Passed the health inspection with flying colors, nothing to it, they barely checked anything, however they brought 10 people, typical government spending i suppose. So now Fang has her papers in order, and has permission to do business in the city. I am hoping they don't come after tutorials next. My class is capped at 6 kids per class, so by current standards, i don't need a licence or anything, if classes get above a particular size, ill have to apply for a permit to open a school or something, and that can get hairy.
After passing the health inspection, we went on vacation. It was a very short overnight trip to a seaside resort that was somewhat affordable and honestly quite nice. I even set up my slackline and did some tricks, Calvin played in the sand, and Abby didn't fuss at all, i think she enjoyed being held the entire time. This vacation gave me time to reflect on the times i used to set up my slackline to share the gospel with those who would come to see. I spent time thinking about how far we've come, and ways where I've lost focus. Since i've got back, i've spent a lot of time thinking about how to be more intentional about sharing the gospel in my daily life, even outside the classroom setting, which i am comfortable with, whether hanging from a rope or eating a sandwich in the bakery. Teaching Teaching Calvin how to write has been a goal of mine this month. He picked up reading so fast, and now i just give him a couple m&m's as a reward, and he's back every day and never gives me trouble when i want him to read. Writing is giving me a headache however. It's teaching me patience. If i am too hard on the boy, he freezes up and its then nearly impossible to teach him anything. It has to be fun, easy, and at his pace. There is an important lesson, that every student will pick up different things at different speeds. That's part of why homeschooling is a great option, because it allows us to go at their pace. Teaching students how to read so they can pass their entrance exams was another challenge i had to face at the same time this month. Some of my students who speak english fluently, still can't read, so their parents had them study with me 1 on 1 until they got a bit better at reading. I made a good amount of progress with these students, and they passed their entrance exams and interviews. This is important for me long term, because i will continue to receive new students from their parents recommendations. Learning to lay a biblical foundation and build on that every class has been a focus this month as well. Students continue to come to me with questions, and i am able to build on what we have talked about. Small groups like this are vital i believe. Writing I've been working on a Missions re-evaluation mindmap, which has allowed me to put everything in its spot. It is helping me prioritize projects better, and remember why i am working so hard to do this or that. Using AI to help generate book art for the childrens books is something i've been playing with as well. It seems to work remarkably well, and I am excited to have yet another resource to utilize when trying to create artwork. I do like using older historical pictures when i can find them, and finding background images isn't that hard, and using Photoshop is a great trick too. This is just one more tool in my arsenal that i truly believe to be useful. And googles ai is likely to get a little less woke as well after all this pushback. I have found the bing ai image generator to be super good. After a lot of prayer and thinking through things i have decided to move back to tracts. I will continue to do the kids books, and the tracts will likely come much slower, but i do believe that there is a need for more. It has been extremely useful to have them to give people when i need them, and the concept is still solid, even if the content needs tweaking. I may even decide to add pictures or illustrations, even though originally i was opposed to this idea. I want to say that i believe that it is possible to do more, as long as i increase efficiency by organizing and systematizing enough. That has been a huge focus of mine this year. Abby will be crawling soon, so it will be much easier to get my work done, i remember this was the case when Calvin started crawling. The kids songs are coming too. I did get an audio interface to help me record higher quality audio. Hope we can make stuff for youtube that can bless a much larger group of people than my tiny influence here. With this stuff, it will have to be a focus on quality first, so i don't think we will be popping stuff out every month, more like once or twice a year. Making We did have to add a grease trap under the sink in the kitchen, we were told that every restaurant had to have one regardless of what the sell. So i bought one and installed it, which caused a the washing machine to flood our utilities room, so i managed to Jerry rig a pipe to flow only one way and close with there was backflow, and that did the trick, forced it all in one direction, no more flooding. Redid my 2nd commandment icon on my 10 commandments lighting fixture in my classroom, quick project but now it is an icon of a Buddhist idol instead of the golden calf icon i had before, which was confusing, and i think i wasn't as bold as i could have been. This should help eliminate confusion. I will continue to find ways to decorate my classroom with conceptual art that will help me to share an important concept. Worked on the treehouse a bit and now i'm almost done, maybe in a few more months i'll be completely done, it does belong on the back burner, because of what it is, but Calvin is growing up and the under side is still not finished, so maybe i need to buckle down and get it done. Built a roofrack on the vehicle using aluminum extrusion. Stronger, more useful in a wider arrange of applications, and cheaper. Didn;t take too long to make either. Now i can save money by hauling stuff on the roof by myself instead of paying the service fee to have things delivered for me. Needs We are planning on visiting home sometime around this time a year, next year, so we need to buy tickets and get passports for my children, and save some money for travel. It's been about 10 years since I've been home, so there is a lot to plan. Please keep us in prayers, we think we will stay for almost 2 months. Thankyou to everyone who supports us for this trip. Thankyou for your prayer and support.
0 Comments
This month has been a very busy, stressful, and boring month. I told my wife, after its all over, we are going to take a short vacation. First I had to extend my visa, which was just as stressful as usual, they changed the format that I need to follow once again, so it took a few trips back home to get it right, but Thank God, they accepted my papers, and now I just wait for my visa to get approval from immigration at another city to the south of us. After that a couple bureaucrats came and informed us that the health inspector would be inspecting our shop. So I have been getting the shop ready, installing additional lights, organizing, and deep cleaning.
