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Sorry for not doing a newsletter last month, I was a bit overwhelmed with technical issues. I have since got back on track for the most part. Needs It is almost time for me to extend my visa again, here in 3 months, and I have spent a lot this year on visa related things, an expenses around the house as well. I think i am about 1500 dollars short for the money i have to show to extend my visa. I have to show 12,000 dollars in my thai bank account. The good thing is that after i extend my visa, i can use the money to buy tickets and travel when i come back home, but that means i will have to put it back for the next year, but we'll worry about that when the time comes. Thankyou to everyone who has given, i am thankful for you generosity, that has gotten us so close to where we need to be. Thankyou to everyone who will give, it really means a lot to us. Thankyou to everyone who continually prays for us, we need all the prayer we can get. Petition granted Good news this month is that my petition for Fang has been granted, and now we can begin the visa application process. The bad news is that that process requires more fees which is making the cost of this whole things quickly surpass a thousand dollars not including airfare. I am thankful that we can finally move on, and if i understand right, the next steps are easier than the first. Thankyou for praying for us and supporting us through the process. Building projects completed I built a shoe shelf from floor to ceiling for my wife using a new method, cardboard lamination. I layed cardboard into 2 inch panels then cut the pieces on the bandsaw to make them clean and crisp, then cut notches, and slid everything together. I think I can scale this up, and it makes a surprisingly good looking sturdy shelf. I know ikea uses this method but they cover up the cardboard lamination, but I like the way the addition corrugation looks, so i intentionally faced the corrugation towards the opening of the shelves. I finished the pulpit podium that i was making, and I really like it. I will be preaching from it weekly (my children enjoyed my last sermon, though i think i put my wife to sleep) I built a bench press using the same mango tree I have been using. I made the weights from concrete, I used spesific molds which i managed to get entirely for free unintentionally, and they came all the way from the ukraine. The resulting weights are way cool and have lettering indicating spesific weight. Its a potential side business as well, since i do a lot of stuff with concrete. It goes on the list of things to have an employee make when we have one. Computer issues My computer glitched out, and i think i know why, so it wont happen again, regardless, i had to take a week to get it set up again, and during the backup my harddrive crashed on me, so it is in a data recovery center in bkk. They are affordable compared to prices back home, but still set me back a bit, however it appears he has recovered nearly 100% of my data. Before i sent it in, a local tech guy looked at it and said it was toast. I have all my work backed up on that drive, i can't loose it. Really scared me. Now with my data back, I have been reorganizing things, and reinstalling my system. I think i finally have the computer almost completely up and ready to work, but I did loose some of my in project files, like the coloring book pages i had made. Fortunately i had uploaded them to the newsletter before, so i can save those and use those for future pages. I didn't loose any pictures but i did loose my brushes i used in one of my design programs, so i will have to manually build the brushes again using the same png images i had prepared before. I am frustrated with all of this but there is always a reason. This gives me an opportunity to start from scratch in some ways, and with the skills i have built, that is actually useful though i probably wouldn't choose to do that in a different situation. Also, my folders are now a bit more organized, and i have all my important folders syncing to 2 other computers so that if i have any issues the important stuff will be backed up 2-3 times, on my new ssd drive, and 2 other computers. Homeschooling I made some fill in the blanks and solve the problem yourself worksheets, first for chemical equations, but i realized that any type of math could be done the same way, so since calvin is getting good at double digit addition and subtraction, i made a template for him to fill in his own work. He really has taken to it, and talks about it just as much as his favorite book characters. Creed A Christian is someone who understands and believes the Gospel, that the Father God elects, then initiates salvation from sin and the just punishment of sin, by sending Holy Spirit to regenerate us, so that we can believe in the atonement provided by the Savior, so that we can repent of our sins having new life in Christ. This is a kind of modern creed i am calling the gospel creed, many churches have a statement of faith, which i think is great. The gospel creed is a shorter statement that summarizes the gospel for the purpose of uniting true believers, and exposing heretical nightmares just waiting to happen. I suppose this has always been what creeds have been for, in the early church they focused on the nature of the trinity, which this creed actually does touch on lightly, but the main thing this creed focuses on is -God, the founder of our salvation-, not -I, the founder of my salvation-. Almost all heretical teaching in the church today is heretical in regards to salvation. The thing legalism and liberalism have in common is that man is considered to be the initiator of salvation. In biblical christianity, God alone initiates salvation. I personally believe that believers of various backgrounds and denominations who have an actual relationship with God, know this to be true in a personal way, and so it shouldn't be hard to shake hands on this issue. It will be good for me to know the people i can and can not work with going forward. I believe this is the fundamental issue at the heart of protestant vs. catholic, reformed vs. arminian. In Luthers bondage of the will he focuses on why we don't have free will, and even if we do, why we are not saved by it. This gospel creed focuses on the later, because in the former is only important because of the later. Writing I started briefly a tract called 50 reasons idolatry is evil, though i may raise or lower the number depending on how creative i can be. I also started my favorite reformers book which will be more like a collectors card set that can be read as a book as well. I may make a game to go with it. Preaching I am back to preaching every Sabbath now, in my pajamas and in English mostly, with explanation when needed. I will occasionally preach in Thai once the habit is grounded. We will open our doors when the opportunity presents itself, and God willing we will be prepared. I like the pulpit, its very nice. When the Sabbath is finished, we have a family meeting about our goals and plans for the week. I think this is important, and will help us refocus and work as a team. Conclusion Sometimes unexpected setbacks can set things off by a bit, but it can be good to refocus. Actually it is a great reminder of the value of the tools i have. Hopefully i will make better use of the things i nearly lost, making the time lost worth it in the end. I still got a lot done even with significant time spent on setting everything up again. Thankyou for your prayer, and for standing with us.
