The First Month Back in Thailand

Tom and I are headed in to our 4th week being back in Thailand. Tom is just now getting back on his feet...literally...after a miserable time with gout that had him crippled and on crutches. He flew to Bangkok a few days ago to get another opinion about whether he actually had gout or osteoarthritis. Yes, it is gout, which is much better than needing a knee replacement which is what the doctor here told him. A second opinion is always the best way to go. He is up and around and feeling fine. Amazing.

David Martin, from our home church in Fort Worth, arrived last night and is right now asleep on my couch having finally crashed from jet lag. He is only going to be here for 2 weeks, so I hope he gets over it quick. I know that when I travel to the US or back, it takes me at least that long to get my days and nights back in order. Ah, well, he is much younger than I am and he will probably recover much quicker. I hope so. He was able to bring over the things that we had to leave behind for lack of space in our luggage. He brought coffee, and chocolate, as gifts. Yaaay!!!

We are sorry to see Alyssa leaving in just a few days. We were delayed twice getting back to Thailand, and we have not had near the amount of time with her that we would have liked. She is a really fine young woman, and she has an open invitation to come back any time. I certainly hope that another person comes over to take her place.

I have finally gotten all the checking accounts balanced. No small feat considering I have 7 bank accounts here and 3 in America to keep straight. Financial accountability is very high on our priority list. We know where everybody's money goes almost to the dollar. It is a job that I really do not relish doing, but I realize how needful it is. Starting tomorrow, I will begin to clean up some of the files on the server and store them on drives that can be stored elsewhere in case of fire, flood or theft. I like this job much better, but it is tedious and very time consuming. We are once again without a full-time tech, but we are managing as best we can with our limited knowledge.

This has been an incredible year for me. The trip to Africa and spending a good amount of time with our grandchildren was, of course, the highlight so far. I am also thankful that we were able to see some friends that we haven't seen in several years in a couple of our supporting churches. I got to see one of my most special girls that worked with us off and on for about 4 years. Susanna Domangue is not married with a wonderful husband and young son and another boy on the way soon. I miss her very much. Her Dad is the pastor of the Galilean Baptist Church in Houma, Louisiana. This church has been standing with us for over 30 years. It doesn't seem possible that time could go that fast. It was so good to see all the Galileans while we were in America.

I wish that there were a few more hours in the day. I usually tire out before I can get done what I would like to, but I guess more hours would help, would it? What I need is more trength and stamina. Pray for me to that end. And pray for our staff. These are our current regular staff:

Pook - Office manager
Noah - Burmese coordinator
Asim - Urdu translator
Klo - Karen translator
Jang Lang - Hmong translator
Kaw - Hmong translator
Carolyn - Foreign language coordinator

We no longer have a video editor or a computer tech on staff. Please pray that God would raise somebody up to take over these jobs.

Please pray for Alyssa as she travels back to Oak Harbor, Washington, that she would have a safe journey and that she would be able to share her thoughts and the things she learned here with her church.