Abby is doing well, she is 4 months old. She has been smiling more, and has developed a fascination with her older brother. Every time he comes near, she smiles real big. Other than that she is quite dramatic. I don't know if all little girls are like this, i never had sisters, but her behavior is so extremely different than her brother. I was so worried before Calvin was born, but he never gave us any trouble. I wasn't worried at all before Abby but she is quite the handful. As i write this, she is throwing a bit of a fit, and refusing to drink the milk that will make her oh so happy. Teaching I am really nailing it with my classes this month, I have a couple students who are returning every week to ask more questions. John said he wants to invent a time machine so that he can go back in time to see God at the big bang. I informed him that God is invisible, and God is everywhere, even right here, so you don't have to go back to the beginning of time to see God, you can talk to him right now. This young boy also brought the great question "Why did God have to become a man", to which i explained what messiah means, and why Jesus needed to die for sin. Another student went in detail about ghosts, asking what they were, to which i had the opportunity to explain that everybody has a spirit, and when our bodies die, our spirits do not, they will go on to heaven or hell, and we've had several good conversations about heaven and hell before, so that turned out nicely. When i am having these conversations, i take notes about things that work, and things that don't, so that i can improve my method in the long run. Ultimately method is not important if i don't pray for these little people. My heart needs to be in the right place when i am sharing with them. Writing Because of that question about ghosts, i have added to the list of ongoing children's books, a ghost story, specifically addressing that very question. At the end of the book, it will address the question, who is the Holy Ghost. I've been seeing lots of ghost books for kids recently, and little Thai kids love ghost stories, so i figured i would give it a go. I may include the parable of Lazarus and the rich man. As far as the other books, i have them at the top of my google keep list, but have been so busy with everything else that there is no way i can work on it now, i will get back to it as soon as the inspectors come. I have still been taking plenty of notes however. It's like running, or climbing, i just have to figure out the tricks that help me stay consistent. Making So one thing the inspectors are looking at is the LUX measurement of our lighting on work surfaces. Now, i personally don't think they will actually be very serious about any of this, but it is in the law, so i had to figure out how to get the lux up. Turns out, it has almost nothing to do with the brightness of the bulb, and almost everything to do with the fixture, and how much light it reflects to the surface. fortunately i have a system where all my hanging lights are hung on hooks and plugged into wall outlets i installed on the ceiling. This allows me to quickly rearrange. So the reason i find this important, is that i can now better design lighting fixtures out of papercrete like i have been planning all along, but with a better shape to them, a wider kind of flat cone shape. The light color of the material will be perfect for reflection, and it will have a very neat industrial look to it while being almost as light as dense foam. If i end up selling things online, i'll list a lux estimation. Needs We are still thinking about taking a trip back to the states before Abby is 2. It will be cheaper before she is 2 because she can sit on our laps. It is still tickets for 3 people which is going to be quite expensive, and also declaring citizenship and passports for Calvin and Abby will be about 200 dollars each. We will need to do that first, then apply for a visa for fang. I hope they give her a nice long multiple entry visa, seems like i heard some people get a nice 10 year visa. The american system is so weird. My parents have a travel fund for us, if you would like to contribute, you can message my mom. or send me a message is fine. Calvin walks around the house singing the national anthem, so i figure ill have him sing it to the people at the embassy when we go declare his citizenship. Thankyou for your prayer and support. Merry Christmas and Happy New Years. We had a wonderful Christmas celebration here at the Davis house. Calvin is old enough to get excited and go on and on about the Christmas tree, and his presents. He wouldn't take off his Santa hat for the whole month. He got plenty of presents, legos, toys, books, and even a couple big lolly pops from America that he has dreamed about for a while now. Abby got plenty of cloths and baby toys. Fang and I got plenty of goodies as well. My family sent a box of gifts from home. Its always really special because we get things we can't get here. I think Christmas is really about the parents. Its an opportunity for the parents to give. Its weird to be in the position of parent now, but very rewarding. Calvin was awkwardly quiet the whole day, an absolute angel, guess he figured he'd better be good or he'd loose all those new toys lol.
Planning When I'm thinking about next year, i would like to organize some kind of Christmas event. I've never organized events before, but i have the resources to, so i need to get around to doing it. The type of event i would be most capable of organizing might be english camp, a camping trip, a Christmas party, so on. Once i get in the hang of it, and know what to expect, and know what others expect, then i am sure ill feel more comfortable. Things like this are weird in Thailand. Everyone seems to be much more cooperate, meaning either everyone does it, or no one does it. My english class does well because its extremely common to study with a tutor after school in the province we live in. This is mainly because the school system is extremely inadequate. English camp, and Christmas parties are extremely common, but not usually organized by private teachers like myself. Churches do Christmas parties however and at least some unbelievers seem to come, maybe this would be a good opportunity to get all my students together for an event, and allow others to join in as well. Might even be good for business too. So that's where my head is now. The risk would be that having a specifically Christian event, might scared some customers off, but at some point i just have to take the risk, like i usually do, and loose a customer or 2 so that i can more freely share the gospel with others without fear. Might even gain new customers. I did get a new student last week who's name is the Thai word for Eve, so i will have to ask her if she is christian next time she comes, and if not, ill take time to tell the story of Adam and Eve for the class. Teaching This month was all about Christmas for us. I really tried to focus on explaining the true meaning of Christmas as much as possible whenever it came up. In previous years, i have had a bit of a bad attitude when it comes to Christmas traditions. This is largely because of preachers i like who are dead now, mostly puritans, took the position that we should not celebrate Christmas on account that it is not biblical. I find it a bit ironic that they did not celebrate Easter the biblical way, which in most languages is still called Pasach, or Passover, and is a biblical celebration where we partake in the Lords supper, as he partook in it at his last supper. So hypocrisy aside, I understood the reason for their position to be the inclusion of pagan traditions like santa claus, and Christmas trees, and that evil star at the top must be satanic right? Well, Turns out none of these are pagan at all. I think it is useful to share the story of the Christmas tree, how St. Boniface chopped down the idol, the Oak of Donar, and in its place grew a fir that represented a new life separate from idolatry. Especially to the shop keeper down the street that has a Christmas tree set up right next to their enormous Buddha statue that is as large as my son. So conversations went on this Christmas season, with strangers, customers, and