Learning Thai

Claire, Fred and Laci get up close and personal with a hippo at the Crocodile Farm.

This morning Eliza and I woke up to a very quiet house. After 11 fun-filled days with part of my family, they - along with Candice and Claire - left last night. They're still in the air, on the 17 hour flight to New York. So now it's just Eliza and I here for the next few weeks. The time with Gail & Del, Fred & Michelle, and their kids went quickly. Over the past few days we went to the crocodile farm, did a lot of shopping, and got to go out for individual couples' dates. It was hard for our family to say goodbye last night - we are all going to miss each other a lot!

Now Eliza and I will need to adjust to a new lifestyle - it will be interesting to see how it goes. We have some babysitting options but nothing regular set up at this point, so she'll probably just ride along with me for a lot of my errands, meetings, and teaching jobs. I'm also hoping to get a lot of reading and some longer-term planning done during this time.

Here are a few more random updates...

-My first two Bible studies with our landlord (Khun Seri) have gone well. He continues to show interest and ask questions. I've also invited Khun Yupin, a Christian lady from our neighborhood to join us. She does an excellent job of gently and winsomely witnessing to Seri and he really connects with what she says. I'm excited about the potential of working together in other Bible studies with Yupin. She is interested in our "simple church" approach and has many connections here in Thipawan. She told me that she has been praying for the past few years that many people here would come to know Jesus.

-I've applied for an English-teaching job at a local factory. I'm excited about this for several reasons. It would allow me to teach adults. It would be a regular job and would pay fairly well. And, it could provide opportunities for further interaction with factory workers - something that our team has been praying for. If I get the job it would start in early July.

-And for those interested in Thai politics..a group opposed to the current government has threatened to move their long-running protest onto the Government House grounds this afternoon. The police are apparently preparing for the threat of violence and no one knows for sure what will happen if the protesters do try to force their way in. Let's pray for peace!

And of course our family would appreciate your prayers over the next month. This is by far the longest amount of time that we've ever been separated and we're all going to need God's grace to get through it with our sanity intact.

-Tom