Catch-Up

A lot of things have happened since January 10th, which was the last time I posted something on this blog. On January 12, Alex Coats left us and believe me, he is greatly missed. He was a great help and a blessing to us while he was here. The very next day, Our pastor and wife, Larry and LaRue Atkisson arrived. That was a great time of fellowship and catching up on how our church is doing. We did a little sightseeing the first few days they were here, then we left for the Hmong refugee camp in Petchaboon. We were able to introduce the new believers to our pastor and we were there for a Sunday service. Many of the believers have gone back to Laos in the last several months. Some voluntary, some not, but the men in the church are all vowing to stand firm and spread the Gospel message with they get back to Laos. They will all go back sooner or later. Please pray for them that the Lao government will leave them alone and not go back to the massacres that caused them to flee in the first place. Those whom we have heard from in Laos, say that so far things are OK, and none of them has been shot or mistreated that they have heard about.

After leaving the Hmong camp, we journeyed to the Burmese border and spent a couple of days with the Believers there. We were taken to a garbage dump, where many refugees are living, while they pick through the stuff for things that can be recycled. Many children, some just infants live in these horrid conditions. The ground is literally crawling with flies. Dysentery and other diseases threaten their lives every day, and yet they would rather live here than in Burma. Freedom comes with an unbelievable price for these folks. They would rather be free to live in total poverty and squalor than to live in the country of Burma. Many of these people are ethnic tribespeople. The Karen people are being hunted and murdered with impunity in southern Burma every day. The military regime that controls the country offer them no protection, but rather they are the ones who are doing the killing. Americans have no idea what these countries are like. None of these statistics ever hit the news media. You have to be here and see it for yourself.

After leaving the border, we traveled to Chiang Mai for a few days, to meet with translators and printers. We did all this traveling in our van. There were 7 of us in all. Pook, Anne, and Carolyn all accompanied us, but by the time we got ready to leave Chiang Mai, the 5 of us "old folks" had had all we could take. We hired a driver and let the 2 young ladies, Pook and Anne, bring the van home to Bangkok. Like I have said many times, "getting old is not for sissies." We came home on Friday or Saturday, and Sunday morning and evening, Bro. Larry preached at the church They really liked his preaching style, although it was different from their own. Once he shouted and everybody jumped about a foot, then everybody laughed. Nobody knows but me how much I miss Larry's preaching. It was so good to have them here for almost 2 weeks.

Larry and LaRue left on Monday night and Tuesday morning, Tom and I flew back up to Chiang Mai for a missions conference sponsored by one of the missionaries up there. It was a very excellent conference and we met a lot of real nice folks. We came home Saturday the 31st, and went back to work on Monday, Feb 2nd. I had to begin sorting out the finances that I hadn't touched in almost 3 weeks. On Thursday, our daughter, Lisa Johnson, gave birth to our 4th grandbaby, Levi Taylor Johnson. Both of them are doing well. Our daughter and her husband, Brian Johnson, are missionaries in the country of Lithuania. They have been there 11 years.

Oh, yeah, I missed something in here. On the 1st of February, 2 young men from Lehigh Valley BC came. They will be with us for a few days, then they move on to Indonesia, and then back to us for a few more days next month. Tom and these guys left Sunday morning for a trip out of the country to a place that shall remain anonymous. This brings me up to date. Today is Monday, February 4th. Pook, Anne, Carolyn, and I are all taking the day off. Last week was very busy and stressful and today we crash. At the moment, I think they went to the bowling alley. Me? I'm blogging.