C2 News: Announcement

kenclouser May 13, 2023 0 Comments

Hey everyone!

The Clouser family is headed to the U.S. for the summer! We have purchased our tickets to fly home to Fort Wayne for a visit from June 2^nd until July 24^th.  This will be the first-time home in four years for Stephani, Zoey, & Jayden, and we’re all very excited.

We’ll fly out of Chiang Mai on June 1^st and land in Fort Wayne on June 2^nd around 10:30 PM. Avalon Missionary Church has graciously provided a mission house for our summer stay. We’ve just started looking at options for a car to use during our stay.  A rental car would cost us nearly $2,000 dollars for the duration of our stay. We’re wondering if one of you might have an extra car to loan us during our time at home.

We’re very excited about catching up with family and friends in Fort Wayne, IN, Nashville, TN, and Greenfield, OH. We’re building our schedule and are looking forward to visiting our supporting churches most Sundays.  We are also planning an open house for early July and will send out those details as soon as we get to Fort Wayne.  From June 11^th to 17^th the four of us will be participating in a training orientation week in Kansas City at our sending organization’s home office. 

We’d love to see you all, but we also recognize that we only have so much time before we return to Thailand on July 24^th, so any plans that can be made as soon as possible would be great!  Reach out to us by email, Ken at kenclouser@gmail.com or Stephani at stephanicramer@gmail.com if you know of a car we can borrow or if you’d like to meet up.

Stephani & Ken

C2 News: March 2023 Update

kenclouser March 11, 2023 1 Comments

Isn’t she beautiful? I’m talking about the burnt orange colored car, the Honda Mobilio, sitting behind the four of us.

Thank you so very much. We were able to purchase our new family addition in early February because of your generous support. Our home church, Avalon, gave us an amazingly large gift that paid most of the balance. There were several others who sent money that enabled us to buy the perfect car for our family. Our car drives like a small car, but it can seat seven comfortably. Most of the time, the back seats are folded up to make room for our girls’ band instruments. The small size helps us navigate the narrow roads confidently.

On Dec. 31st, we moved into the house we are now renting. We’re no longer subletting another family’s home, and driving their car. Our new home is a 4-bedroom, fully furnished house on a cul-de-sac, only about a mile from the house we moved out of.

Think back about 8 years. Are you now living in a different home? Do you have a different address than you had in 2015? If so, we may not have your current mailing address. Would you take a moment right now to send your address to stephanicramer@gmail.com? That would help us out immensely. From here in Thailand, it’s not that easy to update our mailing list. Our organization has a newsletter ready to mail out and we need to get addresses to them. Please update your address for us before March 25th.

Quick update on our family:

Ken is teaching theology classes at Grace International School this semester, so all four of us are either working or studying at GIS. Ken’s classes are for high school students and his position is really more of a long-term substitute role. He will finish out the semester and then hopes to study Thai language and take on a specialized role on our team here in Chiang Mai. I am really enjoying my teaching job at GIS, working with sixth grade. Right now, we are in our last quarter of elementary school. This summer, when the middle school building is finished, I will be transitioning to middle school with all of my students as 6th grade becomes a middle school year. I will teach English Language Arts and Bible. Zoey and Jayden are feeling more and more connected with their community of friends and classmates at GIS, too.

Along with your mailing address, let us know how you are doing and how we can be praying for you. We love hearing from friends and family in the States and miss you all very much.

Many Blessings,

Stephani & Ken Clouser

Merry Christmas from the Clouser Family: Update

kenclouser December 23, 2022 0 Comments

Hi All,

We wish you all a Merry Christmas, a wonderful Christmas Holiday, and a Happy New Year.  We heard from Jerry Cramer that a big winter storm is headed for most of you, and we are praying for you.

We wanted to share some major blessings that have come our way.  In our Christmas newsletter that went out on December 19th, we told you that our biggest need was a car and asked for help raising $15,000 to purchase one.  As of today, December 23rd, two very generous gifts totaling $10,500 have been provided to purchase a car.  We are greatly encouraged by the generosity that has been provided by God’s people for us and we are giving Him all praise.

