No change in plans ahead

We are continuing to catch up with our computer work and things that need to be done at the house in preparation for our upcoming trips.    I have been putting more hours into my computer work.  As September ends the 3rd quarter of the year, more reports come from workers in Asia to finish the reporting about the girls for their sponsors.    

We had to close one safe house in Laos   We had problems with the house parents for some time and it became apparent they were not teaching the girls properly and they refused to give reports for the girls or allow our worker from Vientiane to visit to talk with the girls.     At the end of the school term, we discontinued our support to this safe house.   They own the house so we could not fire them and move in other house parents.    I had to reassign the sponsors to girls who needed a sponsor in other safe houses.  

Wendy and Philip, the couple that arrived from Shanghai, China in June, continue to learn and help with the SAS work.   They have been taking driving lessons and will get their licenses in October.    Wendy will assume the load of work from Nepal when we leave for Thailand, so she is learning to review and edit reports.     Philip is working closely under Ron's supervision to develop his workload.    Their daughter, Deborah, is doing well in her schooling at Columbia Christian Academy in Columbia, TN.

What a beautiful week we have enjoyed with cool nights and warm days.    Leaves are beginning to fall so I have spent one hour a day raking leaves in the front yard.   It is wonderful to be outside and feel the warm sun and get a little exercise.    The nights will continue in the 60's in North Georgia, but the daytime temperature will return to the low 90's next week.    Fall is here but I guess the return of the football season proves that.

Our schedule is still the same as in my last blog for our trip to the Mayo Clinic and to Texas.   We are closely watching the tropical weather coming from Africa in hopes no hurricanes will develop at the time we need to be in Jacksonville, FL and travel along I-10 toward Texas.

Our son and daughter both have September birthdays.    We regret that we cannot be with either of them on their special days.   Ronald and Gigi also have an anniversary on the 23rd.   Although we are able to keep in touch regularly by email and chatlines, we miss them a lot and wish we could see them more often.   Our granddaughter, Tatum, is also doing well and we miss her a lot.    We are grateful for their well-being and good lives.

Thank you, my dear friends, for following our lives and work in Asia.   I hope to have some interesting posts and pictures from Thailand in November through March.    Don't forget to pray for our safety and health.   THANKS!!!

Adventures planned for October!

September has started off with cooler weather, some rain and a lot of work for us to handle.   We are doing well and keeping busy.    

We are at home until September 28th.    We will travel to Jacksonville, FL so Ron can have a physical at the Mayo Clinic on September 29h.   When he finishes the testing and appointments, we will head toward Texas.   We will drive as far as we can until we stop for the night and pick up the driving again the next morning.  

Ron is scheduled to speak on Sunday morning, October 2nd at the Brown Street church of Christ in Waxahachie, TX, just south of Dallas.   On Sunday night, October 2nd, he will report to the Northside church of Christ in Waxahachie.   

That next week, we hope to have lunch with an elder of the Groesbeck church of Christ and then travel on to Temple, TX.   We hope to give a report in Temple and meet with a few supporters.    Then we will travel on to South Texas.   

On Sunday, October 9th, Ron will give a report at the Portland church of Christ and on Sunday night, report to the Woodsboro church of Christ.  We hope to have time to visit with some other supporters and return to Woodstock, GA by the middle of that week. 

When we get back to Georgia, we will have a little over two weeks to prepare for our travels to Thailand.   We are both going this year but leaving the house for five months is not easy.    My good neighbors will look after things and check on the house to be sure everything is O.K.  They will pay the lawn service for us as we had to hire someone to remove leaves in the front yard for three months.  They are not sure how many weeks their service will be needed from October to the middle of December.    

I will leave the house clean.  It will get dusty but at least we will come home to an orderly house.  Ron does not plan to come back to the U.S. until March or April.   

I think our flight will take us to Dallas, Narita, Japan and to Bangkok.   This journey will be more than 24 hours.   We will probably stay in Bangkok one night and travel the next day to our intended destination. 

Our next safe house will be in Udon, Thail, Thailand, not far from the Laos border.   A house has been found that we can purchase and remodel to use for another safe house for girls.   Ron will not know the extent of the work to be done until we arrive there.   He wants to oversee the work and make the decisions on what needs to be done.   If the house is suitable for us to furnish part of it and live there while renovations are underway, that would be the easiest and cheapest solution to our accommodations.   If not, we will be in a hotel or rented room somewhere close by the site. 

We have friends in Fort Smith, AR who have gone to visit the church family in Udon for more than 20 years.   I don't know how many Christians are there.  Our friends really love these people and enjoy going there.   I understand that a couple has already agreed to be the house parents for this safe house.  Ron will interview them and train the house parents that are selected on what we expect of them to care for the girls and prepare reports.      

At some point in time, when this work is accomplished, we will visit the safe house in Chiang Mai that Ron established last year.  The son of my former boss in Atlanta, and his family, are living in Chiang Mai for a year.  They have two of their own biological children and two adopted children from China.   They hoped to spend a year in China for the children to experience life there but due to Covid and the restrictions to get into China, they went to Chiang Mai.    We look forward to seeing them when we visit our safe house there.   

We will go into Laos to spend some time with our workers there.   I'm not sure if we will get to Mukdahan, Thailand or to Nepal on this trip.   

On our way home, we will stop over in the Philippines to visit the orphanage and see Ronald and Gigi.  We hope we won't be in lock down there as we were in 2020 due to Covid.   

Ronald and Gigi hope to get home in the spring for a short visit but that may not be possible for two reasons.   They are losing the house parents in the girls' house at the end of their contract in December.  Whoever they hire to replace them will be new employees and need training.   They do not have adequate support to leave the orphanage for a long time.  Due to the island being isolated for two years because of Covid, Gigi's green card needs to be activated again.  They are not sure which immigration office would be the most understanding so they may try to go through Guam or Hawaii to get her active status again.   It will depend on the immigration agent they get whether they approve it, fine them or turn them away.   Any of this is possible.  

The hardest part of the international trip for me is to leave home and get ready to go.   There is so much to take care of before we leave.   Although I am usually excited to go, I am always exhausted when I leave on the flight.   It is not easy to have a place to do my computer work from there and I can't take everything I need.   Then at the end of the trip, we are ready to leave and come home but we face the return flight that brings jet lag.   I feel like I have the flu for about a week when we get home.  It is not easy to overcome.   As we are now in our 80's, I think it gets harder and harder with each trip.  

I pray for and ask for your prayers for our safety and health for this long journey.    While they have good medical facilities in Bangkok, we will be far away from those hospitals and doctors.   One of the reasons I need to go this year is to be sure Ron stays in good health and be with him.   I don't want him having a bad fall or illness there alone.    Yes, we have workers and Christians to help but in case of illness, I really need to be with him.   I am not concerned about myself because I trust Ron to take good care of me.

I will post to this blog often while on this journey.    I want everyone to know that we are doing well and not worry about us.   I cannot write everyone as I would like to so I can refer everyone to the blog to keep up with us.   Please do not think I am too busy to receive your emails if you want to write to me.  My email addresses are patbrown10@gmail.com and patbrown1022@yahoo.com.    I do not use the Yahoo account often but check it periodically.

I hope to have time to post a few more times to this blog before we leave on October 26th.   Thank you for following our "adventures" as we do our best to continue to do the Lord's work while we are able. 

If you saw our passport pictures, you would not think we are able to even go to the grocery store!  😊