April is a busy month!

Ronald and Gigi are in the U.S. traveling and giving presentations to congregations about their orphanage work in the Philippines.   

They spent some days clearing out their house in Woodstock, GA to put it on the market.  They had the first and best offer in one day so their closing will be early in May.   Their travels this trip will take them from Georgia to Alabama, Tennessee, Kentucky and Florida.   We will see them here May 19 and then they return to Atlanta, turn in the rental car and leave on the 21st for the long trip home.  It is a hard trip covering two months.    They will return within 190 days to look for a smaller home where they can invest the money from the sale of their home in Woodstock, GA to keep from paying capital gain on the sale.   They must have a U.S. home for Gigi's green card status to be valid.

We have good news to report because starting this month, Ronald is also working with SAS as our main fundraiser.   Both of our mission works are under the Red Boiling Springs church of Christ.  Most of the churches he reports to also support our SAS work so he will combine the report to update both mission works with each presentation.   Ronald is learning everything about our work under Ron's guidance so he can take over the work Ron does whenever the time comes that it is needed.   He and Jackie Feng will be able to do all of it in the future.  In the meantime, Ron will continue to work as long as he able.  With Ronald joining our work, there will be no concern about our work continuing whenever Ron and I go home.   We are not retiring, but we will be forced to scale back as health conditions press on us.  We feel very blessed that we have been able to do this work until now.  Ron will be 87 in June.  I will be 86 in May.

When we moved to Florence, AL in 1966, we established some friendships that remain to this day.  One friend just spent a week with us at our condo in Florida.   Her husband and Ron worked together on a couple of occasions.   He went home to be with the Lord a few months ago.   It was a good week spent with her but reminiscing about our times together and now the loss of her husband made it bitter sweet at times.  

A dear male friend (and supporter of our work) in Aransas Pass, TX is at the point of death as I write this.  His 97 year old mother died a few weeks ago and he will join her in Paradise soon.    His sweet wife has become a very close friend over the past few years and the days ahead will be hard for her.   

Just a few hours ago I also got word that a dear lady in AR who has supported both of our mission works is not doing well after going to a facility and is now in the hospital.   

A dear Christian man who provided funds for one of our orphanages in  China many years ago in his own son's memory, passed away recently.  

It is our generation that is reaching the end so we know it is time to lose all these wonderful people. While we are happy for those who have left the troubles of this world for a better home, it is still very hard for loved ones left behind to cope with the day-to-day trials without them.    

Our work continues to go well in Nepal, Thailand, Laos and the Philippines.   Jackie Feng, our co-worker has just returned to his home in Memphis as he and his wife have visited most of the SAS safe houses the past few weeks.  

It will be very helpful to him in the future to know the workers in the field personally and have a full knowledge of how the safe houses operate to care for the girls.   Some girls graduate and move on so our number is flexible but remains close to 300.

This is one of the safe houses in Nepal.  The man on the left in the back is Sagar, the director of the preaching school and worker with SAS.  

  

Four of these girls were baptized this week. 

Please pray for Ronald and Gigi in their travels and for us as we deal with aging problems and continue to do our work with SAS.   Thanks to everyone!   May God bless you with good health and peace.

April Fools' Day

 I never liked pranks pulled on me so I'm happy when April 1 arrives and the day goes smoothly without a hitch.   Today has been a warm and beautiful day in Florida.   We opened windows in each room and the air flow was really nice.   I got some extra energy and began deep cleaning.   I took my one large artificial plant outside and sprayed it with a water hose to make sure the dust is off of it.   I waxed most of the wood furniture today.

Today is a new day for Save Asian Souls.   Our son Ronald, who runs the orphanage in the Philippines with his wife, Gigi, starts to take over some of the work from Ron.    Since Ronald's supporters are basically the same as ours and both missions are under the Red Boiling Spring church of Christ in TN, Ron convinced Ronald to report for both mission works together on his trips to the U.S.   

Ron will be 87 in June.   I will be 86 in May.   We just cannot make the trips to give reports any more.  Ron cannot drive the RV for us to do the extensive travel full time.   We cannot drive the car these long distances.   Our RV is up for sale but it is getting old and difficult to sell.    Our car is also pretty old and has over 100,000 miles but we hope we will not have to purchase another car during our lifetime.   

Ron and I will continue doing our computer work from home as long as we can but Ronald will learn more and more about our work so he can eventually take over the rest of Ron's job whenever that becomes necessary.   Ronald knew Jackie Feng, SAS's other worker, as Ronald worked with him in China.    Ronald was the overseer of the six orphanages we had in China for many years before he and Gigi married and they began the Casa Esperanza of Angels' orphanage in Tanjay, Negros Oriental, Philippines.    

Jackie has been working with SAS in the U.S. since his graduation from the Memphis School of Preaching about 6 or more years ago.    He and his wife are presenting in Asia to visit our safe houses in Nepal, Laos and Thailand to meet the workers and get more familiar with the work.   While in the U.S, Jackie has taken over the banking, transfer of funds to workers, approval of the workers' petty cash reports and budget requirements as well as reviewing and approving the girls that come under our care.  In addition, he visits churches within about a 100 mile radius of Memphis, TN, where he and Jenny live.  I will find a picture of Jackie and Jenny to post on my next post.   

Ron has searched for leadership for this mission work for many years but no one has wanted the challenge.   As Ron does not want to quit, it has been a future plan for many years to have someone trained and ready to step in to take it over.    As we are really reaching the critical stage now, we are both very excited to have Ronald come aboard as he needs very little training and he will do an excellent job.    He and Gigi have proven their ability to lead a successful mission work with their orphanage.  We are very proud of the work he and Gigi do in the Philippines because we know what a beautiful campus they have built and the loving concern they have for all of the 25 children in their care.   

If anyone wants to reach out to him, he is in the U.S. now giving reports to churches in TN, AL and KY until the last of May.   He is getting his house in Woodstock, GA (where Ron and I lived before moving to FL) ready to put on the market to sell.    They will return in the fall for another fundraising trip to visit other supporting congregations.    He can be reached at rbrown406@hotmail.com.    I know he would appreciate anyone writing and giving him encouragement.   

A friend from the 1960's is planning to visit us for a week (April 9-16) so I plan to take those days off work to spent time with her.   She lost her husband in November and has been very lonely.   I know we will have a very good time exploring shops and restaurants and seeing sunsets from the Dunedin wharf.

Wishing everyone a happy April .... springtime and summer.

Prayers for everyone to have good health and faithful service to HIM.