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This month was Calvins birthday, we got him roller blades, a minecraft torch, a remote controlled hotwheel sized car, a molecule building kit, and some books. I got good deals on everything. He nearly went to sleep in his rollerblades yesterday. Abbys birthday is in a couple weeks, we have some good ideas for her as well. Business has been on and off, today fang did very well, selling out. Other days she has not sold a thing, which is very stressful and rarely happens, but this month its happened a couple times. My class has been going well enough, and I have been enjoying watching the progress of my students. Needs This month one my supporters has let me know that they will no longer be able to support me on a regular basis, but they will continue til the end of the year. I totally understand, and don't expect anyone to support me forever. I will need to find more supporters however, and i am not sure the best way to go about it. I think maybe having a big party where I invite everyone I know when we are back in Missouri, and asking people to make commitments of 20-100 dollars a month. I could share long term plans, stats, and more information that would help everyone get on board with the long term goal. Right now it looks like we will need a 2-3 thousand dollars more for our trip. If you can support us towards that, thankyou. Conversations A customer came in to buy bread and struck up a conversation with Fang, giving her a chance to invite the customer to take as many tracts as they want from the tract wall, and inviting them to our bible study. We always dream about getting that back up and going again. Interestingly the customer was interested sharing a story of how a missionary led a bible study at their house when he was a child (I have thought about doing bible studies in other peoples houses) and the boys father got angry and sent the missionary away before the child could understand. The boys father destroyed the literature, not sure if this included a bible or not. Perhaps this is a good reason why not to do bible studies in others houses, but to invite them to your place. I think it is better if the missionary is showing hospitality rather than depending on the hospitality of unbelievers or new believers. Regardless, this missionary has my respect for pulling that off. I am glad the kid remembered the situation and came around. It gives me hope that the thousands I have shared with will remember and seek me out when they are grown, or my children or someone else later. Its why i fear leaving. I think a somewhat permanent presence is key to long term success. I will say that early on I had a situation where i had a student help type up some lines from a book, and the childs father found my book and burned it. The student tried to avoid me because of what happened, but eventually they told me. Now that student actually married an american and had a child with them, then divorced. Haven't seem them in a while, I had hoped that they would come around to play with our kids, but that hasn't happened. The book burning hasn't ever come up since. Anyway, we didn't hear back from the dude who talked to fang last week, hopefully he will be back soon and i can talk with him personally. Last week i was out cutting up an old mango tree that a students father wanted to give me, and so Fang talked to them. Neighbors tree A parent of a student had me come by and pick up some large logs from a mango tree they cut down that were barely small enough to fit in my Paradua, the whole vehicle was nearly dragging lol. I am thankful that people know i can come get their wood, which reduces the mess they have to dispose of, and is useful for me. Eventually it will be a business, it could be one now for sure, its just there is no need for that yet, and i need to designate time to ministry. When fang and I finally hire someone, this will be half their job. Got the logs drying in a good spot, and here in a month, ill remove the bark and let them continue to sit for a few more months. I've nearly used up the last tree, and the logs i have left are small and require the jig i made last month. So i am good to go with all of that. Preaching podium I had a unique piece from the previous mango tree, it is a log that has 2 large branches that branch off, i kept the branches on purpose and cut them to serve as legs and the log looks like a trunk. I always planned on making a podium out of it, but finally decided how to make the top, out of a bunch of scraps from the old roof. Literally the very last scraps i had, and mostly unusable, but i put them through my machine, glued them together, again through the machine, and glued into a larger panel, I did some wood carving on the under side, and the top is perfectly flat, it looks great, and fits with the rustic nature of the podium. Its very heavy, but i like that. I even carved in 2 handles so i can rock the podium while i am preaching, leaning it forward onto the 2 large branches. There is a rear leg i had to add in for extra support, I put that right into a knot that appears to be a previous branch cut off a long time ago, this keeps the natural look of it. I will have 2 wooden pieces i can put into the surface of the podium to hold notebooks and my bible, and a gap in between will hold a pencil. I have thought about this project a long time, but was not confident to do it. I am sure that now is the right time, which makes me excited that God may have me preach soon. Coaster design In a whimsical moment i decided to ignore planning and straight lines, and go for something more random. I grabbed a piece of recycled plastic panel that i had made, drew a natural oval shape, and cut it out on the bandsaw, drilled holes half way through with 4 different sized forstner bits, and tried to make it look planned, back to the sander and buffer, and i had a coaster prototype i really like, a student said it looks like a tomato, which i actually think is a good thing, that means its not too crazy and still resembles order. It works great for collecting the massive amounts of condensation that drip off my cup here in humid thailand, making this a great and unique product we can sell eventually. This goes on the list. Other more geometrical shapes will be made too. Countries coloring book So I am getting slightly faster with the coloring books, but had a change of heart about it, I realized that the vast majority of information on these sheets is not about the kingdom of God, however useful the information is. So because this is a coloring book, each page will have a back, so each back will be a coloring page about that countries church history. This really was good for me. The history i uncovered about some of these countries is nuts. How the gospel spread into many of these countries is just amazing. Now the kids will be able to learn about it. The book has basic text now, but later, after i make it into a pdf, i will go back and add paragraphs with more details in the gaps using a pdf editor. This will be good for zooming, so that in case this is being used on a computer, the text is clear when zoomed in. That will make this a good digital resource for homeschooling as well. Single sheet poster style gospel tracts While i'm on the digital design train, I started thinking about going back and