students as the opportunity presented itself. This is the thrill and joy of my job, problem solving, like i would when i am making something new, and figuring out how to make it repeatable, with custom jigs and templates. Its the same way when i am sharing the gospel, figuring out how to start the conversation, or better yet, get them to start the conversation. I get better and more efficient at it in time. I really enjoyed this Christmas season. Writing Finished the Christmas book i think, its in digital format for now, but i haven't printed it yet. I still have some ideas about how to make it better, so its usually best if i sit on these for a while while i work on the gospel book again. I did pull up a project from a while back i was working on, its called Male and Female, its a look at different animal species and how God gave Male and Females different roles, and it ends will us. I believe i will possibly redo this or add to it to include the role of Children. I believe it is important to affirm a child's natural male or female tendencies. The educational system we grew up in doesn't work very well because it caters to girls, and even this is artificial. Boys end up thinking they have ADHD and medicating, and then doing better professionally, and girls end up thinking they are super successful in school and even university, but then struggling in the professional world. I believe this is primarily because we don't teach boys and girls about their natural tendencies and how to use them properly, so boys end up overly aggressive and act out, and girls end up trying to be more aggressive like boys, when they should embrace the power of a gentle, caring, and precise hand that God has given them. Again, i don't want to say too much in this book, rather show how different species behave from a scientific standpoint, and allow the children to recognize that they also have the same tendencies, and this is not a bad thing. Making A bit weird this month, but i created several templates for cutting boxes with precision and speed, it took several attempts before i got something that worked well and fit inside my existing crate system the way i wanted, but i got it working well, and i will likely make them stackable as well. I am able to make 10 very solid cardboard boxes that have extremely crisp corners due to being 2 layers thick, within an hour. They are very sturdy its unreal, turns out laying cardboard makes it nearly 3 or 4 times as sturdy. I also tries something new, i rolled cardboard into a stool. It was super easy, but next time i will tape the boxes together into a single strip before i roll. This used up 3 years of diaper boxes that i had saved up because the boxes were super crisp. All things i could make easily and sell in the future when i am ready, and in the meantime, they are useful for us here in the shop. I also plan on using the same template method to make Christmas ornaments for next year, as gifts, or to sell. Needs I will be extending my visa very soon, so please keep us in your prayers. I am thinking about a trip home, I don't know how or when, but we probably need to do it in between children (before we decide to have another) which means here in a year or so. That means Abby will be 2. We'll need to save up, and it will cost quite a bit to get a visa for Fang, and Calvin and Abby's american passports. So please pray for us, that we will be able to when the time comes, whenever that is. Thankyou for your continued prayer and support. We are ready to start this new year rolling, and we hope the best for you and your families as well. An interesting month it has been. We hope you all had a happy Thanksgiving and we wish you a merry Christmas.
Teaching \\tThe first week of the month, a lady walked in and sat down, we handed her a menu, and she said she wasn't here for a sandwich but was here to ask questions about the bible. I have a sign on the door, that says bible study on Saturday, which i thought might attract other believers. Thai folk are usually so timid, its unusual to see an unbeliever who wants to join our bible study. I have had many good conversations with customers or parents of students who have taken tracts off my shelf to read, but this was a bit surprising. She continued very directly and asked me a ton of good questions, and i answered them for the next few hours giving her the tracts that would be good at addressing her questions in more detail. She continued her conversation with fang as i had class, she informed fang that she had to become a prostitute to pay off her moms dept. She said she was currently living with a monk in a temple, from what she said, this head monk was more like a gangster than a monk. She was also apparently engaged to be married to a Muslim man with multiple wives at one point. Her stories seemed a bit far fetched, and fang and i were not sure if we could believe what she was saying, or if she was up to something else. Regardless, her questions seemed genuine. The next day she came dressed like a prostitute. This made me uncomfortable, but i picked a seat further away, that was facing out the window of the bakery. I continued to answer questions, teach, and explain the gospel to her. She informed us that in a few days she would be moving to hatyai in the south and that she believes that God called her to our house to hear the gospel from us. She said she was ready to take her own life the day before she came to see us. She said she would find a church in hatyai. She hasn't come back since, so i take it she probably moved south. I hope that her faith is genuine. This situation has helped me think through the importance of having older christian women, in this case, fang, who can teach the younger women. So, going forward, we'll be a bit more prepared for situations like this. Fang wants to call her and possibly continue discipleship over the phone. I think that would be a good idea, i know there are more churches in hatyai than nakhon, but there is still a prevalance of false christianity in thailand, and i am always concerned about that. \\tAs far as my english class goes, i've been using the random word generator and other tools as conversation prompts, and using these to talk about gospel topics. last class i had, i spent half an hour talking with a student about the meaning of christmas. Christmas- the coming of the savior king. Writing \\tI've gotten a few pages illustrated in my gospel book, and there won't be that many pages when i start using it in class, i want to make it in such a way that i can add as many or few pages as i want for different groups. The christmas book is more wordy, perhaps for an adult to read to a child, and i think i've settled on using historical antique photos edited to be more like black and white line art. This, i hope will give the book a vintage feel, and perhaps i could print it on some light brown paper. I'm trying to get it done by christmas. The pictures and stories have already been useful in class. My favorite is the story of st. boniface and the chopping down of the tree of thor, and the small fir that grew in its place. Martin Luther however popularized bringing the evergreen tree inside and decorating it. There are idolatrous trees all over thailand, there are also christmas trees lighting up shops throughout the city, and people are oblivious to the meaning. Hoping this christmas will be a season of shedding light on these things. Making \\tIt's been raining a lot and termites worked their way inside, and got into the pizza boxes under fangs counter. I think i got them all before they invaded the rest of the house. I also purchased 4 giant containers for keeping my shredded paper that i will use to make papercrete things to sell. 6 years of shredding cardboard and all 4 of these giant containers is full, actually 3 filled with shredded paper, and 1 with wood shavings from my thicknesser. I figure i can use those shavings the same way, we'll find out soon enough. Next step is to build a few molds for papercrete furnature, and use up as much as i can, as quickly as i can. That will probably be in next months newsletter. I also did more electric work for the neighbor, his business got struck by lightning and several lights went out. We decorated