafe before and after -- it was very popular and a nice way to spend time talking with people (and coffee on-hand for the crew setting up was great!).
- There will be some changes with the band -- Brad (guitar and vocals) is on home assignment until January, and Andy (drums) and his wife are expecting a baby in September and going on home assignment in November -- so he's not going to be able to play drums for the next few months. Gloria (vocals) has felt called to focus on her other ministries (W3, etc.) and won't be singing with the band. We're happy that Andrew Conner, a gifted multi-instrumentalist will be joining us -- he plays guitar, bass and drums (among other things), but he can only play one thing at a time! So we're praying for a drummer (or drummers) to help lead month-to-month or more often. So please pray with us for that.
- We're hoping to expand the reach of REFRESH into other communities of English speakers in Chiang Mai, including Thai Christians and others. We saw that beginning last year, and it was great to see such a diverse group of people worshipping together.
- We also need help with set-up and break-down, so prayers for volunteers who can help with that would be appreciated!
So we are excited looking forward to a new year, and to seeing what God will do!