doing single sheet gospel tracts like i have done before. There are a few different ways i want to do them. First type i will do is basically a chunk of scripture but made fancy using typography. The second type would look the same style, but would have biblical truths summerized, and scripture references in small text above each statement. The idea with this would be that I could paint the theme of the whole of scripture, and then the person could follow the references in their own study, making this a lot bigger than just a single sheet. Conclution God is good, He is working in us in this place, and He has a plan. Thankyou for praying for us, and supporting us however you can. This month, I began to reevaluate our long term church planting goals. In the long term, our direction depends on the success of a church plant. Its important for me to zoom in and zoom out frequently, I get so focused on that one thing that will be good, and then forget to zoom out to see the bigger picture. I have an idea of what I am lacking, but please pray for clarity so that we are not simply creating a library that no body knows about. Needs Seems like july is the month I always spend too much. Lots of birthdays, and time off work. I hope that our plans to come next march are not thwarted. That's in 8 months, if they grant my petition, we can apply for a visa, and if that doesn't take forever, we will be on our way. We still need to raise the money for Abigails ticket (too late to ride for free) and travel expenses, I'm guessing now, but probably around 2000, so if you would like to support us towards that, then let us know. Conversations Had a conversation yesterday about the names of God, and had the idea to do a book in typographic style to illustrate the many names of God. It is interesting how a lot of the language we use as Christians, is nearly the same even after translation to very different languages. This itself is good evidence that our languages came from the same place. Sunday and Monday are derived from Sun day and Moon day for example, and in Thai we call Sunday and Monday Sun day and Moon day respectively. Lord is the same in thai as in english, being a pronoun for a king, but used as a proper noun if used by itself. God in Thai is the same generic word for deity, but Christians use it as a title for the one true God. I think this could be a great book. Fangs birthday We took a small day trip to a place in the mountains to eat. They had all kinds of structures to climb on, and it was pretty fun. Fang and my mom have the same birthday which is cool. I think she had a good time. World coloring book So I have been working away, trying to get down to one page a day in less than an hour a day, so far, I have 11 done, you can see below some examples. I am getting quicker now that I am getting the hang of it. It is a good project for me to use lots of graphic design techniques, and get used to doing them quickly. I can then take that and put it towards finishing other books I have left half done. I told myself I would do one elements coloring page per day as well, but I think that may be next months goal. Books of the bible book I wanted a way to introduce the entirety of scripture without reading the whole thing, for kids. So i figured, a book that emphasized the names of the books of the bible, gave a 1 sentence summary to its theme, and gives 4 short verses from each book that best sum up the gospel message in each book. The methods used for my coloring book could easily be used in this one, which is why i plan on doing it soon. Thicknesser sled I have a wood thicknesser and a bunch of logs hogging space that need to be processed. The slow method would be to cut one side off each log with the bandsaw and then I have a flat side to put through the thicknesser. I decided I could create a thicknesser sled with a bunch of threaded holes that threaded wooden pegs could screw into at different hights, creating a cradle that a log could rest in without wobbling as i put it through the thickesser. I made it, and it turned out very sturdy, as the threaded wooded dowels are an inch and a quarter thick each. I couldn't find anything like this online, so I think i may be the first to make this, at least using threaded rods. Because they are threaded, the height can be microadjusted, however, i will probably still use a dab of hotglue on each to keep the log seated properly. Then the top should be absolutely perfectly straight, and can be simply fliped over and put through to do the other side. also, an added benefit is both sides are live edge, so in the case where that is desirable, this is a great method. Dust extractor installation While i was at it, I added a 2 foot long stainless steal plate to the base to eliminate any inconsistency between the tables and the thicknesser. I also bought the cheapest dust extractor i could find and put some 3 inch pipe up to suck the dust while i am working. This will be good for the neighbors since their air conditioners are also on that side of the house, I don't think it really matters that much as the area is well ventilated, but I didn't want to risk it. Should save time with cleanup, and time is gold. Making vinegar I decided to do an experiment and make some vinegar. If it works, this is the beginning to lots of different fermentation experiments, which will be good for fangs business. Right now, i am just using raisons, as they seemed to be a recommended choice to get started. Dehydrated fruit is best, as it is mold resistant. I will be making fruit leather with my dehydrator as well, so I will likely make vinegar with the scraps as well. Bakery Business was not doing so hot for fang last month, but it does seem to be making a slight comeback, she made 120 dollars yesterday in orders, which of course is not everyday, but it is nice to see. Homeschooling I printed out a mathbook for calvin, and he finished most of it by himself, reading the instruction and completing the work. He did get lazy though about half way and started guessing lol. Still, I think it is really nice to see that he can do work by himself like that. Abby is enjoying class, and grabs my hand and pulls me into the classroom. She is an eager learner as well. Both of them take correction very well, with a smile, and don't have any problem laughing at themselves. Maybe it is because they are mixed, bilingual, multicultural. Conclution God-willing we will plant a church here someday soon. Until then, we will be the church. I pray that this would be the inclination of all believers, especially believers in places with no viable bible believing church. Thankyou for praying for us, and hopefully we can come see you all soon. The bakery continues to struggle, and I am busy trying to get caught up with all my work. The kids are doing well, and are a joy in our lives. We know that all things will work out in the end. A missionary came by the bakery today to network, but I was sleeping upstairs, which I never do, but I was abnormally exhausted from a morning of errands around town. Makes me wonder why I was sleeping on the rare occasion to connect with a fellow missionary. A lot of strange things like that have happened the past week, and it feels like God is blindfolding me and sending me into a maze saying "trust me". I do trust him, but I don't always know why things happen the way they do. I believe that it is for our good, even if it doesn't seem like it. Needs We are tentatively planning