Well, I've been pretty silent for the past week and just wanted to check in with you all and let you know we are fine and all is going well on this side of the world. There is only one week left with our five guy interns (they leave Tuesday), but even though they are leaving the work has mutliplied by five as well! They have made so many contacts and have been used of God greatly to further our relationships with Thai people here. Please be praying for us (our team) as we figure out how to manage all the new contacts that have been made as a result of this summer.
Since PJ's birthday we've been pretty much keeping the same schedule. The boys and I go out for our late afternoon walk, talk to our neighbors, meet a few new people here and there and then return home around 6:30 or so to eat supper all the while Paul is at the campus playing basketball, soccer (football), or eating at the market furthering relationships there. I continue to learn Thai (and I started a new module that has some really hard words to say and read, so please be praying for my tongue to be loosened!).
The boys are doing well and I am sorry to report that they did not go for casting try-outs for that commercial I told you about a few posts ago. Maybe next time. The commercial is actually airing in Vietnam, not Thailand.
This week we welcome a friend of ours back to Bangkok but this time she's staying for two years and not just six weeks. Her name is Catherine (I mentioned her new blog a few posts ago as well and you can check it out by clicking on her link under "my links"). Anyway, she and her Dad, will be arriving tomorrow night around midnight. She will be teaching music at the Christian International school here in BKK. We are thrilled to be welcoming her and look forward to getting to know her more. She is a member of our sending/home church in Florida, so it will be nice to have another familiar face around. She also plans on helping our team here in her free time. So, we will be having them for supper Thursday evening (the worse day to get over jetlag is the very next day...).
There are some other "newsy" events that have taken place or are about to. As you know, God has allowed us to use another missionary family's car while they went back to Europe on furlough. They will be returning within the next month. Since about December, we have been praying for God to provide us with a car of our very own but just like in America, it's expensive to buy a car here in Thailand and it's really a bad idea to buy used. We really didn't want to take out a loan from the States to buy a car so, we've been saving our money and praying, trusting God to provide for us. About a month after moving to Bangkok Paul was sharing our desire with our Thai staff at New Community (the MTW Thailand ministry center). Well, as he's sharing one of our staff says, "We want to sell our truck, we'll give you a good price." [She lives about a 40 minute drive from the office and they never use their truck due to gas prices so they want to downsize, hence the reason for offering it to us.] So, we've been praying about this opportunity ever since. As of right now, it looks like we will be purchasing this truck. It's only two years old and has only 20,000 miles on it! It is a truck but it seats five people comfortably (it has an extended cab). Also, there is no suspicion as to whether this truck has been taken care of because we know the owners who are also Christians. It's amazing how God works things like this out. Because of all of this we had some money transferred but it didn't show up in our bank account (even today it hasn't shown up) but Paul did some calling and asking around yesterday and found out that it can take from 7 to 21 days for the transfer to come thru. We sure were relieved to hear that even though it might mean we have to wait a while!
We are also planning a vacation down to Prachuap. Prachuap is on the Gulf of Thailand. OMF has a guesthouse there that is fairly secluded and we can stay there really cheap (like $15/night!). There are plenty of things provided for us there so we are going to take advantage of it and get away for a few days the end of August. Looking forward to a break at the beach!
So, those are the news-worthy items from this past week! We continue to thank God for your faithful prayers, He is truly working here.
2 comments:
I am so glad to get an update on what's been happening. Is Paul feeling less stressed and tired? I trust so.
You two have learned a lesson I still have trouble with at times. You pray with patience and WAIT for the answer, as you did with your vehicle need. It sounds like a terrific solution. And I am so glad you are getting a break at the beach.
Love, Aunt Ruth
yea truck!
yea vacation!
great news!
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