Incredibly busy summer schedule

Each week, I think I will post a new blog, but my workload has been very heavy.    If you have checked and not found anything new, I'm sorry.   Feel free to email me at patbrown10@gmail.com or Ron at ronbrown20@gmail.com.

We made a trip to Florida to see Leigh Ann the last week of May.   After we left Clearwater, FL, we went to Jacksonville to the Mayo Clinic and Ron had some of his health evaluations completed.   We have not been able to see one of his doctors in a couple of years.   The last time we were there, the hurricane that hit Ft. Myers was already beginning to affect the weather in Jacksonville.    We were not able to see Dr. Lin that day and due to the weather, we could not stay.   We drove back to Woodstock, GA to be ahead of the storm.   Ron will have a MRI tomorrow evening and a blood test Wednesday morning with an appointment to see the doctor in the afternoon.    We will spend two nights in Jacksonville.

Friday morning, we will drive to Central Florida Christian Camp at Eustis, FL where our RV is parked.  It is a 2-1/2 hour drive southwest of Jacksonville into Central Florida near Mt. Dora.  Two years ago, a man in West Palm Beach took the RV on a lease/purchase plan but he discontinued his payments.  The RV was repossessed while we were in Thailand.    The director of the Christian camp went to West Palm Beach and drove the RV to the camp.    

We will clean it up inside and stay there through the weekend.   We need to explore dealers in the area to see if we can put it up for sale with anyone.    I have packed odds and ends of household items from the kitchen, linens for the bed and bath so the basics will be there for our trip.   These things can go with the RV when it is sold.  If we cannot sell it right away, we might go back and spend some time there this winter.  Ron does not feel he can do the maintenance work or drive it now at 86 years of age.    

Ron wants to permanently move to Florida, but we have not made any arrangements yet.   Our friend from California met us in Clearwater in May.  She was hoping to buy a condo and get us to rent it as she does not plan to move there for a few more years.   She did not work out a deal to buy one so that option seems to have ended.

We have a trip planned for the last weekend in August to Florence, AL.   We have two congregations we need to meet with on Sunday, August 27.   Ron hopes we can drive on to Memphis, TN to meet with Jackie, our co-worker.   A deacon in TX is interested in working with SAS when he retires.  We would like for him to meet us there to discuss the work.

The work is continuing just as before, except we closed one safe house in Vientiane, Laos.   Hong, a very excellent worker along with his wife, decided to stop keeping girls for a while.   They have some problems in their family with an adopted teenage daughter and with some other situations, it seemed best for them to take a break from the work.  Hong says he hopes they can do this again in the future.  It was the end of the school year, so some girls went back home to stay.   About four girls will move over to another safe house in Vientiane.  The older girls in college will live in the dorms or find available rooms near their schools.  Some of them are working part-time and also have relatives that can help them financially now.  These changes have kept me busy sending final reports for the girls we will not continue to support.

We are thankful for each of our supporters, whether you sponsor a girl, many girls, or just help with the overall expense of the work.   We are a team with a large number of supporters now and we appreciate each of you.   

As Ron and I are beginning to really feel our age, we will not be able to travel and report to each congregation as often as we have done in the past.   Ron will continue to send news of our work by email, and he will be available to talk by phone (678-877-6300) if anyone has a question.  Ron's hearing is not good at this time, but we hope after more treatment, hearing will return in the ear that is the worst. We will continue to be as active as we can for as long as we are able.  Our office work is full-time so travel makes it much harder for us to keep up with everything.  

God has surely blessed us and our work.  We could not do it without the will of God to move the work forward.   May HE bless each of our workers, our supporters and the precious girls who receive our help.

Until next time!