Learning Thai

We are excited to report that we have made progress on the English-teaching front, but are still waiting with a mixture of faith and fear for the work permit!

In the past week we've had several phone calls from people who saw my sign - and I've had my first two paid English teaching sessions, with another one scheduled for this evening. It's been very encouraging to see how this has worked out. At this point, I'm working with a man who is studying to take an English test that may allow him to move to the States to work as a nurse. He wants to meet every day to practice speaking. Tonight I'll be meeting with a couple of young kids who's mother wants them to study several times a week. I also have received a thesis paper about "Biodiesel Production from Crude Palm Oil" written (in English) by a graduate student in our neighborhood. She wants me to proofread it for her. There are a couple of other potential students that I'm waiting to meet or hear back from as well. So, we are thankful for God's provision in this area.

As for the work permit/visa...we are still waiting, but the lawyer remains optimistic, so I'm trying to do the same. We should know more tomorrow afternoon, but it looks like the worst case scenario will be that we need to temporarily extend our visas. We can do this in Bangkok, so the main downside to that is the cost. Hopefully by early next week we will have a work permit and renewed visas and we'll be able to breathe a big sigh of relief. It has been frustrating waiting so long without knowing what is happening and without being able to do anything about it. Thanks for your prayers for us during this time of added stress - and please continue to pray for the visas to come through and for wisdom in working out an English teaching schedule. I will also plan to begin next week volunteering as an English teacher three mornings a week at a private Thai school in exchange for Claire attending kindergarten during that same time.

Tomorrow we are planning to take off with Anita and spend the day in Ayutthaya (the old capital of Thailand, about 2 hours north of Bangkok by train).We're ready for a day out of the city and hopefully we'll be able to forget about the visas for a little while!
-Tom