I think about ultimate things a lot. I think it was Spurgeon who
said, “Death destroys a man, but thoughts of death may save him.” I
think about what I am doing with my time and my energies. I evaluate
the patterns we are establishing. I look for fruit from our
activities and I judge to see where the best places are for the
investment of our lives.

In the end I am responsible for the stewardship of two lives, mine
and Sherry’s. Together we work out our systems and priorities. Our
kids are with us for a season and we are doing our best to plant the
right things inside them in hope that these things will take root and
be their stability for their lives, but we do this knowing that their
lives are their own and that they will leave us one day (too soon).
Our two lives are our project and our treasure and our stewardship.
Pray for us to make the most out of this short opportunity of life.

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Well, it’s finally upon us.  We are 48 hours from leaving the Philippines, our home of 18 years.  The last month has been filled with farewells and “lasts” (Sunday I preached my last sermon here).  The house is a mountain of boxes and the container will arrive tomorrow.  We leave Saturday on our new adventure in Northern Thailand.   We are certain this will be a place of growth for us and that the work we do there will be important (99% of Thais do not know Christ), but we are sad to be leaving this amazing Filipino community we are so deeply grafted into. Thanks for giving us some extra prayer for the next month as everyone transitions and makes friends and learns to function in a land where we don’t even know how to say, “Can I have a glass of water?”  Filipinos speak English, but most Thais really don’t so the pressure will be on us.  We did get our visa released–and in only 36 hours, faster than anyone we know so we are taking that as a good sign. 

Take the virtual tour to see our new offices. This is a dream come true for us as we expand our operations and move to take Contemporary Christian Music to this young nation.  80 million people whose average age is 22.

OK, this week we travel as a family to Chiang Rai to look for a house and school for the kids.  When we return we will apply for our visa and if it is granted will move just after new years.  We are all excited about the possibility of starting life over there.  Work wise, not too much will change. I will still be in charge of the UCB radio network in the Philippines and will travel to Manila one week a month for goal setting and face-to-face meetings.  Already the network stretches over 1,000 miles so we do our staff meetings online anyway. Besides that, we produce  materials for Asia which we can do from anywhere and we travel doing training events in Asian nations.  What we are looking for is a good home base with less crime, less cost (we have two at a time in college for the next decade) less pollution and in a non-Christianized nation.  There are quite a few choices in the region, but the Bangkok airport offers some of the lowest fares and easiest connections in Asia so we feel it is the best place for us to make as our new home base. Having the University outreach there for the past three years is another reason to move there.  We are already connected  there and have a burden for Thai youth that will energize us and give our kids new places to plug in. Pray for us in this week that we find all the details we need and are kept safe.  Thanks! 

Well, we have a major revision for the site under construction, but until then let’s change things up a bit and make the site revolve around a blog that will change from day to day.  Hope you enjoy the change.  Please send us your comments so we know how to improve things.  Thanks!!!