We keep in touch with our new safe house mother in Udon Thani, Thailand. She and Yim, her only girl so far, are growing many good vegetables in their garden. The most unique of which, is oyster mushrooms.
Since none of you have seen them growing, you will enjoy the pictures.
I have not seen oyster mushrooms in the U.S. but I loved them when we tried them in Udon. They are fried in a small amount of oil until they become crunchy around the edges. They can be used in stir fried dishes and in soup.
As the last phase of our lives has arrived, we are moving again. Thankfully, not to a nursing home!
About 23 years ago, Ellen Mao, came into our lives as a young graduate nurse from Harding University. We met her at Hillsboro church of Christ. She was very interested in our work in China as her family is Chinese. They immigrated to the U.S. when Ellen was a child, and they still live in California. Ellen began working with us in the office, went on medical missions to China and more recently went to all of our Save Asian Souls' safe houses and taught home health and good hygiene practices to the girls and house mothers. She and Leigh Ann (our daughter) went together to visit children at one of the orphanages that we established in China more than 10 years ago. Ellen visits Leigh Ann in Clearwater, FL.
From 2010 to 2019, we lived in an RV and traveled extensively across the south to give reports on our work to raise funds. When we went to Asia in 2019, we did not know that would be the end of our travels in a motor home. Covid hit the world and when we returned to the U.S. in June, 2020, we moved into Ronald and Gigi's house in Woodstock, GA (north of Atlanta). Leigh Ann and Tatum (our granddaughter) lived here for more than five years but had relocated to Tampa and Clearwater, FL at the end of 2019.
Ron decided a year ago that we would move to FL before the next winter. Ron had a man in FL to take the RV on a lease/purchase plan two years ago but while we were in Thailand last year, he quit making payments and Ron repossessed the RV. Rather than live in an apartment, we decided we would live in the RV full-time and had selected an RV park in San Mateo, FL.
When Ellen heard this, she began pushing for us to relocate close to Leigh Ann in Clearwater. She began searching for condos and agreed to be co-owner with us if we would consider it. After two weeks of reviewing available condos, we have reached an agreement to purchase a condo with Ellen, located at 1020 De Leon Drive, Unit #103 in Dunedin, FL. It is a 10-minute drive north of Leigh Ann. The closing is set for August 31, and we hope to be ready to drive there after Ron's next appointments at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville on October 6th.
After we get moved and settled, I will post pictures!
I have begun the packing and disposing of things we cannot use any longer. It is a difficult job but with breaks to do some of my computer work, I am sure I can get it done by the end of September. Unpacking in a new place is the easy part. I think we have moved 20 times in 68 years. I could be a professional packer if not so old!
Ronald and Gigi will return home and begin doing things to the house to get it ready to sell. They cannot return to the U.S. permanently and he does not want to rent it again. He went to China in 2009 and the two renters prior to Leigh Ann living here did not take good care of the house. Since he cannot oversee it from the Philippines, he will sell it and try to buy something smaller for their home in the U.S. Leigh Ann and Ellen want them to buy a condo down there close to us, of course.
My workload has been very heavy since we returned from Thailand. I will have to take breaks from the packing at my age so I will do my computer work on my breaks. I will do my best to keep things fairly current until we can get settled in Florida.
We have wonderful neighbors here in Woodstock. I have become close friends with them and with the two young girls at one of my neighbors. These young teenagers want to come down to visit us next summer and that will be special for them and for us. I am going to miss them but hope we can make some friends in the 55+ condo building and at church. There is a small but sound congregation at Port Harbor, five miles north of Dunedin.
We regret that we cannot travel to congregations as we have done for the past 20 years. The long-distant driving will become harder for us. We will miss many friendships and visits being further away and we regret this. We will keep in touch with our modern technology and continue our work as usual.
We believe this change is the best for us at our age. With our daughter and granddaughter nearby, they will surely help us, but we will try to be independent as long as we can. We are about a 4-hour drive from the Mayo Clinic. They have all of Ron's medical records, but we can use local doctors for minor illnesses. I hope Leigh Ann can take a day off and go with us to the Mayo Clinic when Ron needs another visit there. After the October 6th appointments, he may be dismissed until next year's checkups.
We will continue our work with SAS as long as we possibly can. Maybe God will continue to bless us, and we will have a few more years to be active in the work.
We appreciate your prayers for us.
