Saturday

Today we just hung out, not a whole lot done, other than believers hanging out, talking, and living life.  Somedays are like that, I'm always wired to see something unusual and great, but sometimes it's just life.

I was able to scan a discipleship manual and put it into a format that I can send to many people who choose to ask Jesus to be their Lord and Savior from eternal condemnation.  Several people wisely choose to follow the Lord because of His kindness, and because of His benefits, and because He saved us so that if we just truly believe and ask Him to save us, it is done...it was paid in full on the cross.  But it's interesting to me to see what happens to those people we share with and see what happens with them.  Sometimes it's just fantastic, because you'll see growth, transformation, and healing.  Other times you just see the people continue to live good, decent lives, but yet when you ask, there's no depth in relationship they have with the Lord....they haven't yet heard His voice, haven't experienced Him in a fashion real enough that they can talk of Him and what He is doing...just a good, decent life, but nothing that stands out that demonstrates He truly is in their lives.  Whether these people realize or not that the Lord is going to keep His promise, you always want to see people have an abundant life (not filled with stuff kind of abundance, but filled with the joy, gratefulness, hope, peace, love, and testimony of what the Lord has done...born again kind of stuff that demonstrates the new life God promises for anyone who is born again of the Spirit (John 3:3). 

That being said, I realize all the years that have gone by when I really didn't push hard beyond a handful of gentle urges for folks to really pursue being a DISCIPLE...a follower, one who LEARNS of the Lord.  The Great Commision of Matt 28, Jesus says "Go and preach the Gospel and make disciples (followers/students)  to every nation, baptizing them in name of the Father, the Son, and Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey all that I have commanded, and Lo I am with you to the end of the Age. 

I realize through this experience here in thailand you can't assume your friends or the people you meet will find a good church and make the decision to go there, w/o being influenced by their circumstances and relative lack of faith to make the necessary changes to allow God to nourish them spiritually.  Jesus warns of how the cares of this world, and the devil will steal those good seeds away from the hearts of many. 

So we took the discipleship manual that Tammy and I went through, that speaks of 9 different topics regarding the Christ Centered Life, made scanned copies for email, and sent them to a handful of friends who God brought to our attention who have accepted the Lord as their savior, but could use a lot of help in terms of learning the Word, and therefore not being ignorant of who the Lord is, what He promises us, and also worshipping him by meditating on who He is, and speaking to Him through prayer....because of their lack of knowledge of "how to".

It took me a long time to deal with the incomplete work done by the university, who I paid $7 to scan 110+ pages.  But now it's done, and I can reuse this over and over again.

Today we had band practice.  I didn't enjoy it as much because it was hard for me to follow the songs written in thai, w/o me having my own copy to write notes, and because I typically follow the lead of the lead guitarist, but the songs were getting him mixed up too.  I also like to know what they are singing so i can have my heart in the right place at the time...but today I was just in a funk.  Tomorrow I hope to be able to play and be of some use in the band, as we worship, otherwise I probably just want to sit down and pray during the music instead of being a dork.

Thanks for praying for Tae's ministry.  Great news is that he is going to get a really awesome radio tower with high power, and the church foundation is going to donate to his church the 20,000 baht (divide that by 30 to get the US$ amount)  for this beacon which will share the Gospel all over Ao Udom/Chon Buri.  This will be a vast improvement over the tower used right now, which has decent range for a local, unregulated station like he has, but now the quality and range will be outstanding.  We were all over Phuket island the other day, and the range through the mountains and to the opposite ends of the island for the christian radio station which Tae's friend set up (Chai) was impressive.  Now Tae will get a tower from Chai that is even 2 times the size of the tower in Phuket!!!! Wow!!! and the Lord has provided.

We met up with Ajan Steve, the english teacher from Korea via Chicago, USA.  He's back now.  No students arrived today, so we chatted with Grace, Tammy, Tae, etc.  He encouraged us that many good things are happening, and though we may not see it or understand it in terms of the language barrier within the church, many people are affected dramatically by us just being here.  But I can see a lot of good already, and especially regarding the water side of the business here.  I wish it didn't take so long though.  But I know the development work I hope to see before February in November and January / February here will help me professionally.  The period of consultation I will receive from the 2 experts I've met so far will be very valuable info for me professionally. 

I also know that if we can help Tae fundraise more for the land the church cares to purchase and build upon in Bowin will be a major milestone, along with the water system which is currently in the works. 