for christmas too. Planning \\tWe plan on continuing to share the gospel with others, especially our customers, who are our captive audiences. We plan on developing and creating resources that are useful for sharing the gospel and educating children. We will continue to grow our businesses so that they can eventually become a safe workplace for other believers, where we can create somewhat of a continuous church enviorment. We will continue to take things one step at a time, planning as we go, being faithful with the responsibilities God gives us at any given moment, and remembering to rejoice and worship continuously, always being thankful for the goodness of God in our lives. Needs \\tWe need to annialate the termites. Im working on various solutions. It seems if its not termites, its rats, if its not rats, its cockroaches, if its not roaches, its termites again… Living in the tropics… lol. I am so thankful for everyones support, especially during this holiday season, because i was able to put presents under the tree for Abby, Calvin, and Fang, and i'm sure they will all enjoy what the got. We are almost caught up on the bills too. I forgot to mention, my vehicle got stuck in 4x4 drive, and i couldn't take it out, but it turned out to be a peice of hose that needed replacing. It cost me 6 bucks, so that was a huge answer to prayer. This vehicle is awesome. \\tSo in conclusion, God is good, and we are blessed to be in a position to preach of his goodness to a people that doesn't know him. Thankyou for praying for us and supporting us. Another month in Thailand, an adventure as usual. This month i have had chest pains all month long, and after a full days wait at the hospital, they informed me it is just muscle pain from awkward work. So i guess i just put up with it. My daughter is starting to show her personality, and she likes to sit with me now, I was worried before, but its nice to know she likes me. I have to remind myself to do the same things with her as i did with Calvin. At the same time, i've been giving extra attention to Calvin, and he has become quite the daddy's boy. He is doing well, and is reading by himself and educating himself when i am busy. That's really ideal because homeschooling won't work if i have to teach 8 hours a day. I have been working on a few newer projects and ill share those with you. Its a bit nerve racking because starting new projects when i have unfinished projects feels like i am increasing my workload, but i have finished several things and i do have the ability to take on new projects, especially to keep things balanced between work and ministry (which are often intertwined, but important to distinguish for the sake of time management)
Planning What are my plans? Simply put, write children's books and create teaching materials available for free, that i will be able to use in class to more easily share the gospel with the kids using their own local holidays. Teaching This month is Halloween, which i have never cared for, and i really prefer to celebrate reformation day instead. But here in the province we live in they have a special holiday that only a few provinces observe, the "tenth month festival" which is basically a day they put a bunch of scary looking mannequins out dressed like ghosts, acting out their sins. It was a bit shocking for me the first time i witnessed it, and i wanted to deem it a filthy immoral display of paganism, which it may be, but its interesting and useful, as well. One display had a giant ghost with his private part all covered in fake blood to represent rape. These displays are open for children to see, so you can imagine why i think they are inappropriate, and why i won't be taking my children to the market or any public place where they might be displayed until they are much older. They are supposed to represent peoples relatives who are in hell, and are on display to warn people not to be like their grandparents, and also people "make merit" which is basically Buddhist indulgences, to try to relieve the dead of their pain in hell. This holiday is useful for a few reasons, first, it demonstrates an understanding that sinners go to hell, and yes, that means grandma too. Secondly it scares little kids, and they come to my class asking me about hell. So this year a girl asked me "what kind of ghost do american people become when they die?" refering to the mannequins on display, there is a specific thai word for those doomed to hell, and its typically used as a cuss word to insult other people here in Thailand, so ive taken the liberty of calling them "the damned" in english, which i thought was most fitting, and useful for explaining the gospel. Anyway, in my response to her, i said "I believe their is only one kind of damned person we become when we die, and it doesn't matter where we come from, all people are sinners, and unless our sins are paid for, we can not go to heaven" and after that the next few lessons, she brought more questions, and i was able to teach in more detail. So I spent a lot of time praying about this local holiday, and others, and how they can be used to share the gospel in a way easily understood. I've been preaching though my tracts on the sabbath as usual and i'm really trying to get to the point where i can read and preach with some level of fluency, im still a bit slow when i read thai. When i get good enough, i'll video the sermon and put it on the youtube for the rest of thailand to see. I doubt its going to be a blockbuster hit or anything, but i think other believers will listen at least, and thats a big part of where i want my ministry to go here. I want to impress the importance of being biblical, and that its not complicated, or something that only theologians can do (not that i don't value theologians) Writing Because of the conversation i had with my students, i have been working on childrens books about the 10th month festival and others, as a conversation starter to get the kids thinking about eternity. So i'll let you know how that is coming along in months to come. I will likely use the same format as my christmas books like "the real santa" that explains who st. Nicolas actually was and where our christmas traditions come from. Usually the kids are excited to know santa was real, and again, a useful book to share the gospel. After that book, they will never view a candy cane, stocking, or christmas tree the same ever again, and will be reminded of the gospel, and the true meaning of christmas when they see them. These local holidays are equally useful i believe. I also have been working on an expansible gospel explanation book for little children, Every page had a single icon-like illustration representing an important concept, and a couple sentences written in rhyme to explain the concept. First page explains God all powerful, all knowing, and everywhere at the same time. Second, creation, everything out of nothing. Third, the fall, and mans complete depravity. Forth, God's just punishment of sin. And the concepts can go on for a while, so i'll probably work on it for a while, using it in class as i go. I want to illustrate each page, so this type of textured icon is probably the easiest thing that will still look nice. I also finished a couple worksheets, and im sure these will be useful for my son, but i actually thing the books i mentioned above may be better for other kids given i have so limited time with them. I will continue to give it thought though, and regardless, ill keep making the worksheets with the verses on the side for my kids. Making This month i worked on taking my old plywood, cutting it into strips, and gluing it together to create a unique countertop for a shelf i will house my crates in as drawers. I'll show pictures when im done. I also took the broken back off an old sofa, took the metal frame and turned it into a foldable sock drying rack in the laundry room for my wife, and then i sewed up the cushion to make a sort of long pillow which will likely be some kind of cushion for the inside of the treehouse. I sewed up the backless sofa, and put the ugly seem to the wall, and after adding sheets, its my sons bed. I finished up his room and while it is small, only about 4 foot by 10 foot, my son really likes it, and