Please pray about how you can assist us in raising another $4,500 to purchase a car. If you are interested in helping us specifically with a car, whether you can only help a little or if you can help with the whole thing, don’t hesitate to get in touch with Ken at kenclouser@gmail.com or Stephani at stephanicramer@gmail.com.  If you aren’t in a position to give, we fully understand, but we’d still like to hear from you; this season in Chiang Mai has been a lonely season for us, and we would love to reconnect with all of you. Please drop us an email or call us on Facetime, Skype, or Zoom.

Many Blessings to you all,

Stephani, Ken, Zoey, & Jayden Clouser

Merry Christmas from the Clouser Family

kenclouser December 19, 2022 0 Comments

Merry Christmas from the Clouser Family

Christmas break started last Friday afternoon; Stephani and the girls finished their first semester at Grace International School. It’s also hard to believe that we’ve been in Chiang Mai for six months now! 

We have many things to be thankful for over the last six months:

• The community at Grace welcomed Stephani and the girls with open arms. Zoey & Jayden were lovingly welcomed into Christian fellowship by their peers.
• We’ve been reconnecting with old friends and building new relationships since we arrived here.
• We were blessed by the Hill Family, who sub-let us their house and car for six months while they were on home leave.
• We’ve been healthy.
• Stephani has settled into a routine with her 6th-grade class and lesson planning; her workdays and school weeks have become shorter, and she’s no longer going to work in her classroom on Saturdays.
• We’ve enjoyed watching Zoey & Jayden play soccer; this fall, Zoey also started running cross country.
• We’ve found a home that we will move into sometime in the days after Christmas.
• The weather has gotten less wet and much cooler in the last month.
• We’ve also been blessed by many of you and wanted to let you know that we’ve appreciated your emails, encouragement, and support.

The Hill family, who sub-let us their apartment and car, will return to Chiang Mai on January 2^nd, which means we had to rent a house, and we’re still trying to figure out how to acquire a car. Our finances are better than they were a month ago: Stephani drew a salary from Crossworld this month, and Ken will also start drawing a part-time salary next month. We also started drawing from one of Ken’s retirement accounts; hopefully, that will be temporary. We also know that the economic picture in the US isn’t as good as it has been in previous years and that many of you have been impacted. 

Moving here directly from China has really been shockingly expensive. When they join a sending organization, most missionaries spend a few years preparing and raising support. We know that God was directing us to move straight here; we know that God has consistently taken care of all our needs, but we still stress and worry about how He will answer our prayers.

We’ve prayed about how to meet our needs and feel that we’ve been directed to ask you for your prayers of support and help in meeting those needs.  We are at sixty percent of our monthly support budget and are still looking for support partners. Our biggest immediate need, at this moment, is a car, and they are not cheap here. To get one that is 7 to 10 years old without excessive mileage and a warranty to help us out if we have car trouble will cost us about $15,000.

Please pray about how you might be able to assist us with purchasing a car. If you are interested in helping us specifically with a car, whether you can only help a little or if you can help with the whole thing, please contact Ken at kenclouser@gmail.com or Stephani at stephanicramer@gmail.com.  

We appreciate you and wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

We love you too!

Stephani, Ken, Zoey, & Jayden Clouser

C2 News: Giving Information

kenclouser November 24, 2022 0 Comments

If you’d like to assist us with a monthly support gift or even a one-time gift, the link and details are below:

Crossworld Support: https://crossworld.org/give/support-a-disciple-maker

Notes for support: Name – Ken & Stephani Clouser & Support Account: 40586

If you’d prefer to support us by mailing a check to Crossworld:

1. Make a note on the check with our name and account number (Clouser, 40586)
2. Mail to: Cross World USA, Finance Department, 10000 N Oak Trafficway, Kansas City, MO 64155

Blessings,

Stephani & Ken Clouser

C2 News: November 2022 Update

kenclouser November 12, 2022 0 Comments

Hello from Chiang Mai, Thailand!