I also had a glimpse of how the Lord will use everyone's talents, and how it all fits together.  Ajan (teacher) Steve takes pride in how well Pastor Tae has learned english, and I realize w/o Steve's faithfulness and resolve to stay the course and teach english, instead of dabbling here and there and everywhere, then maybe Tae has no understanding of English, and therefore we would not have been able to come here and communicate.  It was perfect timing, as far as I'm concerned.  It's crazy timing regarding my involvement with Hydranautics, the connections with Rose, and eventually having Rose direct us to Tae and Fang who need the water equipment, who started the vision for the water supply literally months before Tammy and I came.  And it's crazy timing that we met Steve Pumara yesterday, the expert who helped develop dozens and dozens of water projects over thailand yesterday, who can help Tae and Jongyoot (the builder) for free. 

I really have no idea how God can orchestrate such complex matters amongst people with free will.  A part of me is a bit saddened by how short lived some great things orchestrated could last...for whatever reason....maybe free will.  I went to Poipet and found out the 2 ladies who were helping with the No Fear distribution of the shorts fabricated by the Hope Center didn't go far enough...now they are doing scarfes.  The ladies were a bit distracted by some other businesses, and No Fear was slow to pounce on the great opportunity given them.  The Taekwondo classes the Canadian missionary did worked great for a season, but the flood times caused some hiccups and so that ministry lasted for a time, but now is done. 

Other things last, last, and last.  Such as the orphanages that continue to take care, and have faithful servants giving their time and treasure over the years.  I once met a man in carlsbad, by the water plant, who helped build the orphanage over several months, adding concrete foundations/slabs/paving, and framing buildings.  That building continues to shelter kids today, and he worked on that 10 years ago. 
I hope that the things Tammy and I put our time and effort in also bear much fruit that last throughout the years here....especially in the people.  We hope those people we met, planted seeds with, are forever changed, just as we have been, and those people go on and the Lord uses them to affect the people around them, so that more people will turn to Christ and be saved. 

Please pray for our effectiveness in the coming month.  We will leave this apartment after this month and head to Philippines in December.  Please pray for Tae to find a renter here, so he can keep the place, and so that they can do the christmas party here, if that is what God has planned.  Please pray for the finances to come in for the church to eventually move forward with the church in Bowin.  Please pray that financial support will come in for Tammy and I.  We're not hurting, but it would be nice if it came in to cover some food, transportation costs.  Please pray for our furniture which we would like to donate to the right people /missionaries, and pray for plans to be effective regarding the PI/Thailand return, and the logistics behind safe places to stay.  I know God has a lot of plans for us over the next coming months, and so I want to be open and ready to walk in them.  I believe I heard the Lord say that to me directly the other day, that there's a lot in store for us yet.  So please pray that we get renewed in resolve, direction, and to be responsive to when and where God guides us.

In the Old Testament, the Lord brought the Jews out of Egypt, and promised a special land for them...the land promised to Abraham generations prior...but the Lord had the slaves wander the wilderness for many many years...partly due to their bad attitude of mistrust in Him despite all that He had done for them up to that point.  Here's a picture of the Lord leading the Israelites by a pillar of fire by night, and a cloud during the day.  When it was time to move on from one station to the next, God would move them by leading them by the pillar of fire to where He wanted them to go.  This trip through Thailand and PI has been more than ever for me and experience to pray, seek, wait, and follow...  I had an idea because God gave revealed them to me, but the when and where and how was not painted black and white.  God has His Timing.

Thanks!!!!

Here's art work of Jesus sending out 70 disciples, to share the Gospel, proclaim freedom for those captive to sin, heal the sick.



Luke 14:25-onward speaks of how Jesus challenged the crowd, telling them they ought to count the cost of following Him.  He says something shocking, that unless we are willing to carry our own cross (burden/weight/even unto death if that should be the end for those individuals) they can not follow him.  There were a lot more consequence back then for being christian, that's for sure. I love this picture though.  The telephone and electric line poles look like crosses, and there's a sign there with a bend in the road, and it makes me think of how the Lord tells us to pick up the cross and follow Him, and how we don't know of the things around the corner in store for us.



I put this in the sand at the beach, declaring we kept our promise. we're here....and hopefully the Lord will continue to guide us, and hopefully we can continue to follow in obedience, and hopefully more things of substance can result from us being here at this special time.  We have 3 months longer before we return to the states to report to Horizon and pray and hear from the Lord on our future.

friday: God is Amazing!

