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. 
​

Hi everyone, hope you are all doing well. This month has been stressful, but has ended very nicely. I got covid from one of my students, this is my second time, I had a small fever and lots of mucus, but it really wasn't bad, Calvin and Fang had similar symptoms, but Abby of course gave us a scare, this was her first fever, and we were relieved when she was herself again. The weather has cooled off dramatically as well, and fang has had lots of customers on weekends, and we got the very expensive electric bill paid early. I got a better electric valve installed for the sprinklers on the roof, which will cool the house more, and will reduce the electric bill dramatically. I figure we save 40-50 usd on electricity by shooting 6 dollars of water on the roof every month. The water drains off onto a wall that is lush with vines and moss now, which we like. Lots of very interesting birds have made their home next door recently, not sure if its the water, or the worms from the compost or both, but its nice. 

Yesterday a new friend of mine came to visit, he is thai, but has spent 25 years in america, while he was there, he became a christian. He found my paul washer video that me and a few friends had subtitled, and on my website he found out i was in nakhon si thammarat, his hometown, so when he and his wife and children flew here to visit their relatives, they planned to come visit us too, so he told his father that he was going to visit me, and his father being the southern thai, overly playful, far too direct type of guy (like my father in law) said "whats this american's name, maybe i know him" which of course is highly unlikely, but he did know one american, who teaches his granddaughter english, so to both of their supprise, it was me. So God is at work in this families life, and I shared with him for quite a while when he came to visit, how i have been sowing seeds of truth into his neices life. So pray for this family, and pray for my new friend, he is considering returning to nakhon after 25 years in america, and is waiting for the lords direction. I told him that I would be much more comfortable doing a church plant if we have a plurality of elders, especially being a foreigner. So who knows what the Lord is cooking up. If Teen comes back home and says he wants to plant a church at the same time, we are going to have to make it offical, that may be a bit hopeful, but i can dream right?

I am planning a trip to bangkok to do all of the paperwork needed for our trip, so that we can begin to look at airfare. Its looking to be quite a deal, but I will be super relieved when my children have u.s. passports, and my wife has a permanent u.s. visa that she can use forevermore. Please keep us in your prayers with regard to our trip. 

Needs
Citizenship declaration and Passports for the kids- 500 dollars for both kids
Visa for fang- 265 dollars for a type k immigrant visa (Which is a permanant visa, so the cost will be worth it)
Flights 3000 for 3 people 2 ways, Abby will sit on our laps. 

Thats almost 3800 dollars when you add everything up. And that's assuming we get good prices on airfare. We  currently have raised 850 of that. This is not including the regular monthly support I get from a particular supporter, however, when i am finished showing my money for my visa here for my visa extension, then i can use that money from that account for this as well. Currently that amount is 750 dollars, which does help, but I need that money for ministry expenses, and visa extensions, so i can only borrow that money from that account temporarily, but will have to put it back before next year. Basically i can use next years money for this years furlough, but it puts me in a stressful position next year. But after that is included in the amount, i will still need 2200 dollars at least. Every little bit helps, and we've managed to raise quite a bit already, but we still have a ways to go. If you would like to support us, you can send me a private message and I will respond with how you can donate. Thank you. 

Writing
I have continued to work on the childrens books, adding more as I can, i put in the time every day. I have also made strides in illustration methods with the software i am using, which will save time in the end. A friend here shared that missions is a marathon not a sprint, and we should pace ourselves, doing what is needed to stay. I fully agree, and it hit home. I run 3 kilos on monday, wednesday, and friday, mainly for health, but it makes for really awesome prayer and worship time too. Running is a great way to embody the frustration and stress that comes with missions, and then to recognize the great reward, yes, temporary endorfins, but more importantly, my heart and mind are strong, and those tater tots my wife makes me probably won't kill me. Missions, and the christian life in general is the same kind of long term investment, temporary pain, some temporary enjoyments that don't seem worth the pain, but followed by an eternity of joyful returns. If this life now is for me, and afterwards there is nothing, this would never be worth it. But we will receive our reward. We will run painless victory laps on streets of gold. So all that to say, i am keeping it steady now, this is a marathon. I put a little time into the writing, a little into homeschooling, a little into building a workshop, a little into fixing up the house for my mrs., a little into physical fitness, and possibly most importantly, a little time each day into time with my King. I have a bit of wall art in Calvin's bedroom i drew with a piece of chalk before Calvin was born that reflects this concept. 