on coming next march. That's in 9 months, if they grant my petition, we can apply for a visa, and if that doesn't take forever, we will be on our way. We still need to raise the money for Abigails ticket (too late to ride for free) and travel expenses, I'm guessing now, but probably around 2000, so if you would like to support us towards that, then let us know. Countries coloring fact book I was on a hunt for a coloring book with the shapes of all the countries to color in, it just seemed like something that would already exist, and it didn't, so i decided to make it. I have now expanded an svg file of the shape of every country so that i could make outlines of each of them using a macro program i put together so make quicker work of it. Now to put things short, i have the outline of each country ready, and a flag for each country, which will be put on the same sheet, and I found several other tools to help create coloring images relevant to each country. Important information will be demonstrated, like percentages of religion, and the international nature of Christianity. Positive and negative aspects of each country will be shared. America will be criticized for hyper liberalism, Hollywood, etc, and China will be praised for producing cheap products for the benefit of the world. I will try not to be too bias, but give useful information in short format. Periodic Table coloring fact book In a very similar manner, I wanted to create an elements of the periodic table coloring book, which has been done before, but I want to do a good quality free version. I will include quotes from the scientists who discovered each element, regarding their belief about God, and their motivation in science. This is not applicable to all of them, but most of them, which I find very refreshing and I want the kids to have a grasp of. Other than the element itself, various things that are made of the element will be on the sheet to color in. Other books I put some more work into the types of propaganda book, and the history of idolatry book, mainly so i can use them with my son. Cabinets I made a pretty cool cabinet with slots for my crates to slide into like drawers. It is super great, and I can take the crates out, move and stack as needed. I put a laminated plywood top on it made from a bunch of my useless plywood scraps. I actually used up those scraps in this build and it turned out cool, but it was difficult for a few reasons, managed to make it work though. Conclusion It felt like a bit of a slower month, but I did actually get a lot done. We are working hard to balance and be productive in our ministry, work, and parenting. I can't understate how important it is that we not neglect one for the sake of the other. That is a typical missionary mistake. Thank you for standing with us as we continue to labor for the gospel here in Thailand. This month has been pretty normal, not sure what to say here, but we have been busy and the month has passed quickly. God has been good to us even through difficulties, here is an update into our life and mission. Needs There's about 7 months left until we hear back about my petition for Fang, then we will need to apply for a visa, which should be granted if the previous step is complete, especially considering Fang is the mother of 2 american citizens now. Then we will need to purchase tickets, which will be for 1 more child now, since Abby is too old to go for free now. So we are trying to save for that, but it is very difficult. The economy here is taking a hit due to terriffs, its not all bad, eventually, in the long term, we should benefit from american goods as well, which are longer lasting. Chinese vehicles are the newest thing for example, and they barely last a year before they start falling apart. Anyway, I think it will turn out in the end, but the world economy is going to have to deal with a major shift which could take several years. During that time, things will likely be hard for us here. All our customers were thai today except one japanese teacher, 5 years ago this would have been very odd. Foreign teachers are choosing to teach in other countries on account of lower pay and unfair treatment. The only requirements for teaching english should be that you are a native speaker, and have your tefl. Thats how it used to be, now they require you to have a university degree, and that in education, as well as an additional thai teachers lisence which is a big bag of bologna. Foreign teachers who have gone without a raise for 10 years have packed up and moved to other countries. That takes a toll on Fangs business because she used to sell primarily to foreign customers. God has been good in that she has seemingly gained local customers at the same rate that foreign customers have moved out. However now that the economy is taking a turn towards hard times again, people are not eating out as much. I am hopeful that other shops will close their doors, and we will likely take some of their business, primarily small coffee shops and bakeries that sell only cakes, but that remains yet to be seen. I am trying to get to the point i can start selling things, but again, I need to have enough of a selection, I have a couple dozen things now, but I am still not quite ready. Please pray about giving as the American economy takes a turn for the better. Thankyou. Conversations In one of my classes, we were reading a book about dolphins, and after we talked about the charachtaristics of the dolphin, the book explained that dolphins are more genetically similar to people and bears than they are to fish. I asked by students why that might be. I suggested that dolphins had been desgined to look like fish even though they are genetically different. I asked who reused an old design, and one student, knowing where I was coming from said "God is the designer". We talked about different examples of animals that have the same design features even though they are genetically very different. Eels and snakes, bats and birds, I think I might need to do another short childrens book on the topic. Memory verse songs This month I decided to put my sons memory verses to the tune of old hymns, in both languages. It is pretty fun, and doesn't take that long, a couple hours at most. So it is worth adding to my list of regular things to do. Once a week I will make a memory verse song. This week we are reviewing an older verse, so I will make a song for those verses we have already memorized as well. These verses are great talking points in class. Celebrating Pentecost The Apostles set an example for us by celebrating Passover, and Pentecost, and the other feasts commanded by Moses, and reaffirmed by Christ. This week we celebrated Pentecost, which is a celebration of the recieving the Law, a celebration that takes place 50 days after Passover (Easter), which is when the Isrealites were looking forward to a land flowing with milk and honey. Pentecost is also when we celebrate the recieving of the Holy Spirit, who writes God's law on our hearts, taking our heart of stone and replacing it with a heart of flesh. We celebrate by resting, and eating dairy foods. This celebration stands in stark contrast to the bitter herbs of passover. Passover is a celebration of Christs death and resurection, Pentecost is a celebration of our new life. Worksheets system I am working on adding to calvins homeschooling by adding other worksheets. I am a bit picky, and find myself making my own worksheets, which