Newsletter Blog - THAI TOPICAL TRACTS

July 2024

7/31/2024

Hope everyone is doing well, I know I am. My personal favorite part of this update is that my son has started quoting scripture, and I do believe that speaking 2 languages has given him a wonderful memory. I pray that he has a foundation that is unshakable, founded on the word of God, and furthermore that he would be an example to others. Abby has begun to speak, she says peekaboo in Thai from morning til evening she never stops, everytime she sees anyone she peekaboos. She has learned the Thai bow, and greets customers as well. She also has learned to clap. She greeted me with a peekaboo yesterday followed by a bow, and then a hand clap. She also sings what seem to be some kind of made up tune, but its super cute.

Needs
I have also petitioned for Fangs green card which will allow her to get a visa. There is a 5 month wait now, but at least its not 10 like we thought before. Then there is another 2 month wait for her visa. Please keep her in your prayers as well. The application cost an unexpected 700 dollars, but with your support that becomes 500. We need 2600 now. Seems like we are moving backwards, but I have to remember that unforseen expenses were always going to happen, even if i didn't see it coming. Thankyou for your support, it helps a lot.

Writing
Because Calvin has started quoting scripture, i put a lot of work into the scripture memory verse lists, and decided to level them based on how essential they are. Each level will have 100 verses, and they are sorted into categories. So I have level 1 almost finished, I need to add 3 more verses, its going to be hard to pick.

I have also spent time this month making a system of essential vocabulary, no more than 100 words per subtopic, but I want a way to teach english more systematically. There are about 150 prepositions in the english language, so i picked the most common and will put pictures with each, and hopefully this will serve as both a flash card system and a clip art system for illustrating the books. Its a bit large right now, and I'm looking at somewhere between 5000 to 50,000 words to organize, so I'll get a system going and every now and then add a subtopic, and hopefully this allows it to grow more naturally. I want this to be something useful for everyone, and available for esl teachers, but also gospel centered, and homeschool friendly.

I have continued to work on writing the books, making them rhyme, covering all the important stuff. I also started a practical book for kids, introducing the imperial system of measurement for kids who grew up with metric, and why a base 12 system is possibly better because it divides evenly by 2, 3, 4, and 6. not just 2 and 5. I cover other practical benefits to the imperial system as well, including the benefit of fractions over decimals, and the natural division of sizes that developed over a long period of time. I am reminded that great missionaries build hospitals, printing presses, paper mills, write dictionaries, and more. We should show love in practical ways, so practical topics, creating systems and machines to help with efficiency in the future is needed.

Teaching
This month I've had Calvin help me in class more. I have him wait to answer, he has had to learn to let the other kids participate first, then when they can't answer, he can. He does well with dramatic pronunciation for the other kids to see. I think he enjoys it quite a bit. He has also been walking around the house quoting bible verses, so when I can, I may ask a student what Calvin is saying, then we can talk about the fruit of the Spirit and what it means to be born of the Spirit and produce fruit uncommon in this world.

Making
I made a chair with a metal frame I welded up years ago, and its been taking up space, so I painted it with rustolium an milled up some mango boards and placed them in it as a seat, bolted it to the wall out on the side of the house. Hopefully that will be a nice place for the smokers to sit so that the smoke doesn't come inside.

Today I need to do some concrete grinding on the pillars in front so that the neighbors gate will open all the way when we want to open the gate between out houses. Shouldn't take long, just need to remove about half an inch. The neighbors have a music school, so it would be nice if we can get that gate to open right, and when they are open at the same time we are open, their customers can walk strait into our house from theirs. The owner of that school is friends with Fangs older sister and he proposed that i do this a long time ago, but I haven't got around to it.

Conclusion
Whatever I do, I'll do it for the glory of God, both while acknowledging God in my work, but also working towards the expansion of the gospel in every direction. I pray that an extra door open means something. I hope that is true for all my work. Thankyou for your prayers and support.

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June, 2024

7/1/2024

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Hi everyone, hope you are all doing well. Its been a busy month, but a productive month i think. Abby is growing quickly, crawling all around the house, screaming frequently, and she even sings and dances when we sing. She is also very good at throwing tantrums, but we have a few methods for handling that, and usually that puts her to sleep. Calvin has decided he loves rock climbing, and has mastered the use of chalk, which is what i really hoped for, I'm kind of surprised how he just all of the sudden decided he was a professional climber. He manages to put his entire body weight on a small 2 or 3 finger hold, which looks very difficult, but i guess he is little. I have been encouraging him big time with that. Recently i started shredding and drying old bread to blend in the blender and reuse as recycled flour, Fang has found several things that this works really well with, including a certain pancake recipe she is not sharing with me. She has been doing ok this month, better than last, so that's good. I have been testing whether i have a b12 deficiency, and i think i do, so I've been taking vitamins, and they seem to help me a lot, coffee has a much bigger kick, and last night I even had a hard time getting to sleep, which is rare for me if there is nothing particularly troubling on my mind. So I can reduce my coffee now, and I will try to shift to natural b12 if i can afford it, by increasing red meat consumption... Starting with beef jerky, say no to chips, say yes to jerky. I have been working on applying for Fangs green card this month, which has taken quite a bit of money and time so far, getting everything "officially translated" is both expensive and annoying, because i have to correct every single document translated myself, then have the "translator" put their official stamp on it, and pay them way too much money for that. Oh well, its done, and i have saved them for future use, if ever the need may rise again. Calvin and Abby now have their Thai passports, and as soon as we get an appointment for fang, we will make an appointment for them too, to get their american passports, then they will be like spys, with multiple passports they switch on the plane before landing.

Needs
After accounting for generous donations last month, we now need 2100 dollars. We are thankful for all who are praying about giving. We trust God will provide. Thanks again for your support.

Writing
This month I have written quite a bit, and have also went back and rewritten started reworking some books as well, I have decided to try to make the books rhyme, which is something I quite enjoy doing, and my son enjoys it as well. I think the number of children's books covering historical events is shockingly low too, so i have started that direction as well. I'm trying to stay focused, but I also want to cover all the bases. Golden rule of teaching: Treat other peoples kids as you would treat your own kids, minus the spankens. I didn't do much in the way of illustration, but did come up with a new illustration technique that will likely save me time, so maybe ill have time to work on that next month.

Teaching
I have divided my classes into groups by level now, I have done this before, but the lines get blurred, so i have reworked them, and now things work smoothly, and I can teach at a consistent speed in each class without hopping around too much. I had a few very successful conversations using a book I am calling Jesus is my Hero, where we talk about what happens after death, and how Jesus rolls in to save the day, all for the Glory of God who created this world. It seemed to click, which means I think i got the balance right without taking too much time on each part.

Making
I build a wall mounted log vise which allows me to slice one end off a log making one end straight, before I take it to the bandsaw to resaw. There are jigs all over the internet, but i've never seen one like this, and I'm convinced it is the best because of the time saved. I also made some more lights for fangs room, they are 90% done, but i don't have to cord yet, so they will probably sit for now. I refinished the old wooden doors on the house and made some improvements so they don't get dirty next time i mix my papercrete.

Conclusion
We've made progress, and will continue to work hard. Thank you for praying for us, and supporting us.

Calvin's Guitar he made

Reading a book to Daddy

Bagging Beef Jerky for customers

Trip to Dairy Queen

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July 2024

June, 2024

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