Teaching
I've organized my students into 3 groups by level, and created new rules for myself on how I will interact with the students in different levels. I will use Thai to explain almost everything in the beginners group for example, and will allow students to use Thai to occasionally talk about the meaning of things, but will teach them how to use english to define words, so that by the time they get to the intermediate group, we can use english as our primary language of communication, and the student isn't completely lost. The last group is Fluency, and it is very satisfying to say that within only a few months, at least one of my students has gone from complete beginner, unable to say much in english at all, to now, i am considering bumping him up to advanced. I really do enjoy teaching, and I enjoy helping to encourage a spirit of creativity and curiosity in each of my students. By the time they disappear, they will not only speak english fluently, but will leave with a basic understanding of the gospel and the human condition, (as well as other things they won't get it school)

Making
I took my mouse apart and modified it to stop it from clicking when i scroll. I don't recommend trying it at home, if you do, the risk is busting the little clicker off its circuit board when you bend it out to flatten the bump with a pair of pliers, but it worked, and it has already increased the efficiency of my work. That combined with the bible app getting an update that makes mouse scrolling work properly again. I also built a menu stand for fang using a few new techniques, a countersunk bolt with a threaded insert, edge banding, and the legs are actually a branch that split into 3 branches. I sanded it all down and finished it nicely, and it matches the look of the place. It didn't take long to make, so i am getting faster which is important.  

Conclusion
We're working hard to share the truth in a place where it is seldom heard, we are working to provide for ourselves and hopefully others too as we grow. Thank you for standing with us as we move forward together. This weekend our place was swarming with people, and I just thought of all the potential this place has to plant a seed here, and there. Please pray for us, that doors would continue to be opened, and that we would boldly speak, and that they wouldn't freak out and vanish... which happens sometimes, and its bad for business, and its frustrating, its all about balance, and y'all know me, I ain't tickling no ears, ill be honest. Pray for wisdom for me in learning the ropes here, cause i'm still learning.

April is always such a difficult month for us. It is hotter here than i have ever experienced in my entire time here. Water straight from the faucet is usually cool even in the hot season, now its so hot you could boil an egg, it gets a bit better in the mornings and evenings, but its hot here. They turn off the water for a few hours during the day to conserve. On top of the heat, Students are on vacation, so i have to live on 30% of my regular income, and Fang suffers just as much or more. On top of that, we close shop for a few days due to a holiday, and then we clean house, getting ready for our observation of the Lord's Supper. Its a time when we go without leavened bread, and reflect on the hidden sin in our life, and the meaning of the Passover Lamb. Like the Israelites who left the comforts of Egypt and entered into the hot desert before they could enter the promise land, we are reminded that this world is not our home, we are just passing through, but praise God, Christ has made a way through the desert, and has prepared an eternal place for us. Its good to teach my son the meaning of these things, he participates with so much enthusiasm. 

Writing
I've been working on the same set of books, writing and refining, planning, researching, preparing the artwork, and checking with Calvin to test the simplicity of the books.

Teaching
Many of my students are on vacation this month, but with the students that do come i am busy teaching and taking every opportunity to water the seeds planted. 

Making
I added a few tie downs to the inside of the suv so i could strap in the water jug when we go fill up. Other than that, not much this month. However, i have spent time planning how a future business making things might work. Started organizing a sort of portfolio. 

Needs
We are still in need of funds for our trip back home next year. Right now we have raised about 800 of the 4000 we need to raise. This is including airfare and passports for our children, but is not yet including expenses when we are in the States. If you would like to support us, shoot me a message, and i'll give you a few ways you can donate. Thankyou to everyone who prays and supports us. 
​

​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. 

​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. 

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.