Zach & Hannah Missionaries to Thailand

Zach & Hannah

Missionaries working in Ubon Thailand, these two are pioneering into new territory. Having dated and married in America, Zach and Hannah felt a strong call on their lives to share the love and acceptance of Christ to anyone and everyone, longing for all to know the value Christ sees in them. For Them, by God's grace, this happens to be Thailand. ​

Having worked in Thailand for a number of years before he and Hannah married, Zach has a fairly solid grasp of Thai. Hannah on the other hand is still working on hers. She puts countless time into studying and learning the tones and script with her language tutor, then when she is doing other things with the ministry the ladies around her very excitedly help her to practice her Thai along with Isan, which is basically Laos. Her new friends are so excited to help her learn, they find it very cute when foreigners try to learn Isan. There are so many different facets of language: the way they speak in movies, or as a family, with friends, in music, poetry, or in church. She finds being around people is one of the most helpful ways she has found to learn a foreign language. It's a slow process, but very rewarding!
      Currently Zach and Hannah are working with a Pregnancy Crises Center. Though family is a huge priority for the Thai, it is not always guaranteed that the family will be supportive of a pregnant family member. Not only that, but financially the women might not be able to care for the child. Though abortion is illegal in Thailand, it still happens. They are able to show love and acceptance to those who are being rejected. There are cases where the family will adopt the child if the mother is not able to care for the little. Sadly this doesn't always happen. 
Here in the next year or so they are hoping to start another ministry reaching out to college students and the community as a whole by opening up a community center. At this community center they will provide classes for learning skills such as cooking or reading, as well as providing a family type community where they can learn about and come to know the love of Christ.
      So far as church goes, Hannah and Zach are both involved with a local church whom they say, they are very blessed to be a part of. The pastor and staff are so in love with Christ and they are very welcoming to the work God is doing through Zach and Hannah. Hannah shared that they share a meal every week after church where they fellowship and enjoy each others fellowship. She also shared that you hear all of these stereo-types about local pastors who are just after money or attention, however, she adds that this has never been the case with the churches they have been a part of.

I also had a little bit of time to ask about what they do for fun, "Coffee is a really big thing here" Zach says, "we love discovering new coffee shops."  "Exploring. We love exploring our city and seeing new things" Hannah adds, "It is a great way for us to get to know new people."

Before we ended our chat I asked them what some advice they would give to fellow missionaries. Here our some of the things they shared.

• Find ways to manage your stress well. On the field on even small stresses can become huge. You will not only have to deal personal issues but also cultural stresses.
• Find a way to be okay with feeling dumb or childish. It will happen a lot learning a new language or culture. Have grace.
• Everyone feels like they aren't good enough or that they aren't doing enough. Once more have grace.

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