September 2024

I'm going to try a new format for my newsletter and list out the main things I focused on this month, with a short description. I will give more details in the opening paragraph and the conclusion so that you will know how the family is doing. I will also include the needs paragraph as usual. Every month looks a little different, so this will hopefully help make things easier to follow. 

We are doing well, Calvin is getting very good at reading, and has started copying bible verses on the marker board, and tracing words on worksheets. I plan on doing more worksheets soon. Abby is almost ready to walk, but she refuses to let go and go for it. We are waiting anxiously for that moment she lets go and walks. Fang is doing well, business isn't too bad, some days its suprisingly good. Yesterday the shop was full. 

Needs

This month we have received 600 dollars in donations, 500 of which we just used for the kids passport and citizenship declaration fees, so that leaves us with about 2100 left to raise in the next 2 months. Things will be tight after that, and I will need to start raising money for next years visa extension almost immediately because of all the expenses and plane tickets this year, that money will need to be put back. This morning i woke up dizzy and almost fell down the stairs. It was weird, i didn't feel dizzy, but just about took a bad fall. The doctor took my blood pressure and said it was normal, but who knows. I fear there may be something worse, I did pass out last year, and we still don't know why. I also have had pretty bad IBS for the past 3 years, though that is usually in the morning, and when i eat Thai food, fortunately my wife runs a bakery, so there is an endless supply of leftover bread. Please pray we get these issues figured out too, so that this doesn't become another added expense. I am still dizzy, and it hasn't gone away, even after taking the medicine the doctor gave me. I am leaning on my Father to take care of me, uphold me, and help me walk. Its weird to say that in a literal sense. 

Here are some things I have worked on this week. 

Logical fallacies for kids

I started putting together a book for my students about 10 logical fallacies. I am trying to make every page rhyme. I think its a concept that kids should be fluent in before they get too far in education, that way they have a bit of wisdom diciphering the trustworthy from the untrustworthy. 

Laws of nature for kids

Started a book on various laws of nature that are notable, and should probably be memorized. The main point drawn at the end will be that God is a God of order, and nature obeys. 

A look into the 10th lunar month festival in southern Thailand

Started this one before, but its turned into a lot of work, my son is watching the ghost parade through the window, and I am able to use this book to explain what they are doing, and what the bible says about it in a few verses. It is not like my other tracts, but it should spike interest, the pictures are disturbing as intendid, but I tried to pick examples that were still probably appropriate for kids. 

PS plastic recycling and Papercrete product prototypes

I have been planning a recycling system for a few years now. I have had good experience effectively recycling glass, cans, paper into papercrete items, and HDPE into colorful plastic things like clipboards and door handles. Other plastics like PET and PP will be recycled in an oven with a simple press, into sheets. But PS, and Polystyrene is not best recycled that way, because of the toxic fumes, so its best disolved using a solvant, something you can't really do with the others. Turns out, its way easier than I thought, an oil drum with a very small amount of gas covering the bottom of the barrel, and Pour in the old styrofoam, it disolves rather quickly into a kind of glue similar to rubber cement. 4 rather large bags of styrofoam became 4 oatmeal cans full of glue in an hour and a half. Not too shabby. Now I just have to use up about 7 big bags of paper, and I'm all caught up, for that, i am doing rather large papercrete stools, using a coragated plastic as a mold with some metal brackets from some old buckets around the outside. This is very quick, and then I just let it sit, It takes 1 large bag of shredded paper and half a bag of cement. 

This whole experiment in recycling is an effort to create products that are unique, and cheap to make, so we can create work for believers. Still feel weird about it, I'm not a tree hugger, and I ain't doing it to save the world from burning up, but it is the direction the Father has lead me, and I have to admit, I am supprised at what I have learned from it. I believe God created us to be resourceful, not wasteful. 

American Passports for the kids

I finally got around to declaring my childrens american citizenship, and applying for their passports. We have a meeting at the american embassy next week. It cost 100 dollars a kid for the declaration, and an additional 135 dollars a kid for the passports, and not to mention travel costs. We opted to travel by train, it was much cheaper, and the kids will like it for the first bit. The train is very slow, but we will bring plenty of activities. The way back we got a sleeper train, so that should make things much better. I am a little nervous, but there is no denying the kids are mine, and when they hear my southern Missouri twang they won't even look at my "proof of american citizenship".

Memory Verse system for kids

I mentioned before the leveled memory verse system i am putting together. Now I am having Calvin trace the verses on the board in the morning, then he can memorize it, and we will leave it on the board to have my students read it later in class. This feels like we are hitting multiple birds with one stone, which is my kind of thing. 

Conclusion

God has been good to us, and has provided for us. We are blessed to be here on the front line sharing with those who haven't heard, seeking out His sheep. Thankyou for your prayers and continued support, it means a lot to all of us. Hope to see you soon when we come back home to visit.