Faith Followers

January February March April May October November December June July August September
-Trip to Seoul, Korea -David & Allie Whitney visit -Basketball trip to Chiang Mai -Scott Heil visits -Trip to Philippines with Marks dad

2007 highlights

With 2007 closing, we pause to thank God for His provisions and to ask Him to continue guiding us through our work and relationships here in Thailand.

In early January, we stopped in Seoul, Korea, for four winter-cold days. Our college classmate, Eunsung Park, graciously hosted us, and we spent our time catching trains and busses around the snow-covered city, eating amazing Korean food, and enriching our cultural perspectives. Mark (alone) was disappointed that the tour to North Korea was snowed out.

A White After-Christmas

Marks father has a 30-year-old connection to Palawan where he served in the Peace Corp before getting married. This year, he arranged for him and his youngest son, Scott, to minister there again during Spring Break. Since theyd be so close to us, we decided to meet up with both of them. Scott came to visit us in Bangkok for one week (before returning to school in Oregon), then we traveled to Manila for another week with Dad. With Scott, we visited historical sites (such as the Grand Palace and Ayutthaya) and enjoyed ourselves at Dreamworld (a miniature theme park). While in the Philippines with -Malia begins Dad, we bussed up to Ilocos Norte to visit Malias familyand gave Lila a surprise! teaching in slums After saying goodbye to Dad at the SY 2006-2007: Laoag airport, we flew down to -Marks b-day party Finishing Strong Iloilo where we spent a few days with 88 students Our primary focus until June was vacationing with our college the constant ministry at ICS. Mark classmate (and matchmaker) Adrian Varon. -Newsong church ended his computer and business retreat classes with impressive projects like Coach of All Seasons building model computers and Mark proved a versatile leader by taking on producing original CDs. Malia -Hawaii for three coaching roles in the spring semester. found her literature students ready Christmas & New He led the JV and varsity girls in basketball to analyze independently after many Years through February and also coached the months of practice and projects. The end-of-the year events included a under-15 volleyball team from March through high school banquet, a staff banquet, April. For the last month of the school year, he graduation, and a SOC banquet. All supervised off-season practices for both of the 2007 graduates headed off to basketball and volleyballopen to all of high universities all around the world, school. He was the only coach to have been some even going to our home states serving in all seasons of the year. He continued of Texas and Hawaii. the tradition into this fall semestercoaching
-Summer school and sports camps -Move into Parkland apartment -Tommy & Lori Mcmillan visit -Chris Rhoades goes with us to China -Mark teaches in Taiwan

David and Allie Whitney came to see us in February before going to missions training in Chiang Mai. We toured Bangkok and spent a day at the beach. What a blessing to be refreshed by friends!

En Route to China

Philippines Family Reunion

varsity girls volleyball from September through November. Currently, hes working hard with the varsity girls basketball team, getting them ready for our Chiang Mai tournament upon return from Christmas break. Faith Followers 2007 NewsletterPage 1

Mark: basketball, golf, working out, graphic design, Wii Malia: Tae Kwon Do, writing, reading, dancing

Just for Fun!

One of the biggest decisions made this year came about in March when Malia decided not to return as a teacher in the 0708 school year. Advised by many caring people, she chose to enroll at Assumption University to pursue her Ph.D. in English Literature and Languages. Then, a week prior to students arrival, ICS asked her to teach AP English, as there was no teacher assigned to the class. Around the same time, the school administration approved the beginning of a new ministry programhigh school societiesof which we became head coordinators. Therefore, this year, Malias schedule is a hodgepodge of part-time roles: student, teacher, tutor, manager, volunteer, and...wife.

A Vocational Mosaic

On June 28, we moved into Parkland, tower 2, room 801. This is in an apartment complex adjacent to our school, and it allows us to be in the Thai community rather than living on campus. From our living room, we have an incredible view of green fields that eventually merge with buildings in the distance. At night, the city lights dazzle, reminding us of where we are and why we are here. Having a larger living room also allows us to entertain guests, especially students. At Marks birthday party (which lasted from 3pm until 9pm), we had 88 students come through to celebrate. Scattered throughout our apartment were these four stations: Wii, Guitar Hero, DDR, and School of Rock (the movie was projected onto a wall).