will eventually grow into a kind of workbook. For now, I plan on printing them, and giving them out for free to anyone who wants them. I will put them in baskets, free for the taking. I think its a simple side ministry. Potentially a useful tool for other homeschoolers in the area. Counters and shelves I have been building a counter for Fang, and it has taken way too long. I think I way overcomplicated it because I wanted to save a little money by using layers and layers of old scraps rather than just a couple layers of new wood. Whatever the case, it worked well, and I'll take pictures when its completely done and installed. Just got the legs glued on today. Concrete Molds Also poured a few different shapes of concrete molds which can be used to mold plastic over. I think they turned out well. I will do a few more next week. Other than making by own molds, I also ordered some bench press weights molds, and plan on making concrete weights to sell as well. I figure I can use any broken ceramics to backfill, and still keep with the recycled theme, without effecting the weight. Papercrete is obviously a no go for these. Renew Recycling I did a quick search and can't find any Christian recycling groups on facebook, so I think this is an opportunity to take the initiative and put a page out there for people to find. Other diy recycle groups on facebook are rediculously and unbearably woke. I feel like making the slogan something like "The world is not going to end because of climate change, but why waste perfectly good material God has given us?". I think there are lots of resourceful folks that would easily get on board if things weren't so loony. Conclution God is good, and we are blessed to be working where we are. Thankyou for supporting us in our mission. This month was full, but out of the normal routine. I guess that's a good thing, with time to think, rework how I am going to move forward. This is one of the beautiful things about the many Sabbaths God has given us, not just the weekend, but also holidays, holy days, to rest and remember his goodness. When we get so busy, we forget why we are working. Working is good, I am reminded how God came in the flesh and worked as a carpenter until he was 30, not just that, but as a fisherman too. He didn't need to work, and in the same way God does not need our work, however we were made to work. Our work should be purpose driven, not money driven, and the Sabbaths allow us to rest and realize not only what we are or should be working for, but also that God does not need our work. This was a good month for me and my family. Needs We still need to raise money for our trip to america, its still several months off, but we need to be preparing for that. Conversations I had a good conversation in class when reading a book about bugs, where I drew attention to the beauty of the insects, and their practical designs. I asked the students if they agreed that the insects look like works of art. They agreed of course, the photography was amazing. I then asked who the artist was. The conversation went on from there for a while. Thankyou for praying for these kids. Passover We have been doing Passover meals for the past few years. We believe that it is important to celebrate Easter like the Bible instructs us to. The Easter celebration was always a Passover celebration, however it has slowly morphed into something else over the centuries. We started by cleaning our house, from top to bottom, we got all the dust out of the cracks, and cleaned everything well. It is such a blessing and one with a good lesson to it. We always overlook just how dirty and messy things can get. But by focusing on organization, cleaning becomes much easier too, and this year it was a breeze. I think we nearly killed each other last year, or the year before, i can't recall, but this year went well, even with the 2 noise makers running around trying to get stepped on. In our lives, its no different, if we live disorderly, sin hides in the cracks and we will never find it. If we live orderly lives, sin is much easier to clean out, confession is less burdensome, and we are less prone to argue and pretend to be righteous. The meal is filled with meaning, more than just the bread and wine, we hide the unleavened bread and my son trys to find it, wrapped and buried in a very good hiding spot. It's not quite easter egg hunting, but he gets so excited for this time of the year. Afterwards he plays the bible game and goes straight to the last supper and tells me all about it. He got excited about it last year too, I am glad. Camping & Roadtrip We took a trip to a remote waterfall, and pitched a tent and camped their at night. It's quite a ways out there and most people don't know about this one. Calvin and Abby liked it a lot, but I don't think my wife felt the same way. Guess me and Calvin will go by ourselves next time. We also took a trip to the province south of us, it was nice. Cardboard organizers I have designed a box organizer system that fits in my crates, I use templates and a layer of thin new cardboard on the outside with a thick layer of recycled cardboard on the inside, they are super hefty and I really like them. I made some a year ago, but I updated the design, remade my templates, and made 20 more. Not really a sellable product, but its an interesting process nonetheless, and they will be used well. Again, aiding in organization and efficiency. Books As far as books go, I went back and worked on a book I had started about design as it was relevent, I spent my time writing on already started books. I did a lot of work creating textures as well. I am always working on the books, but also wonder when I will finally stop tinkering. The thing is, the longer I do it, the more I learn, and then I go back and tinker and tweak the previous books. Not sure what I will do when I start finishing them. Might need to find a publisher. Could be something to do when I am home. Who knows. I am fine just giving them away for free but that may not be very responsible. I spend a lot of time praying on this one. Conclusion We continue to work, whatever God has given us to do, we do it for Him, for His glory, and not for ourselves, for a mission. Occasionally we rest and remember that God doesn't need us, we are here to be images of His mercy and grace. We are the imperfect sinners saved by grace, passing it on. Thankyou for standing with us. We have been very busy this month, Both Fang and I have had an influx of customers. Personally, this school break, I have had to teach a few hours more than usual, which really means I struggle to get stuff done, but I feel it isn't that bad this month, but next month we are taking some time off, so I'll feel it then. Calvin has been memorizing scripture effectively, memorizing one verse in both languages per week. My 100 verse system is simple, effective, and time saving, so I'm taking note, and will do more things in this format in the future. Now I don't have to help him with the english verse, he reads, writes, and memorizes it on his own, but the thai is difficult for him, and its proving difficult to persuade him. Now he speaks thai well enough, but reading is a challenge, i feel like he is a miniature version of me lol. Abby seems to be picking up on the thai much quicker, hopefully that transfers to reading and writing too. Calvin's grandmother continues to help him memorize scripture, which effectively means she memorizes the scripture