has slept my himself on the bed i made for him without a fight every night. I was really surprised he cooperated like that. I also added some metal monkey bars overhead in the hallway between his room and ours because the space it only 2 feet wide, and i thought monkey bars would be cool. They are strong enough to hold my weight, and i made them with leftover metal pipe from my pipe clamps. I added some metal hooks and its like a walk in closet that is also a hallway to my sons very tiny room. I will eventually create a loft overhead that is much bigger, so that Calvin can sleep up there, and abby will get the backless sofa below. In maybe 3 years or so, or 2 if we can pull it off. Needs We'll make it this month, but it would be nice to have another regular supporter or 2 so that i can move a bit quicker with some things. I suppose the lord will provide as we need, and theres no use stressing over our situation. We don't have debt, and we manage to pay the bills, usually on time, not so on time this month however. If the landlord raises our rent, that will put us in a pickle for sure, but who knows, the economy could come booming back, and my beef jerky is selling well, making me an additional 20-50 bucks a month, so if i grow that, along with selling stuff i make, then that could be a good additional income. Please pray for us, that we would be faithful with what God has given us, and that our businesses would grow to provide for us, and others. Conclution God is good, and we are blessed to be here, witnessing what God is doing in thailand, and be a part of it too. This coming month, i hope i manage to get a lot done, and that i have more opportunities to share the gospel with the people around us, customers, students, parents, and everyone else who we encounter when we are out and about. Thankyou for your continued prayers and support. Hope everyone is doing well, we have had a wonderful month with the birth of our baby girl, she is healthy and all is going well. Its an exciting time for me now that we are a family of 4. Calvin's reaction was quite funny, at first he was taken back, then he cried a bit, and then he was happy and wanted to help with the baby. He actually did quite well, but did demand a lot of attention at the hospital. He normally doesn't get too close to daddy while he is sleeping, but now he wants to be held. I figured it couldn't hurt since he needs the extra attention while he adapts to having a sister. I figure he'll be a good big brother.
Planning Generally speaking, my plan for this month is to focus on the kids. Both my kids, and my students. I'll create educational content for kids, and i'll finish a bedroom for calvin. Writing So, like i mentioned before, i'll be focusing on the worksheets and other educational materials now that Calvin is to the age where he walks around the house singing, and likes to read books. I don't want to let this time slip away. I usually go into periods of focused work for several months and then switch things up, the tracts was a bit bigger, and im glad i did them, now im preaching through them on our sabbath, and im finding some small typos we missed in triple and quadruple checking, its funny how we can miss things. The tracts are good, and useful for preaching. Anyhow, this time period is going to be focused on educational material, and also the collecting and organizing of it, i want to focus my energy on what is lacking out there, so i need to put in effort to hunt down what already exists first. I also realized last month that the online tract that i was working on is not quite finished, and i want to make a children's version of that on my school site, and update the school site with recommended YouTube channels and apps, i will include some really good christian channels in there as well. Teaching A couple weeks ago i had a student mention idolatry again, so this time i addressed it a bit different, i expained my usual bit and then i told the child i would rather die that bow to an idol. I saw it click in his eyes, the seriousness of the matter. I think missionaries often get too comfortable, and forget the importance and seriousness of our message. So i will be using more dramatic language and examples from here on out to help my students advance into deeper subjects. Preaching on the sabbath, I have been preaching through our topical tracts. I'm getting more comfortable doing it, and with a tad bit more speed and fluency, ill be able to do it live on video i think. I am glad i spent the time making those tracts, it feels like I've written a year or 2 years worth of sermons, and i can use these to cover all the basics, and then when we are all the way through, i can start again. Its the beginning of a good system, we'll continue to make newer better updated editions, and eventually we may publish if that is the lords will. I'm not looking into that though, in fact, i kind of like the simplicity of what we have here. I want to encourage others who are capable of teaching to follow my example, and make topical tracts like this, that are 95% scripture with minimal explanation. Short, clear, and concise also reproducible, and distributable. Making This week i finished painting the ceiling in fangs room while she had her shop closed. It looks really nice now, and i can start on other things like additional shelving. I have quite a few projects going at the same time, just kind of babying them along until they are to the point i can really go with them. I don't want to spend too much time with these things, so i am focusing more on creating a system where i can efficiently reproduce products, than actually jumping in and doing it. I discovered termites in my paper outside, and i found that not a single termite had made it into a closed plastic container right next to the termite infestation, even though the lid was only loosely fitted. So this is an important step in papercrete product production, shredded paper storage. I now have a plan to get the situation contained, and away from my wood storage. Then ill make some molds that can be easily stored and stacked on each other, for pouring the papercrete to make containers, seats, and even garden bricks, lighting fixtures, and desk organizers. But im not in a hurry, its important for me to take my time, only buy whats on sale, or better yet, free. When i start actually producing products, i will shift and give more attention to speed. I also plan on using old glass soda bottles to bottle sauce and sell it. You can't buy ranch here in Thailand, but Thais love ranch, so that's one of the things ill be making. I also make a nice Tabasco like hot sauce ill be selling. I want to get into fermenting as well. All of these things in the name of trying to create more streams of revenue that can potentially be passed on to believers who work with us in the future. When we have a church, i really don't want to just do church once a week, i want to work together. That's the sense i get when i read through Paul's letters. I am going to make a side room that is next to our bedroom into Calvin's room as well this month. I have to take the back off a broken sofa to convert it into a bed, then add some drawers under the bed for storage, and add some racks in the hallway to hang our bags. I think Calvin will like having his own bedroom, and its about time he stops sleeping on our bed. Needs This month, i will have to put off paying the electric bill for a month, because we closed shop and class for Abby's birth. It will probably be fine, i did get a new student yesterday who was extremely happy with my class. He told his mom he doesn't want to go back to that other boring teacher lol. So that will help. All together, we'll be fine, we always manage to catch back up. God is good to us, and we have a house filled with joyful laughter most of the time. Conclusion God is good, and we are blessed to be able to serve here in Nakhon. Thankyou for your prayers and support. Hope everyone is doing well, we have had a wonderful month, and are currently waiting for the birth of our daughter Abigail, If our daughter is born today, that will be awesome because today is my sons birthday as well. Fang is sure she will give birth any day now, so please keep us in your prayers.
