January 2025

 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.