first. I pray that she can't get it out of her head at night, and that when confronted with the truth of God's word, through the power of the Holy Spirit, she receives God given faith. Needs We need to continue to raise support for our trip to America, which has been postponed for several months. If you would like to support, you can use the usual means, or send me a message for a link. I think there is a link on the website as well. Thankyou Conversations Had a conversation with a parent the other day, he said "Kaison, you have brainwashed my son." to which I was a little bit taken back, but then he continued "he wants to immigrate to america now" i sighed in relief, silently of course. We had a good conversation about here and there, and then he asked me "is it true that thais are really nicer than everyone else?", i thought for a second on how to respond without being too direct, considering also a possible opening for the gospel. "All people in this world we live in are sinners, imperfect, and selfish, thais are no different. I made the mistake early on in thinking that thais are nicer than everyone else, but most of that is group think, its what I was told, in combination with smiling faces and a unique greeting style that was still new to me. I now think that the reason thailand is called the land of smiles is mostly because when a thai is afraid to speak english, smiling is their first reaction, fearing inability in communication might lead to something bad, the smile is a survival mechanism." to which he agreed. "that could be". We didn't talk much more, though I thought we might. I thought it was a good example of how we must be ready at all times, looking for that opportunity to sow a seed of truth. In this case it was "thais are sinners too, no one is perfect", which is the first part of the gospel message. I did have a brief conversation with him about my pool table pingpong table conversion and my wood finishing technique a week later, so I know he was not overly offended. He also paid for an additional course for his daughter. I have scared people off here with that "everyone is a sinner" line, because in thai, it is extremely offensive, but I can not shy away from it, because it is true, and a needed message. I had several good conversations about God and who God is again, one of which went on for a while and I thought deserved a note. After the conversation I went running in the park, and while I was at my peak point of stress, I realized I could make a simple game to help drive home the point. I mention that below. Plywood holder I have a list of things I am going to make with plywood. I have completely used up every last bit of scrap I have. Normally I would buy plywood from a local shop here, but last time I did that, we discovered their entire stock was infested with termites. Now that I know how to bait termites, we will never have termites here again, I may just start a termite bait business on the side, seeing as many people are clueless as to how to do it, and how effective it can be. The guy the church paid to do it for us charged was too much, and I know that now, since my termite bait stations have absolutely no more termites eating the bait, and a tone of uneaten bait left over. Its a bit surprising since they eat that bait, absolutely swarming for almost 6 months. I know it isn't as expensive as the other guy charged. It is also pretty easy to do, and doesn't take much time or material. The bait comes from Australia, so that's the expensive part. Anyway, I decided to buy the plywood in bulk from a store much further away, they are more like a home depot, but smaller. They keep their wood off the floor. I bought enough to complete the pingpong table top for the pool table, and also cabinets and shelves I have planed. I bought some thin mdf for cutting out reusable templates which should same me time in the future, making jobs repeatable. I will also make an additional counter and shelves for Fang in the storage room using a techique i tried before and it worked really well, quarter inch plywood with thin concrete board glued on top with acrylic adhesive. With a frame underneath, it then becomes a very ridged surface that is completely waterproof and paintable, perfect for a mess room or a work room. I will do it again for the counter next to the sink that the dish drying rack sits on, its always wet, and this settup will be perfect. But with all this plywood, I needed a holder, so I thought it through, and after finding literally nothing i liked from the internet, I came up with a way to hold several sheets of plywood flat to a flat wall, standing up, with a metal pipe that uses gravity to hold the sheets upright. It works surprisingly well, but I added a safety rope just in case. So now I am organized, and ready to finish some things up around here, all of which help us improve efficiency. New Papercrete stools I got my new papercrete stool molds put together, 2 barrels with small pipes as spacers, a layer of thin sheet metal, a space for the papercrete, another layer of sheet metal, a giant pvc pipe in the center. This allows the pipes to be slid out easily, then the sheet metal can be easily removed, then the papercrete can dry in place. There is a big hole the size of the center pipe, which makes sure it is centered, and also allows for some drainage. I am a bit worried about rusting so i painted everything with several layers of metal paint. I'll let you know how it goes. The hole in the middle will be storage space, and a way to make the units modular, and also, it saves on material (which i am not concerned with now, but might be later) Origins game So in this game, I will have a deck of cards with everyday objects that may have an interesting origin story. A book, a pencil, a leather belt, a metal screw driver. Then the student has to say where it comes from. The book comes from a printing factory, which gets paper from a paper mill with gets logs from a saw mill which gets trees from a logging forest, whose trees came from God. The object of the game is to see how many steps you can list between the object and God. I think it is practical, teaches a number of things, and will be great for both intermediate and advanced english students alike. Civilizations and their risings and fallings book We often talk about different peoples and who they are in class. I often point out that the Egyptians are not like they used to be, or the vikings are not like they used to be, because they are christian now. Usually there is a fun story there. Sometimes the civilization either completely collapses, or takes an evil turn, instead of Christianizing like Rome for example. So this will cover those as well, what happened to the human sacrificing Mayans? What happened to the Chinese, specifically the cultural revolution and the rise of communism. This book will be a simple book, with easy to read English for beginner readers, but hit on the main point, that only God can bless your people for a thousand generations, but things have to change first. Origins of Easter book This is going to be a look at what Easter actually is, Passover, and what passover is, a look at the Seder plate, and the symbolic meaning given shared by Jesus at the last supper. It will also explain that easter is not pagan as some claim, but comes from the Germanic word for the springtime, and in most languages is still called pesach (passover), or some variant of the hebrew, greek, or