Planning So with the daughter coming, we have had to plan a lot for her birth. We are sleeping on an air-mattress downstairs so that Fang doesn't have to climb the stairs in the evening or when she is giving birth. Its a bit weird to sleep in my classroom, but it is comfortable enough for now. The biggest thing I am planning other than my daughters birth is my children's homeschool curriculum which i will borrow from in my English class as well. I am reorganizing my shop area which is going well, but turning into more work than expected. Writing So last month i mentioned the worksheets, and i couldn't find a starting point for this massive project, and for fear or starting int the wrong spot and feeling like i have to go back and redo things, i decided to mind map out an entire curriculum for my sons homeschooling, and highlight areas of that curriculum that i will include and specifically design to be included in class. So this includes much more than worksheets, and includes activities to go along with existing reading material, and short children's books i will need to write for not yet existing concepts, and songs and vocab card sets. I have written several good songs that i would like to expand, and i have several good card sets i can work with. I will work to build onto my existing system. The worksheets will serve to tie everything together, the reading materials, the songs, the vocab cards, etc. But because i don't know where to start, i need to finish the mindmap and then work off of the branch that i think is most important and most useful first. In my attempt to start making worksheets that aren't terribly boring, i came across a bit of software that will allow me to create coloring sheets from any image, and at the same time crop it into comic book like sections at the same time, so this is a great tool for making books, but also for making good looking worksheets quickly. Teaching I'll start with how calvins lessons are going, Calvin is a very curious boy and he loves words, and books, so I give him 1 potato chip for every 3 pages he reads of a childrens book, and 1 chip for every 10 random words he reads from the random words app. The app is useful because it cycles words we have already learned back into the mix, so this allows calvin to practice words he missed the last time around, while still introducing new words. He loves to play the bible game, his favorite story is "God's amazing promise" which tells the story of abraham. I'm not sure why he finds the story interesting, but i like it because God is calling me to focus of my family as well. I've been practicing preaching to my wife and son on the sabbath, working through the tracts. At first it was a bit weird, but i really like it now, a lot of scripture reading, and less opinion. I think this kind of simple sermon is key to church planting. The bible already exists, and you don't need a degree to read it. Heretical churches arise when people don't read the bible, but replace it with their fancy opinions and loud words. I think having uneducated readers in the pulpit is a good thing. Like ive said before, i think there should be some kind of standardized theology test, which i believe goes along with what Paul told timothy, but i think it should be simple. The duty of a preacher is to humbly relay a message, not preach a new one. As my reading gets better, and we get some more videos out there, we will work on promoting our group, and try to invite as many people as we can. As of now, its just us, and thats ok for now, as we obviously have a daughter coming soon. The space is big enough to seat 20-30 people though if God wills. Making I made calvin nuts and bolts out of wood, and 2 different styles of wrench to go with it for his birthday, and some boards with holes for him to put together and build with. He really likes the wrenches, and i knew he would because he can't keep his hands off of my wrenches. I gathered up all my scrap plywood, which is quite a lot more than i thought, and i started cutting it into strips that i will glue together to be a new countertop for some draws made from plastic drink crates that i got for very cheap and are compatible with some other smaller crates i have. They all stack up quite nicely, and i think it will really make organization much easier. Still haven't done the french cleat yet, but ill get to it someday. Needs This month i believe we are pretty well provided for, I have enough for my visa now, and also have enough for the bills, and the hospital room. Thankyou for everyone who helped us get to this point, it really means a lot to us. Conclusion God has been good to us, and we work to pass that on to others. Please pray for us, that we would be effective, and faithful. Thankyou. Hi everyone, hope you are all doing well. It is finally starting to rain here every other day or so, so we are doing well. About a month and a half til our daughter is born, we are super excited, and have most of the big stuff ready already.