It seems unbelievable to be able to write that we are in the middle of our fifth month here in the Land of Smiles. Ken returned from a whirlwind trip to the States earlier this month and is currently looking for ministry opportunities here after making use of a sabbatical. Zoey is enjoying all of the “aggressively nice” kids in her 10th-grade class, just finished soccer season, and has started running on the cross-country team. Jayden loves all of her classes in 8th grade, looks forward to the Wednesday night Bible study set up specifically for girls in her grade, and has joined the soccer team. I (Stephani) am gradually getting used to the rhythms of teaching in the elementary classroom.  I’m not sure I’ll ever learn to love teaching Science, but I’m starting to get the hang of planning the Science lessons. Next year, when the middle school building is finished, our school will move 6th grade to middle school, and I will move with them. I am very much looking forward to working again with that age group!

As time goes on, I realize more and more how very blessed we are to be part of Grace International School. When I started to apply, I knew that it provided an affordable education to missionary families in northern Thailand. But I wasn’t as familiar with all of the ways that the school is able to serve and bless the whole community in Chiang Mai. I would say that 80% of my students are MKs, and the handful of Thai kids who attend our school have opportunities to learn about the gospel every single day. Many of them have a relationship with Christ that their parents do not (yet) have. We also have a program for families who do not live in Chiang Mai and need to complete courses online. And we have a Special Education department that meets the complex needs of so many missionary families who have children with autism, down syndrome, and other learning challenges.

A few weeks ago, the mother of one of our 6th-grade boys wrote the following and offered the other teacher and me to include it in our next newsletters.

Dear friends of these two amazing teachers,

Our family lived in China for 17 years, and then one day, we were abruptly told to leave. After two years in the States, we decided to move to Chiang Mai. Grace International School was a big reason we thought our family could thrive here. Two of our children have special needs/disabilities, and we needed a rich homeschool environment and a good school for our other two children. All of our children are doing well here, and this makes me so happy! 

My husband and I help supervise younger missionaries in several parts of Asia, and we have a passion for helping missionaries thrive. Too often, we fall into the trap of thinking the gospel is something we have to share with others instead of something we ourselves need every day. Our ministry to the Chinese continues here also; we have found opportunities to encourage young Chinese believers, as many of them are now in Chiangmai fleeing persecution or oppression. 

We really are not doing much right now as we are only on month 4! We can barely speak Thai, are overwhelmed most weeks and feel quite lonely. I actually consider myself quite weak and clinging to Jesus. I heard this the other day, and it gave me such hope… 

“People that regard themselves as invalids rather than heroes will make great missionaries.” -Daniel Fuller

Grace Intl School has been such a blessing to our family during this time, and I cannot thank you enough for supporting these teachers. With all the hard and new stuff going on, the school has been easy. And that is so nice! 

We have been so very grateful for the support—both in prayer and financial giving—that we have received these past few months.

We have met the first phase of our 3-phase goal, and next month, in December, we will begin drawing a small salary: Stephani will have a full-time salary and Ken a part-time salary, and we will have company-provided health insurance.  Phase 1 is about 50% of our total goal; our present monthly support level is $3310. The Phase 2 goal is $4700, which will increase both of our salaries. The Phase 3 goal is $6800, which will cover two full-time salaries, health insurance, housing, car, our travel back and forth to the US every summer, and other items like life insurance, retirement, and school expenses.

We still need a lot of prayer and money to continue onward.

• Please pray that the Lord will show Ken where he is to be involved and how he can use his gifts and talents to be a minister of the gospel here in Chiang Mai.
• Please pray that we will continue to seek the Lord for wisdom in parenting our teenage girls.
• Please pray that He will show us where we are to live beginning in January 2023—just weeks from now. We need to be directed to another subletting opportunity (staying in another family’s home while they are on Home Assignment) or have enough money to rent our own place and buy a car.
• Please prayerfully consider giving a large gift that could help us get a car or furnish a rental home.

A used car would cost around 600,000 Thai baht ($16,000). Three months’ rent (needed to start a rental contract) would be around 75,000 baht ($2,000). To purchase the basic needs for moving into a home we looked at this morning (washing machine, oven, sofa, three mattresses), we would need 80,000 baht ($2,225).