latin, and why we should celebrate the feast like Jesus commanded. This is going to be more of an educational book for little kids, that may not know what easter or passover are to begin with, which I hope helps demystify the strange traditions of the Christians. Conclusion Lot of work done, lot of work to do, pray for me to be effective, efficient, and balance everything properly. Thankyou for your continued prayer and support. This month has passed very quickly. We have all been very busy, and we have got a lot done. One of my students apparently got first place on a city wide english test, and her mom made a facebook post about the tutors she sends her daughter to. She is a very outgoing girl, but I was surprised because she is not my best student. I do have high hopes for her though. We have had several people contact us this past couple weeks, and the calls keep coming. Normally during school break I struggle a bit, but this year might be different. My groups are nearly full. Fangs business is doing better this month as well. I am glad things are picking up. I have nearly finished my st. valentines book, unfortunately I have been busy so i guess ill finish that next year before valentines day. I started a simple book on the order of things, what came before this and that, kind of taking things back teaching simple history back to the beginning of recorded history, and then the beginning of it all, ending with God. I want kids to recognize that there is nothing before God. This book is inspired by my frustration that so many people pose the idiotic question "who created God". God is the beginning, and he is the end. Especially for little Buddhist kids who may not yet understand the concept of God, its a great opportunity to lay a good biblical foundation. Calvin has also been learning to play the Ukelele that Fang got him for Christmas, he is doing great, soon he will be leading worship for us. Needs Our trip is now postponed as we wait several more months for fangs papers. We may end up waiting longer as embassies are reportedly reducing staff at this point. This means we will need to buy one more ticket, one for Abby, as she will be too old to ride for free. Fortunately we have time to raise the money. I think the government website said an estimated 10 more months of waiting. Conversations Yesterday while I was teaching I found myself once again oddly thanking God that my students use his name in vain…. Because it always gives me an open door to speak the truth. I'm not sure if i should pray like that but I do. This time an advanced students little sister was joining his class, so when she dropped the lords name in vain, I asked the students what God means, and the older brother explained to his sister, and then we talked about the omnipresence of God, and how we can talk with God any time. I have had this conversation multiple times with my students, but it still caught me off guard when the boy said "I talk with God all the time". I hope he does. I taught the boy to read by myself, it only took him a month to catch on. I hope I can figure out a way to get him to read the bible. Pray for him and his sister. Conclution I believe that if we faithfully share the gospel in Thailand, Gods people with come forward. We don't know who they are but that is the testimony I have heard often here. So pray that we would find those sheep and disciple them. Thankyou for your prayer and support. It's been a busy month, we just went in to extend my visa, which went well I assume, they asked for even more papers this time. Seems like every time they change what they want, and how they want it. In the old days, Thailand saw the value of missionaries and gave us life long visas, that ended in the 70's however. I may be too hopeful, but if our president plays his cards right, he will also benefit Americans living abroad, returning long term visas and long term residence visas for Americans. Conversations I don't really know how to reflect my ministry here without showing you, so I guess the best way is to give examples. There are more than these, but It's hard to share everything, and my memory is limited unfortunately. Yesterday I had a very good conversation with my students about the bible, we were looking at a diagram of a castle and talking about the different parts, the draw bridge, the moat, the stable, the chapel, when I explained what a chapel was, they asked more questions, I explained that a chapel is a small church where people come to learn about who God is, and how to properly worship him, its a place where we read and study the bible, the oldest complete book in existence, and the first book to be printed on a printing press, and the first book printed in the Thai script as well. Then they asked what languages the bible was in, and I explained it was in every language, so that everyone in the world could read it. They laughed and seemed to enjoy asking if about if the bible was in this or that language, one student said "is the bible in gibberish too?" and i gave in, "you got me, its not in gibberish, and it should never be" The rabbit with his foot cut off is continuing his usefulness in explaining the silliness of superstitions, we often take turns sharing silly superstitions that people have. I shared how I believe that lucky charms hanging in your cars rearview mirror will likely put you in more danger not less, because you depend on an idol for protection instead of following the lines on the road. I explain that God is a God of order, and He loves those pretty white and yellow lines. Sign production I actually redid the christmas sign for a 3rd time, and nailed the method this time. Printing on normal printer paper, glueing it to the wood, using a roller I made and a sheet of pp plastic to flatten it out perfectly, letting it completely dry, then coating it with several coats of matt lacquer, which really made the colors pop, which looks about like it would if it was printed on photo paper, but it is adhered to the wood perfectly with wood glue. I bought some photopaper sticker sheets for cheap as well, and made some stickers which turned out really really well, which makes me want to go that direction too, and of course the tshirt screens, we decided that now is a good time to start screening shirts and hats and dresses for the bakery. I will make shirts for the kids that say "I am thai, please speak thai with me" as well, because folks like to confuse my boy with broken english, and its taken him a long time to realize that they don't really speak english. I will make lots of other catchy shirts, many with gospel messages, and our bakery shirts will likely have that Jesus quote "I am the bread of life" about never hungering again. I am in graphic design mode recently, so in between doing the kids books, I can work on signs, stickers, and so on. Cans I am nearly finished with my can spinning rock tumbler machine, all the parts ready, only need to assemble. Then I will use up the tin cans saved up from the part decade. Not really as many as you would think, but its a few boxes. In their painted form, and with lids they are super cool and useful, so hopefully I can crank out a lot in a short amount of time, and make a the profit I think I will. I have a method for making wooden and rounded metal lids for them that really help increase their value. But even so, I will be selling them cheap. They are desktop organizers. With one type of can I will be stacking and making