We are back now in Ao Udom now.  Had a blessed time getting back.  perfect timing.
We watched the world series, as my favorite, hometown team the San francisco Giants were on international TV, playing the Texas Rangers.  It was cool!!!!!  I love my Giants, but I felt sorry for Texas, who really has a great team.  The Giants won, so they are 2-0 in a best of seven series. 

As we left, we were tempted to leave at 1pm and push the late limit for checking out, but I felt compelled to leave when we did....as we walked downstairs a man approached with a Texas shirt on.  I said, hey are you from Texas?  He said YES.  I told him I'm a big fan of the SF Giants, but I like the Texas Rangers.  I told him my sister Angelina just moved to texas, and probably had some divided loyalties during this world series championship.

We got talking more and more about our story, and he was amazed that I worked in the water industry, because he is a water engineer that spent 25 years putting in water systems all over Thailand!!!!  He loved Hydranautics and always picked them over the other membrane manufacturers.  He used to cut open the membranes and send them for autopsy, and I told him I am one of those guys who autopsies for Hydranautics!!!!  Wow!!!!

He told me his story.  his 1st wife long long ago died due to bad water many decades ago.  He was so angry and sad about it.  His friends tried to cheeer him up by bringing him to a bar.  There he met another american who was about to get into a physical altercation with a thai taxi man.  Steve, the gentleman i spoke with, came to fix the problem.  he got rid of the taxi driver.  Steve asked the american man why he was angry.  He said that taxi cab man was driving him all over and taking him to places he didn't want to go, which included that very bar.  So Steve bought a drink for the guy.  The guy said he was there to tour thailand for his company.  The company was out of San francisco/palo alto, and he was trying to figure out the need for purified water in thailand.  Steve said, you won't believe this, but my wife just died from bad water.  i am so upset, that my friends brought me here to the bar to cheer me up, and now i meet you!  That man took Steve to california to know the business, and from there Steve helped setup many water system throughout the thailand area.  He now has been retired from it for 10 years.  he is remarried with a thai woman, and is coming back from texas to retire in thailand.  his thai wife is staying back to save a little more money for a truck.  But he is getting a head start in the north eastern part of thailand, in the real country area.  He'll do some farming there and live off the land.  He now does FREE consulting work for the thai engineers when they deal with water purification!!!!  Wow!!!  Now tae and his mentor Youngjoot will have a great ally.  We have Steve's email and phone number.  Praise God!!!! 

We were then able to be taken straight to the bus station.  we didn't know when the bus would come, but we found one right when we got there!  we waited no more than a couple minutes!  Then we were worried about getting from the bus drop off to our home, because tae and fang were not there to help us...but this bus actually took us to the one so close to our home, within a short walking distance!!! yay!!

After coming back we saw Cayme and hung out with him, and we played basketball with him after dinner.  he tried translating my scientific poster, but had a hard time with it.  Please pray that he can do this with energy and a good attitude.

God bless,

Alex

Thursday

We're back in Bangkok now, and headed home to Chon Buri tomorrow afternoon.
We took a tour of the children's orphanage today with one of the missionaries from Horizon, Patty.  She's a professional nurse that is taking care of 40 kids with the help of some other staff in Poipet Cambodia.  We got to ride the bus with the happy kids.  God bless Patty for doing this.

She showed us certain school areas that were built for the orphans that were temporarily soiled by the river rising several feet.  THe place was cleaned up by the time we got there, but we can see the water level/mud left on the fences.  Geez, that must be tough.  No one was hurt last week, praise God.  Cambodia had a lot of mud because of the dirt roads, the rain, and the flooding.

We're safe in Bangkok, and well be back to Ao Udom tomorrow, Lord willing.

God bless, and please continue to pray for our safety, and for effectiveness in sharing the Gospel.
Thanks!

Wednesday

Today was another long day of transit.  We took a short flight from Phuket to bangkok, but a long arduous journey to Poipet, Cambodia.  Either way we spent some extra cash to make it faster, so that we didn't have to waste money on hotels...  taking a plane and taxi instead of bus had its cost, but had to get the visa out of the way.  The cambodia border was tough, as the government officials working the border are corrupt and out to make money, and will bully their way into it, or they will ignore you.  It sucked, but I ended out getting bamboozled for about $50 more than I had to pay.  Anyways, it's over now.

