September 2023

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.