August Update
Friends and Family,
We have some very exciting news to share with you! We are pregnant! Baby Coupe is expected to arrive in March of 2022. We could not be more thrilled to be expanding our family and embarking on the journey of parenthood.
We are planning to have Baby Coupe here in Thailand. Many missionaries and friends we have spoken to have had very positive experiences and there are many excellent international hospitals here. We are in the process of finding a good doctor that will support us in a natural birth as C-section rates are extremely high in Thailand. Like much of the world outside of the West, in Thai culture you aren't really ever supposed to question a doctors decision or opinion, which is very different from our home culture. We are trusting that the Lord will help us find a Doctor that is a really good fit. We know Jesus already loves this little baby more than we ever could and that He will take care of all of us!
We are also planning to come back to the US for about 6 weeks in December and January. We will need to leave the country anyways to change our visa, so we decided to use the time to connect with family and friends, raise additional support for our growing family and pick up a few baby items that are hard to find here in Thailand. We are very much looking forward to giving you all hugs!
Despite it now being full on rainy season, things are looking a bit brighter here in Bangkok. September 1st marked the partial lifting of our lockdown. We are now able to gather up to 25 people, malls are open again and you can dine-in at restaurants. Adam and I went to a mall and had dinner, walked around and shopped and it felt amazing! Kayla was very sick the first few weeks of pregnancy but now at 12 weeks pregnant she is feeling much better and getting her energy back. We have continued our Thai Language studies and are learning more reading and writing this month. We switched to the afternoon class so our days have a bit of a different rhythm which is nice.
Our weekly mentoring and training with Iris Cross Culture has continued to be incredibly helpful and life giving. We are so thankful to be part of such an amazing global team. Church is also going well, we (Adam, really) have led worship a few times for our online services and are getting more involved with the online kids services.
We think of all of you often and are so thankful for your prayers and support. We know we are exactly where God wants us and we are so excited to be here living out His dream of seeing the people of Thailand come to know Jesus and His love. Right now it doesn't look like much as we learn to communicate with the people around us and sow seeds of intercession, all while navigating a pandemic, but soon we will start to see the fruits of our labor and we can not wait!
Prayer Requests:
Pray that this soft re-opening goes well so that we can get going with the ministry opportunities and relationship building we have been longing to do.
Pray that Baby and Mama continue to stay healthy and that we find the right doctor.
Pray with us for Thailand and the Thai people, that their hearts would be opened to Jesus.
We love hearing from you, if you'd like to reach out you can just reply to this email. If you are interested in seeing more of our daily life please follow us on instagram @kaylacoupe and @coupetroop (I (Kayla) also try to post my IG stories on Facebook Stories)
Much Love,
Adam and Kayla Coupe