We're in Poipet.  Spent time with the nurse missionary Patty, who was great company.  She's been here for 2.5 years.  She used to come from our church Horizon.  We then spent quality time with Phan, the gentleman from the hotel whom I led to the Lord 2 years ago.  He said nothing really happened after he prayed, but I said sure it did,....but you must learn to pray and read the Bible!  So we showed him and he was very amazed because we challenged him to pray before he open it up for answers to some questions he had....Both time he tested it, the answers jumped off the page.  The first one was when he expressed how can i help my family who is poor, and my father is dead?  The psalm that he turned to at the onset said God, in His goodness, will take care of the poor....and He will take care and be the father to the fatherless!!!!  Then he quietly asked for help regarding the woman he loves and wants to marry, and the first page he opened up to was Esther...the love story of the queen, the wife of the king.... We had just taken a pic of him in this regal looking chair and said he looked like a king.  He was amazed and smiling from ear to ear.  And that's how we started about 3 hours of teaching.....Pleaes pray for Phan to read the bible more and pray more!!!!

Tomorrow, we'll catch a bus at 2:30 back to Bangkok, and maybe get to Chon Buri, or stay in BK for a while to see Sakchai.  We'll see.  But before that we will see the childrens'nursury in Poipet with Patty.

God bless, please pray for our protection and effectiveness.

Love,

Alex

Tuesday

Today it has been 1 whole year since the Lord took my dear mother home.  It was good to be able to reflect upon God's faithfulness and His Sovereign Hand last night, reading through the scriptures I had saved for her memorial service last year. 

Today we spent some time at the pool and then going to hang out with Pastor Tae's best friend, and our new friend, Chai.  He took us around the mall, and then through the downtown, meeting church members and leaders who had advice for us.  We also got to DJ a song in Phuket, which was really cool.  Phuket is an internationally recognized tourist point.  Our friend Chai has set up numerous radio stations and built many towers throughout thailand and other asian countries.  He took us to the main radio hub with the big tower he built for the Phuket church.  That was cool.

We then went on a nice river boat ride after seeing the phuket downtown area. 

God bless!  Please pray for us, as we will take a plane ride to Bangkok tomorrow morning.  We will head to Poipet Cambodia.  I hope to see my old friend there at the border, before heading back home to Chon Buri.  Maybe we will stay at my friend's hotel 1 night depending on how tired Tammy is.

Tuesday

Today we are with Tae and Fang.  We made it safely last night to Phuket.  We enjoyed a beautiful ride on the ferry.
Now we are enjoying time with our friends, and meeting other church members and talking about life.  We stayed at a fancy condo last night with Tae and Fang, but we'll be checking into a hotel late tonite so we can be near the beach and have internet access.  Tae and Fang are leaving tomorrown morning, but tammy and I will stay here a day or two more.

God bless!

Alex

Sunday

Last night, while the Full Moon Party was happening on the other side of the island, which seems to coincide with the Halloween time, and where many foreigners go there for drugs, alcohol and debauchery Tammy and I decided to dedicate the night for the Lord.

We had a fabulous time during the day going to a water fall with our friend Cayme.  We came back and swam in the beautiful warm and clear waters of Samui, and seeing the beautiful blue and red skies, and thanking God for how lucky we are to experience this in our lifetime.

We had a special dinner at the beach to treat ourselves, and we met many waiters/waitresses that really were curious of the posters i had folded up.  We shared the info on the evolution theory and how it has no foundation, and then we shared about God's love, mercy, and the poster on judgment.  We later shared our testimonies and showed the pictures to back up the stories.  The two waitresses interuppted us before we could go and they said would it be okay if we try and know God too?  I said to one waitress, sure, okay, you can...but not for the other waitress yet...but for you okay.  The other girl said, wait, i want to try too!  So I said okay so we prayed for the new life for them.  They said to us, the words you tell us are so much .  I asked "too much?  i talk too much?"  they said no, the words are compelling, are so high, are overwhelming.. I said they are not our words, they are the words from the Bible.  They asked can they keep their eyes open, they don't want anyone to know as they are working, but they want to pray.  One had to wipe some tears.  Both were delighted about the hope the Gospel brings.

Praise God!

Later we got a chance to light one of the balloon lanterns that the thai people culturally light to take away sins.  We don't believe obviously but it was a cute thing to do, like flying a kite.  A man there wanted to know our posters.  He listened and read, especially the thai writing.  He pushed the sand out off of the poster as he dug in to read the truth.  He told us his brother is christian, and changed already.  I told him i think his bro was praying for him.  He had to leave before we could pray for him because some reason whatever it was, he said his sister waiting for him to pick him up.  (he's a taxi driver)  Please pray for Poon.  He was really open until he found out he was late.