Parkland Move and Groove

As a new ministry of ICS, Mark initiated summer sports camps: week long training sessions for both basketball and volleyball. He personally designed T-shirts, recruited coaches, and set up daily schedules resembling this: stretching, conditioning, drills, games, snack and spiritual challenge, and ending with a sports competition (narrowing in on one skill of that sport). Volleyball camp ran from June 18-22, and basketball camp was from July 2-6. They were both themed season of change. Mark chose this theme knowing that the summer season is usually a time for no sports, and he encouraged the students to take the time to make changes in their lives: both Tommy and Lori for physical and spiritual Sent by our mission mentors, Larry and Cherita improvement. Geraldson, Tommy and Lori came to Bangkok on July 1. For one week, we toured Thailand together and shared Brother! our passions and ministries with them. However, they Chris arrived on June 29 and stayed until July 20. came as great helps to us. Tommy, being a basketball Not only was his being here a riot but it was also a coach of both college and high school, greatly aided Mark taste of homeas he brought with him the love of during the summer basketball camp. And both Tommy the islands and the ease of local living. We laughed and Lori provided needed encouragement and hilarious all the time! While together, we ran basketball company. They also brought Dr. Pepper, which was a hit camp, visited Pattaya and Ayutthaya, got 2-hour Thai with Mark and other teachers. massages, and traveled to China!

Season of Change

On July 7, the three of us flew from Bangkok to Beijing and were greeted by David and Allie Whitney, who were impressively progressing in their Chinese language studies. Here is a short list of things we did: the Great Wall, Peking duck, the Silk Street market, the Forbidden City, the Lama Temple, the Temple of Heaven, a Tianjin boat tour and culture street shopping, a Christian pagoda, a bike ride on the bordering wall of X`ian, the Terracotta Warriors, and a midnight hike up Hua Shan. The last on this list was our climax: We hiked up the mountain from 9pm until 3:30am and watched the sunrise around 5am. Then on the hike down, we were able to see the majesty of the mountain we had peaked, and it was a postcard photo.

Beijing, Tianjin, and X`ian

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For the last two weeks of summer vacation, Mark flew to Taipei to once again teach at English camps and stand as a Christian witness to the other teachers, TAs, and students. Malia returned to Bangkok to resume graduate classes and spend her time learning to cook Thai food, entertaining friends in the new apartment, and meeting the new teachers as they arrived in Bangkok.

ALV Camp Hana Hou

Weve taken on a few new roles at ICS...besides teaching. Mark leads a high school small group after school on Tuesdays and helps run chapels. Malia teaches hula on Sunday afternoons. Both of us were leaders at the annual Eagles Campa spiritual retreat for high school students. And we both lead societiesa new program intended to train leaders, encourage teamwork, and inspire cross-culture connections. We propose, organize, and run events and competitions. Our greatest success was a Track and Field Day, complete with a baton relay!

ICS Ministries 2007-2008

Our church, our friends, our ministry, our refugeNewsong Bangkok serves as all of these. It advertises itself as a third culture community of misfits and encourages practical Christian living with an emphasis on ministering to others. Weve joined them in their project of loving a slum community in Bangkok: Malia goes on Saturdays with a small team to teach English to the elementary children and Mark brings in his sports team every season for an afternoon of games and training. Newsong also has a basketball ministry of which Mark is a part. They form a competitive team (including friends from the community) and play against other Bangkok teams as well as regularly practice every Saturday morning. Were also involved in the church through speaking (Mark) and Blessing to Thailand songwriting (Malia).
We lift our hands, God We lift this land, Lord We cant afford more Than this: our souls Planted in foreign soil Our voices crying in a tonal tongue Our slanted views becoming clear Here Bring Your kingdom, Jesus. Bring Your crown. To this kingdom, please Be renowned. Through our labor and our words May our lives reflect You, Lord In my new home, may my hand Be a blessing to Thailand. Weve left family, God Weve left comforts, Lord We cant return with less Than this: our souls Thriving in foreign soil Our voices joining in a tonal tongue Our Asian ties becoming dear Here

Newsong: Our Misfit Community

We look forward to spending much time with the Heil family in June, celebrating Scotts marriage. Malia is working on completing and publishing her grandmothers biography, entitled: Lila, Growing her Garden. Both Mark and Malia are continuing their graduate school coursework.

Coming Up...

Looking back at 2007 has really reminded us of how much ministry is here in our new home. We know that 2008 will hold unseen opportunities, blessings, and challenges. Please pray that our Fathers hand will guide us day by day and that we will continue to mature in our love for each other, for God, and for the people of Thailand. Contact Information In Bangkok Mark Heil c/o International Community School 1225 The Parkland Road Khwaeng Bangna Khet Bangna Bangkok, 10260 Thailand Online Mark: mrmarkheil@gmail.com Malia: smheil@gmail.com Website: www.faithfollowers.com Newsong Blog: live.newsong.net/bangkok

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