Here is a slideshow with captions so you can get a little taste of our life in Thailand for our first month. Click the multi colored link on the lower right side to see it full screen.

Well, so far it’s been a pretty smooth ride till yesterday at least.  We have a truck, but it isn’t registered due to a missing document.  Our shipment of clothes and furniture has been held up by unscrupulous people in the system.  Pray we can get it released please!  The rice fields are being planted around us.  Really a joy to be surrounded  by that kind of thing. The evenings are cold and we sleep deeply without even a fan.  Still on mats on the floor, and keeping our food in a cooler needing fresh ice every day. Kids are excited about their new school friends. Really excited in fact.  Although they are not included in school for this week (exams from last semester) they still go to school and hang out.  We feel great about that.Having a good connection with the students at the University already so that feels good too.  Just pray this shipment through for us, ok?

A week ago I was living in Manila with two Starbucks and a Fridays within a mile of my door.  I had a network of staff and resource people we had taken 18 years to build. Today, we celebrated Julia’s 13th birthday in our new home of Thailand and planned to take her elephant riding as entertainment.  I just bought a used pickup truck as our new family vehicle in place of the SUV we had in Manila. Honestly, it’s a bit scary.  About every four hours I find myself saying out loud, “We really did it!  We moved away from everything we have  known for the past 20 years!  I can’t believe it.”  I’ll get over the shock in a week.  This is a really fascinating place and…for the first time in twenty years…it’s so cold at night we have to wear sweaters, and that’s an amazing treat after two decades of 90 degree heat. This is where we are supposed to be and we are fast getting organized here.  Got a rented house, the truck, a school, a shipment (in two weeks), and bought a Thai cell phone, a TV and a washing machine.  We’ll get internet in a week probably then we will be connected to the world outside again.  Tonight we are in the cafe with a dozen students from the University interacting.  That’s why we are here.  Watching their eager faces is rewarding already.

Well, my last official act from our home of 18 years is to sit at the counter top in our empty house and type out this blog entry.  In thirty minutes we leave for the airport to board our flight to Thailand.   I find myself thinking about death all day, like this is a rehearsal for the time when I am leaving this world entirely.  I have met with many to say goodbye.  I had to make sure all bills were paid and those who had worked so faithfully for us were properly rewarded for their loyalty.  I don’t think we can really reward them adequately at all.  More like a generous thank you gesture because how do you reward faithful love that has been given on a daily basis?  The Filipinos we know are the most amazing of people.  So forgiving and kind.  I hope we have taken that into our spirits and carry it for life. Now to fly and start another entirely different chapter of our story. 

I just wanted to write a general email to everyone who has been commenting on things you see on the site.  I have been moving around too much to answer everyone directly, but I wanted you to know that your comments are important to me.  I read them and appreciate that you have taken the time to post them.  Keep ‘em coming!

Here is a 30 minute interview with one of the most fascinating risk-taking leaders the modern world has produced.  Ted.com has some amazing stuff like this.  Wait about a minute for the thing to buffer then it should play without a hitch IF you aren’t on dial up.   

Well, even though we traveled from 11 PM arriving at 1:30 AM and didn’t sleep until on the second flight, one hour, at 6:30 AM, then hit Chiang Rai to see the kid’s new school and look for houses, the kids did w o n d e r f u l l y!    They really connected with the kids at Family Learning Center, which is still in its infancy.  They loved Thai children and when we looked at houses (a huge step down in lifestyle and size) they were totally ok with it.  I was proud of them.  They really do have a missionary spirit in their hearts.  By the end of the sleep deprived day they were trying to learn Thai phrases.  We didn’t get to bed till midnight. Today we really need to find our house.  Pray about that please. Julia said yesterday, “I wish we didn’t have to go home and could just get started here now.”  That’s the kind of thing that warms a father’s heart.  

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! 

Here is a slideshow of northern Vietnam tribal people from our recent trip. Thanks for the prayers.