Now we are headed on a bus to go to Phuket.  pastor tae and fang are there waiting for us..

God bless!

Saturday

We made it safely to Ko Samui, thelovely island in the south of thailand.  Cool!
We were looking forward to the island,but boy the trip was arduous. God is good though.We just madeit to catch one of the last busses out of ao udom after we spent several hours with suchia and her mom and dad.  They wanted us to pray for them.

We left ao udom at 8pm and we were able to get to bangkok by midnight.  We then took a bus at 7am andgot to the island after the ferry at 8pm friday. Slept onthe bus. Lousy though, they didn't stop for the bathroom very often.  They rushed me out of the bathroom evensaying the bus was leaving!  how rude!

Anyways we are enjoying this small quaint island.  It's slow season. expensive taxi is kind of irritating.

But praiseGod because on the way over we led a jamaican man into the decisionfor making Jesus his Lord and Savior.  Praise God!!!!  Please pray for Amsom, and that he can get a bible and good church around here.  He lives here with his thailand wife.

Thursday

We will be off now to Bangkok, to stay at the Wendy House Bed and Breakfast, before heading out to Samui in the morning.... 

Today we spent a great time with Suchia at her house.  We had a chance to meet her dad and his wife.  The son who is on drugs was sleeping.  Her brother gave us the stink eye all the while, when we shared about the Lord.  He left.  I discerned there was something dark about him, even as I approached to speak with him afterwards.  I asked Suchia directly, is your brother using drugs.  She said YES!!!! How did you know? 

I know the same dark stuff you sense around people who open themselves to drugs and other things that Satan worshippers teach you to do often makes a Christian repulsive to those kind of people.  The darkness hates the light.  Please pray for her brother and her son.  Her dad and wife both suffer from terrible head aches.  They wanted us to pray for them, so we did.  I don't know if the Lord blessed their health on our behalf or not.  We'll see.

We got to see Elle (the corner store clerk) and her boyfriend (Aay).  We shared the new poster we have on Questions to ask someone who believes in Evolution (see earlier post).  The two guys at the corner were very interested, and bugged by the poignant questions.  The girlffirend Elle came out to see what it was we were sharing.  Aay is a guy that really isn't sober about those things of God, he just would not rather think about it, part of it is fear regarding his cultural identity.  Please pray for him and his girlfriend Elle and their friend Jo.

Keep us in prayer, please, for our safety, and opportunities to share while we are on our trip.

Thanks!
Alex and Tammy

Wednesday

Today not much going on.  Just trying to plan our next 3.5 months.  Booked flight to Philippines from Dec 3 to January 10.  Notified cousin and Aunt / Uncle that we're coming.

We waited for the owner to come by at 5pm but OT is keeping him from coming and patching up the kitchen wall. 

I worked on this poster that I plan on bringing to Samui and sharing with the foreigners, especially many Australians who believe in Darwinism.

Received the flood poster.  It turned out great... We plan on getting a lot of mileage out of this in Philippines especially, but even here in the universities throughout Thailand.

Thanks for praying for Jim, the elderly deaf man.  He has a flight to leave and go back home to Australia on Tuesday.  Fang was able to get him help to get him back to the airport.

We got the bad news from Cristina (our missionary friend in Chiang Rai) that she won't be able to afford the flight to get to bangkok so she can't take the long trip to Samui with us by bus.  Bummer. 

We watched a great movie called Evan Almighty.  We had seen it a few times before, but right now, where we are at, when there are slow days followed by exciting days, followed by a realization time is ticking ticking ticking, and as we are walking in obedience to something we don't know will be the end result, the movie was a special encouragement to Tammy and I.  I could relate to how in the movie Evan relates to God, and some of the funny things that happen in that movie are something silly I would go through as the Lord called me to do something.  I really LOVE that movie. 

Please pray for Tammy and I to be effective.  Suchia is asking if she can take her to her home with to meet her mom and dad, and to pray for her and her son who is struggling with drugs.  It's actually a big opportunity for salvation to come to that home.  It is actually a special time where a door is wide open, because Suchia is so busy, but she's willing to close the shop to make a special day for us to visit her home.  I delayed our trip to Samui (I was contemplating leaving early because it's a grueling bus ride reaching 8-10 hours) to take advantage of tomorrow.  Would you pray that it is a special time for that family all to hear the gospel and to respond to it before its too late for them all.

