May is here and that means we are on the final countdown to jetting out of here for Florida. How strange it seems to be packing with a one-way ticket to fly on. We are truly excited about getting back to see our kids and friends but we will be missing a lot of “family” and friends over here too. I wonder what it’s like to be so rich you can just fly around the world whenever you like to see the people you miss? One of the drawbacks of missions is the good byes.
Since this is the last entry from Thailand (I think), we want to express our thanks to all of you who have so generously prayed and supported us financially to be here. I know that many of you have given when there wasn’t much left for yourselves. We are not worthy—but the Lamb, He is and He knows your generosity.
We’ve received “care” packages, special cards, bookmarks, books and all sorts of things from around the world—THANKS! We are humbled by all the generous friends we have and humility is good. I’ll be proud when I’m even more humble! Ha.
In 1987 when we first joined YWAM, there was a married couple about 40 sitting in front of the dorm with their suitcases sitting next to them. They didn’t have jobs or a home but were on their way “out” to go somewhere and live. I remember thinking, “I wonder if Jackie and I will ever be like that?”
Well, we made it past our 40s and are now into our 50s (60s aren’t that far ahead for me) and all I can say is that God has been way too good to us. We’ve lived over here and always been able to financially keep up with our responsibilities and ministries. We’ve lived in a cute little house and been blessed to even have friends come and stay with us. Jackie took a couple of major health hits last year but has since recovered and is powering along again at ¾ speed. You prayed us through those times. When she quit her job and began volunteering at the orphanage, your financial support went up and we never missed her income. How blessed we are to have such a caring and providing God.
As we return this time (there’s been many going and coming times for us), Leah is feverishly at work trying to find us a rental and it looks like Jackie will have her old job at ABC childcare, which she loved and missed while over here. I’m still wondering what I’ll be doing but haven’t hit the panic mode yet. We’ve bought our airline tickets so that’s no problem. We’ve paid our rent and are disposing of our household stuff here (Bum and Glen will get most of it for their wedding present) and making our house ready for Ron and Jeanette Brewster to live in. They are close friends from Montana. We’ve even managed to save almost $2000 to get set up in Florida once again. We are hoping to rent something where they won’t require a first, last and deposit. If we don’t, we’ll be writing for more support! Ha.
So this is our blog of thanks to all of you who have gone with us these last 4 years. Your prayers, support and especially e-mails have been such a blessing. Here’s what’s coming up as we try and leave for you to pray with us about.
May 4th: Bob goes to Chiang Mai (3 hours from here) for an eye appointment to find out if his eye can be fixed (cataract).
May 5th: If the doctor says “go for it,” he will have the surgery. By the way, he can hardly put eye drops in his eyes so this should be quite a challenge for him.
May 6th: Return to Chiang Rai. In the evening, Bob speaks at the international fellowship for missionaries.
THE BIG ONE
May 14th: We go to Bum’s hometown for the “Thai” wedding. It’s about a 7-hour ride and we should have a great time.
May 15th: Bum and Glen get married “Thai” style. This won’t be their official wedding—that comes in December and they will be married in the church. Bob gets to give a 5-minute speech about Bum so pray it turns into an opportunity to share what God has and is doing in her life.
May 20th: We say bye to our church and all our good friends who go there. Thanks to all and to the Johnsons (pastor family).
We fly from Chiang Rai to Bangkok and have a 7-hour wait for our flight that goes from Bangkok to New York, non-stop. Yay. It’s only a 17-hour flight.
May 23rd
We get to New York at 6:30 AM, go through customs and immigration (God help us please) and then fly to Jacksonville at 1:30. Someone with a truck will need to pick us up because we are bringing back 4 big suitcases full of our junk and 4 carry on bags.
May 24th: We wake up and begin looking for our minds.
What will we miss here in Thailand? You know the answer. People. Here's a few of them below.
Jackie letting them know who's in charge...
Here's a few of her wee friends.
This was a friend of ours who lived in Pattaya. Her name is Angel and that's what she is.
In a land far, far away, there were elepahants and friends: Neng, Bob, Tduk and Ngok...
...and geysers too. Art and Dow with Bob
Mae, Bum and Nan
I really wish I had the space to put in all the photos we have. But then you might get terribly bored. So, I'll not do that and do this instead: Thank you once again. Jackie and I are so grateful for our Thai adventure and all that God has done to us, through us and for us. He alone is worthy.
Our home church, Anastasia Baptist, must have a special thanks. What a blessing they have been to us. We have been so looked after, prayed after and supported that we can hardly believe it. We look forward to seeing all of you again....
Hello...
I'll keep praying for you two with everything that's upcoming. That's great you were able to get the non-stop flight...hopefully it'll be not as stressful as the one with all lay-overs.
I hope your last few weeks in the Land of Smiles go well!
Love,
Jessica