Planning This month ive given a lot of thought and focus to organization, and efficiency. There are only a few of us, and we have to plan to increase efficiency. There are a few tools i like to improve efficiency, one is to create things that have multiple uses or applications, like the tracts. Another tool would be to create a system so that the item can me replicated quickly, using tools like a duplex printer to save time and paper. Sometimes making a machine can give me the practice i need to make another one in the future, like the shredder. Next machine i will make is an extruder, which will allow us to put in plastic and injection mold it into products that can be sold, with very little cost of materials, if any, and very little time spent in production. This is an attractive system because Paul needed a job he could do quickly and yet yield a high enough profit to fund his journeys. That's why i believe these things are important. I also found a good crate system, and successfully adapted it to crates of a different brand that are half the size, this is a perfect organizational system to help us do a lot of things, but still have quick and orderly access. These crates can be used as drawers, or stacked, though i haven't made the draw housing yet. Also, i found out that jif peanut butter lids fit on mason jars… perfect for rust free lids if you are storing something acidic or wet in the fridge. So, we have made some progress in our systems, and have planned for future organization. Writing I am almost done with the Church and Truth tracts, which i will wrap up this week i hope. I have decided to take a break from tracts for a while (until i think of a needed one) and focus on making worksheets. It occurred to me last week while teaching that most of my lessons are almost rehearsed, and so it would be very easy to make them into a worksheet. So my worksheets will each meet the following requirements: 1. They must have a hidden evangelistic easter egg, that will aid me in sharing the gospel in a small way during each lesson 2. They must each double as a coloring sheet 3. There must be 2 sides, easy and hard, so that students are forced to push themselves 4. They must have a phonics easter egg 5. A grammatical easter egg 6. An additional related fact easter egg 7. They must me intertwined neatly into one lesson. I don't typically use worksheets, but i think its time i start, it would be nice for the parents to have something to take home, and having a visual picture to review and build upon throughout the lesson and in the weeks to come will be handy. I've found that there is almost always a way to share the gospel, no matter what you are teaching. Lets say, i am teaching the little ones about the days of the week. The phonics sound we will focus on is the th sound, which is a sound thai doesn't have, so its a great place to start. I might explain the history of thursday being thors day, ask the kids if they know who thor was, and teach them how to pronounce the th, then i can explain that thor was a false god of the violent vikings, before they became christians, and that even those english in england were influenced into worshiping an idol. This is actually a really helpful lesson, because it doesn't put my people on a pedestal but rather brings us down to the level of idol worshiper too. Then it may click that they can be saved from their dark religion. Just an example, this kind of rabbit trail is useful when teaching language, because language is all about connections between ideas and things, ultimately anything that can help us remember a word or in this case, even a sound like th, can be helpful. I might even add in interesting historical facts like the modern day Scandinavian countries have lost their th sound, but Icelandic still has it. This helps to warn them that if we don't pronounce a language right, the language may forever change. Teaching Calvin surprised me this week while i was teaching, i was just starting a book with a shy little girl who has trouble speaking up, and Calvin came in, and read the whole sentence by himself. It really surprised me, because, while i knew he could sound out words, i didn't expect him to read sentences. He is almost 3, so he is still very young. It is reinforcing my method of teaching by pronunciation rather than sight words. I've been trying to preach through my tracts on the sabbath, just us for now, but i need to make good habit of it. It really needs to be a part of Calvin's memory i think, and it is good for us as well. It can be easy to put up a sermon on youtube, but fail to understand the significance of a pastor preaching a sermon that is relevant to the members of his church. Soon enough i will feel comfortable preaching these sermons, and can make good videos of them. That's not for now though. A guy came in last month wanting to sit and chat, which is odd, but its becoming a more and more common thing. He seemed to be more interested in having a chat with me than eating his sandwich. We talked about everything from Thailand to Theology, and i was able to successfully share the gospel in a clear manner with him. Please pray for him, his name is Sam from Maine. I really wish that i could have these kinds of conversations with Thais, but it is more difficult. We have a few repeat customers who we are able to really share with openly, but i wish there were more. That's the idea behind the worksheets, trying another way of starting up important conversations. I suppose ill just keep trying until i find my knack, and stick to that. Making I made a birthday present for my wife, which is a tray for displaying bread and desserts. I also began working on toy nuts and bolts made from wood for Calvin's birthday. I said i would do them the year before but never got around to it. I was very overwhelmed last year and the year before. I also made a bunch of branch coat hooks, which helped reduce the amount of disorganized mango tree logs and branches i had stored on the side of the house. I am not quite finished with them, but i'll get around to some basic sanding and shaping sometime this month. I will be selling them along with some glasses i cut from bottles, and some old jars i will do a small chalkboard paint job to and sell. Trying to make things in large quantities to increase efficiency and ultimately profit. Refinishing the piano did not go well, the shellac is sticky, and its taking a very long time to dry. I have to keep it here until it dries enough that i can do a final sanding and a final coat, then probably another month of drying. I will never use shellac in Thailand again, i don't know what it is, it may be the humidity and the temperature. Please pray that he doesn't get too frustrated with me. Needs I believe that we've raised enough support to extend the visa now. Its going to be tight until Abby is born, but after we extend the visa, i can use some of that money for things we need for the baby. Thankyou for everyone who helped us with this. Thankyou for your constant prayers as well. Conclusion I Thank God that i get to live here and serve like this. Jack of all trades and master of none, but i don't want to be master, because that title doesn't belong to me. I'll continue to build, teach, write, preach until these walls are filled with people praising Jesus. Thankyou for standing with us. Planning