The scripture says: 

Daniel 12  Prophecy of the End Time1 “At that time Michael shall stand up,

The great prince who stands watch over the sons of your people;
And there shall be a time of trouble,

Such as never was since there was a nation, Even to that time.

And at that time your people shall be delivered,

Every one who is found written in the book.

2 And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, Some to everlasting life,

Some to shame and everlasting contempt.

3 Those who are wise shall shine

Like the brightness of the firmament,

And those who turn many to righteousness

Like the stars forever and ever.

Romans 10:9-11 (New King James Version)

9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. 11 For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.”[a]


Thanks for praying, love

Alex and Tammy

Tuesday

Today we had a relaxing day.  We went to the mall just to grab a late lunch.  We were fortunate because we took the free bus both directions this time.  The driver gave me his number.

We got back and met the owners again.  They were looking into the where cockroaches can be coming in to the kitchen (Many homes here battle them), and some of the termite evidence.  We were able to share many pictures with them, and share some stories.  The lady showed us she was getting cold chills on her skin after hearing about the Lord and seeing some of the pictures we have as evidence of the stories.  I think Tae and Fang can share more, in their own language.

We went to Suchia's and shared out of the thai bible.  She wanted to read and read.  She was sad to hear we are leaving this week for a trip, but happy we'll be back in November.  She wanted us to be at her home to meet her son, but we have no translater at this time.  But i'm happy because she said that she understands tammy and my thai language.  It is helpful we have a lot of things written down, even though we butcher the pronunciation. 

Please continue to pray for the deaf man Jim, who we are trying to help so he can go home to australia.  Please pray for Suchia, her mom, and her wayward son who is struggling with drugs (his name is Banc). 

Please also pray for us because we would like to visit a ministry called Not For Sale, which helps against child slavery.  And they are here in Thailand.  Hopfully they can get back to us so we can visit them sometime in November.

God bless,

Alex

Saturday, Sunday, Monday

This weekend we enjoyed watching a Football game (Soccer) in VIP seating down at the Sri Racha Stadium.  Cayme and I went and enjoyed the time, then went to the night market and hung out at a cofee shop before heading home in the rain

Sunday was cool, but unfortunately Suchia and her mom weren't able to come.  That was disappointing.  Tae preached on the lost coin, the lost sheep, and the prodigal son.  2 of the 3 parables within the chapter show the nature of our Lord who comes after the lost and rescues them, and delights in that.  But the Prodigal Son story is a bit different because it shows the nature of repentent hearts, and that you can always come to the Lord and He is waiting.  Now I think about it, that's a great sermon.  I mean we can go out to preach the Good News,and they can make a decision to follow the Lord and be saved by grace through that faith Romans 10:9-10, but building upon those decision and choosing to truly take the time to be discipled requires a commitment on their end and to do the walking themselves... (we're going out toward them, and planting seeds, but if they want to grow in their knowledge and relationship with the Lord, at some point they have to come).  I think this is where Tammy and I are growing, is that we enjoy planting the seeds and going out, but we had never really been that into following up and making sure everyone was in church or a church. 

Sunday I took a break from worship time in the band, and I just enjoyed being part of the congregation.  It was a nice break.  I didn't have time on wednesday to practice so I asked Fang and Tae if I could just take a break on Sunday.  Tammy and I then disappeared and relaxed at home. I think there were several members of the church worrying about us wondering if we were okay or not.  I think it means a lot to them if we are happy with what we're doing, and happy serving alongside them.  But I just wanted some quiet time with Tammy because we had not been together for the majority of the 2 days prior. 

Monday Tammy and Fang continued to help the deaf elderely man named Jim.  Please pray for this guy.  He's been taken advantage of before.  Now we're trying to get him back to Australia, but he needs some package to come in before he goes.  He's selling his business to his so called girlfriend's daughter.  Both the girlfriend and the daughter of the girlfriend are not necessarily trust worthy.  Jim's family has been estranged as well.  Poor guy.  He just wanted to come here to find a wife, and things have gone down hill for him.

Monday we enjoyed an awesome birthday party for Elder Whoot.  We ate on the top level of his 3 story condo.  Thank God no rain!!! Seafood galore.  His wife is a great cook!  I'm so happy for Elder Whoot because he came from a very poor background, and he gave his life to the Lord at 17 years old, and the Lord has since blessed him immensely. 

God bless,

Alex