them into stools, its a method I tried years ago and it worked well, the stool is lightweight and because there are so many cans, they hold weight easily. The glue hasn't loosened even after 10 years, so I think its a valid way to connect them quickly. I will be making wooden tops for the stools. With old spray cans, paint striper removes the branding, a grinder takes the bottom off quick which is the rounded metal lid for other cans i mentioned earlier, it fits perfect. Then the spray cans can be fitted with a e27 bulb outlet using a plywood insert, and then made into desktop lamps. This is an existing style I have seen a lot, and will be a bit more profitable. Hymnal Still working on it, almost got everything listed out, there are quite a few I want to include. This is the biggest project I have ever attempted for sure, so please pray for my sanity. Next step is to go through an carefully find and remove any doubles which are extremely common when working with hymns, everyone has their favorite version. In the end I would like to include every version of each hymn. I am going for comprehensive but neat. I won't include any hymns from people like Wesley, even though I like some of his hymns, his theology was not solid. If the writer has solid theology, then his songs will reflect that. I hate nothing in church more that getting to that one song that says something stupid or easily misunderstood, and I have to nudge my wife, honey don't sing (she is often quicker than me on this though). Phone My daughter found my phone and dropped it on the floor, so this was an answer to prayer, I was needing to replace the battery, but they have to remove the screen to do so, but since the screen needed replaced anyway, this worked out well. Now I can use my phone with an audio interface to make some recordings, not sure what I will do first or if i will find the time to do so, but it is an option on the table now. Calvin is getting clearer with his speech, so I may try recording some of the songs I have made for kids, having him sing them. Then the graphics for the video will be easy I think. I think I'll focus on audio only for now. Bakery Fang has decided to invest in a different kind of advertisement through a company that has advertised for us for free a few times before, and we have always done well after that, gaining many new regulars. The bakery basically runs off of regulars which is good but also probably means that we are not reaching out and finding the new customers like we should. Advertising on Facebook is not as great as it used to be, so please keep that in mind when you pray for us. Conclusion We have a full plate, lots to do, and I believe this is a blessing. I have a sign on my wall that says "didn't get everything done today? Praise God." Someday we will employ believers, we will have many more customers, we will have a busy shop selling all kinds of things, we will have homeschool groups, and church groups, and rock climbing clubs, and recycle it yourself classes, and youtube channels, and useful books covering a number of topics. It all starts here. Thankyou for supporting us as we move forward. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, hope you and your families have had a wonderful time. We have had flooding which reduced the temperature quite a lot, we were hoping for snow, but its Thailand, maybe next year. Calvin and Abby opened presents on Christmas morning, Calvin got Legos, Abby got Duplos, they both got some cool books, I got some tools, and Fang got an automatic massage machine and a couple stainless steel pans with metal handles she can put in the oven too if she needs to. Calvin also got a Ukulele which i have been teaching myself so i can teach him. I already figured out how to play Amazing Grace, so I think we can do this. His fingers are really small but I think he will get used to it. We had a wonderful Christmas together. Before we came downstairs we read the Christmas story from Luke, and talked a little bit about it. We always did that when I was a kid, and I recommend it. It can be easy to loose sight of the reason for the season. On a negative note, We were notified that we have to wait 12 more months til we know if my petition for Fang is approved. This throws off our plans, and it means we will have to buy a ticket for Abby as well. Guess we underestimated how much time this can take. You can donate to our travel fund, and that will help us with the extra ticket when the time comes. We trust that it is for the best, and that God has better things planned for us. Perhaps we will celebrate Christmas in America next year. Christmas tree history sign I got everything ready to make the sign, and then found out the transfer paper I was going to use to transfer the images to wood were way old and no good anymore. So I bought some more and they just arrived and appear to be good. I have the perfect sized board and will be able to make a sign that will hang next to the tree explaining the meaning of the Christmas tree. I figure I will continue the habit and make signs and ornaments that help explain things during different seasons. I like using holidays as a means for sharing the gospel. It really becomes a thought provoking thing when everywhere they go and see a Christmas tree, they are reminded of the meaning. I may make signs like this in the shop for sale as well. I am highly considering making things to sell online as a way to jumpstart the 3rd business. This will help me by reducing the number of things i have to make in bulk, because my customer base is bigger. I have long planned on making small things so this works well. Christmas book revision and expansion Working on expanding the Christmas book. Until its done, i just use the pages as a slideshow in class, so its currently useful. Really had planned on having this done, but I have been really busy. Nonetheless, I've had lots of good conversations this Christmas season, more than normal. Reformation hymnal Have been working on the reformation hymnal a little bit everyday, So far the list is massive, and I am not sure how I will ever get it done. Pray for wisdom so that I know how to work towards completing this massive project. Renew shop branding I think I have finally decided on branding for the shop, I want to call it Renew, because the whole theme of the shop are things that have been made new, and of course the gospel message in that is that we need to be made new. From trash to treasure. "Born again home decor", I'm sure we will have fun with the slogans. It won't be too long before I start making things to sell on a regular. Pray for me that I will know how to do this. If we do it right, we will be able to employ other believers, and this will become an additional mission field for us. Thankyou again for everyone who supports us and I really do hope you have a great new year, in Him we can do all things for his names sake. |
AuthorMy name is Kaison, my wife is Kritti, our children are Calvin and Abigail, we are a missionary family living in Nakhon si thammarat Thailand for the longhaul. I want to start blogging regularly but pretty sure the posts will be pretty random about things i think are not being covered at all, or family related updates. So follow along and leave a comment, i love comments, thankyou. Archives
November 2025
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หนังสือเล่มเล็กสอนพระคัมภีร์ตามหัวข้
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