I've been thinking and praying through evangelistic stradegy. I depend heavily on scripture cards and tracts on various topics. I am a direct person, so being too direct is actually my danger in evangelism, so ive learned to ease into it over the years. Don't get me wrong, being direct is important, but learning to hold off for a good punch line like a comedian would with a good joke is an art that takes time to learn. Slowly drawing attention to a spesific area of human depravity while in the middle of a conversation about politics or culture then dropping the bomb "we are doomed if we trust in ourselves, only God can save us" then letting that pull the conversation in deep quick, but usually not for long, and leaving them with a tract in hand. The multiple topics help with the application of this method. But being intentional is important as well, and knowing when to start up a conversation is key too. If its their first time, ill keep the conversation short, but if they keep coming back, ill invest a lot more time and breath. Videos and other activities are important to be more vocal and not depend so heavily on written content. I knew a resteraunt in india that was always full, and played christian media on big screens and projectors all day long. It seemed to work for him, and he was always engaged in conversation as he was flipping roti or naan. We may move this direction as well. If so, i figure half english content with thai subs, and the other half thai content with english subs, so no one is completely left out, and both parties can use it as an opportunity for cassual english or thai practice (one of the best methods). So thats what im thinking in the lines of future direction, i think i will keep this a part of the newsletter so that you can pray for the future, and also be thankful with me when certain things i have mentioned come to fruition Writing I formatted and printed the passover tract which ended up being some 60 pages long which supprised me but it should be a good utility to both understand the depth of our christian traditions of passach and communion, as well as a guide for churches to actually lead a christian passover sedar in thai. I finished the homosexual tract, it needs formatted and printed. I also finished most of a tract on church, which needs translated, then it will be done. I plan on doing a tract on postmodernism, as it is an issue everywhere in our generation. "Your truth" or "my truth" is funny, but also sad, and it does need addressed. Teaching Calvin is reading, so im trying to get him to read more than one word at a time, if he really does start to read before speaking fluently, i believe homeschooling will be much easier. My classes are going well, and i have a couple new students, some who are studying with me one on one, which is good for me, its more enjoyable, and it pays better usually. Making The neighbor has decided i am his official handyman, so he is having me restore him piano that has a gator skin cracked finish, so it needs redone. I don't know what God has in store here, i teach his son too, and they are friends with my wifes older sister. I get opportunities now and again to talk with him, but usually hes quite busy. I pray for opportunities to engage him in gospel discussion. Makes me wonder how many times the apostle paul engaged with his customers who purchased tents from him. Its a unique kind of relationship, and conversation is important, not only for evangelism, but for business too, that much my grandfather made clear to me, he made custom knives for a living. I also fixed the plastic shredder by taking it out of its housing, giving it a new motor, and putting it in an old oil drum, at least i have more space for a bigger bucket. I also filled in a large gap in the attick above the storage room with concrete, where a rat had been coming in and nesting in the attick. That dirty little rat had taken the flour sacks i was saving for building an earth home dome, and pulled it inside an old speaker box, and even found some random toys to play with, well, he has been evicted as he has never once paid me rent. I got the baby stuff down out of the attick, and have started repairing some things calvin had roughed up as a baby, so that Abigail can enjoy them too. Fortunately the rat didn't get into the plastic boxes i put up there. Only a few months to go before Abby is born. We are very excited, and I do believe we will be ready. We kind of know what we are doing now, so im less nervous about that stuff. Needs I have about 3 months to go before i have to have the 400,000 (12,000 usd) in my account in full ready to sit 2 months before a visa extention. I will have saved almost the entire amount needed but i might be about 400 dollars short, or about 15,000 baht short, so if anyone has been waiting for an opportunity to give, this could be it. The next best thing would be a temporary lone (about 3 months) afterwhich i could return the amount. The thing that put us back this year was mainly the car, and it is a nice car in my opinion, so im very glad we got that before they sold it to someone else, but now the visa is a situation again. I guess i will likely always be leaning on the providence of God (really, a good place to be). I can always dream that the economy will boom, and the bread and english will suddenly become popular just like fresh coffee did a decade ago, but who knows. Conclusion We've had a fruitful month with many good discussions, a few finished projects, and lots of good work. We are growing and learning as we go. Thankyou for your continued prayers and support. Family
Calvin is doing well, and is educating himself, apparently the boy can read. Now i have been teaching him phonics, but he supprised me when playing with a random word generator, he actually stops at words he feels confident to pronounce, including longer words like toothbrush for example. So i will take advantage of this new skill and teach him to read, and take note that introducing phonics early on is useful. We potty trained him already but now he poops in the potty too, which is just a combination of possitive and negative reinforcement. Fang is doing well, but we are tired and hot, and ready for the weather to get better. Tracts Finally finished the passach tract, but it does need formatted and printed, and uploaded. Also finished the homosexuality tract, but it still needs translated, but that will only take a couple days now that its written. I also outlined a tract on the church, which is an important topic that i seem to have missed. There are a few more ive thought of, but im trying to keep these tracts limited to major topics so that they can be used as guides for topical preaching, to be combined with exegetical preaching. So these are key to my church planting strategy, and will likely be tweeked as needed in the future. Transition I really want to shift from tracts mode to video mode, which is something i have briefly dabled in but i hesitated from jumping in because i lacked the God given faith to do so, but i believe it is time soon. Pray for clarity in this area for me. Also id like to do childrens books. I want some of my videos to be interview style and intendid to ask hard questions, and share real answers to help thais think about eternity. Climbing A guy contacted me about rock climbing a particular root here in nst, and i guess im the only dude around who knows this root who is currently here, so i will be taking him out there tomorrow. Its a great opportunity to share the gospel and talk about important things, because its kind of a dangerous sport, it can make you think about eternity. I like the idea of organizing rock climbing activities as ministry in the future, so pray for clarity for me in this as well. Building I finally finished most of the work bench and added a big end vise onto it. This workbench is made from a single slab top, with logs for legs, and all of it came from the same tree. Its been a huge learning opportunity for me, but more importantly, it gives me a perfectly flat place to plane down boards, and clamp them up to work them. This is part of preparation for what i call the 3rd business, a business that we can teach other believers to do, in order to free them up for ministry. This is also part of our long term church planting strategy and things are moving right along. Conclution This month has been a productive month of writing, building, evangelizing, and preparing for the future. Thankyou to everyone who has stood with us, and who prays for us. |
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
January 2024
Categories |