A few days ago, I started asking God for someone to give us $20,000. At the time, we didn’t really know how much money we would need to rent a house and buy a car.  Today, after looking at a possible home and checking out the costs of furnishings and a vehicle, I understand why I felt led to ask for that amount!

Even if we find a home to stay in for the next few months, subletting for another family on Home Assignment, we will need to raise the money eventually so that we can have our own car and rent our own home.

If you are wondering about where to direct some year-end funds, please consider how you can help us with these large needs. If you’d like to talk with us about how you can assist us, use the link below to arrange a Zoom or Facetime call with us:

Blessings,

Stephani & Ken

C2 News: October 2022 Update

kenclouser October 3, 2022 0 Comments

Hi, Everyone!

Here in Chiang Mai, Thailand, our family has been settling in and getting used to our new home.  I’m investing in my sixth-grade students at Grace International.  Zoey and Jayden are each involved in different things at school and making friends.  Let me tell you more about what’s been going on.

School started in August. Jayden is in 8^th grade and Zoey is in 10^th. Both of them have been thrilled to meet so many other classmates who share interests and who have been really welcoming and kind to them. Zoey is playing JV soccer and really gaining lots of skills on the field. Jayden is in drama club at school and is loving it. Both of the girls get to go to Wednesday night Bible studies called Anchor Groups. These are grade level groups that meet in homes with senior girls leading the study and a parent or two to guide them. We have been so relieved and impressed by the opportunities that our school gives our girls to grow in their faith.

We have started going to a church that meets at the Night Safari (a zoo), called Safari Church. How cool is that?!  It’s pretty close to our home and has a youth group that meets each Sunday right after the service.

For me (Stephani), all the many transitions have been very challenging. I think that the biggest difficulty of all of them is the move from teaching secondary to teaching elementary. For one more year, 6^th grade at Grace is the last year of elementary—next year, after the middle school building is finished, 6^th grade will become a middle school grade. The elementary day is intense, every day has a different schedule, and I’m teaching Science, too!  My colleagues and principals have been very supportive and helpful.  My students are just perfect.

Recently, we had parent-teacher conferences in the elementary school and I met parents of nearly every one of our 42 sixth graders. Almost all of them are serving in ministry and I was so encouraged to hear about what they are involved in.  Each of the missionary parents was very appreciative of my role as support for them. Here in Chiang Mai, people don’t have to put their kids in boarding school or stop ministering to home school their children.  They trust us to educate them and to disciple their kids.

In a couple of weeks, Ken will make a trip to the U.S.  There are some important details he needs to take care of, but he really hopes to visit as many of you as he can. He hopes to visit Avalon, Grabill and First Missionary Church (in Berne), as well as Good Shepherd Church in Greenfield.

One of the scary parts of missionary life right now is the expense of travel. Ken’s tickets will total close to $2,000 and he’ll also need to rent a car for the two weeks that he’s Stateside.  These travel expenses are more than our budget can tolerate at this time. The trip needs to be made but, we’d really like to find a way that it won’t wreck our budget .  If you are not already supporting us financially, would you consider helping with the costs? Any amount of financial assistance will be helpful. Or if you have a vehicle that he could borrow for those 10-14 days, could you let us know?

Stephani

A quick update: In our last newsletter we told you that we had raised 25% of our budget needs, we’re happy to report that we are now at 41% of budget. We give praise to our Lord Provider and we thank you for how you’ve blessed us with support and prayer. If you’d like to assist us with a monthly support gift or even a one-time gift, the link and details are below:

Crossworld Support: https://crossworld.org/give/support-a-disciple-maker

Notes for support: Name – Ken & Stephani Clouser & Support Account: 40586

If you’d prefer to support us by mailing a check to Crossworld:

1. Make a note on the check with our name and account number (Clouser, 40586)
2. Mail to: Cross World USA, Finance Department, 10000 N Oak Trafficway, Kansas City, MO 64155

If you’re interested in meeting with us by Zoom or Google Meet or FaceTime, please use this link to schedule a time, we’d love to talk with you! https://calendly.com/kenclouser/60min