March 2025

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.