Family. In the 10 years that we have served with AFM in Asia, the way we define that word has changed more than we could ever have imagined.

Keren came to serve as a student-missionary English teacher in 2014 and 2015 when Jared was the director of the Adventist language school here in Ubon. We had no idea when we picked her and the other volunteer teachers up from the train station on a muggy summer morning that Keren would become part of our family.
We connected easily with Keren, and before long, it seemed like she was always at our house. Doing laundry, helping to make tortillas, playing with Justus, and watching motorcycle racing on TV. She just fit right in with us.

Keren also was able to quickly fit into Thai culture. She jumped right into learning to speak, read and write Thai. She liked to go out and explore the city. She enjoyed trying new foods. She had fun hanging out with her students after classes in the night market. People often mistook her for a local. She opened her heart to Thailand, and Thailand opened its heart to her. When she went home in 2015, she left a piece of her heart here.

We are so excited that Keren is returning to Thailand to serve again! She will be helping us establish a learning center in the village through English education and various outreach projects, as well as working with Tonya and Ming in women’s ministry. We have a lot of work ahead of us this year as we move forward with our plans for the learning center. We are blessed by Keren’s talents, her love for Jesus, and her love for the Isan people of northeast Thailand.

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