Wishing everyone a happy Thanksgiving holiday!

This is an important time of the year for most of us.   While it may be because of the good food we enjoy, it means much more than just enjoying a good meal.   For many, it will be a sad time because families cannot be together.   It may be sad because a family member's place is left empty because they have passed away.  It may be even harder for some people this year with COVID-19 interrupting all of our lives.    My hope is that all of my followers, friends, family and supporters of our mission work are well and thankful for our many blessings.  Hard times just mean that we hunker down, keep our faith and continue to move forward until things get better.    

Thankfulness should be in the hearts of everyone.   God blesses us even when we are not deserving or appreciative.    We often overlook the many good things in our lives when things do not go our way.  Even winter brings on the blues and we grumble.   I was thinking this morning as it is very cold in North Georgia, how thankful I am that I did not live during the pioneer days when life was one disaster after another.   If you are old enough to remember "The Little House on the Prairie" you know what I mean.  Many of our mothers and grandmothers lived through very hard times compared to what we go through these days.

Solomon in his wisdom, reminds us that to everything there is a season and a time for us to rejoice and a time to be sad.    

When I think of those who have lost jobs, worried about how they will live and support their families, our worries are minor.   Just focus on your blessings, as I try to do, and be thankful.   God is with us and who can be against us?   

In the Philippines, our son and daughter-in-law's orphanage is caring for children who would be wandering the streets looking for food.   Our girls in the safe houses in Thailand, Nepal and Laos would be living in shacks during the cold winter and have nothing more than a bowl of rice each day.   Some are so poor they go into the forest to look for food just as the animals have to do to survive.   What hope do these people have?   Where is their joy and thankfulness?

Reflecting on these things, I just want to wish everyone a very HAPPY THANKSGIVING and encourage you to be THANKFUL.

Thank you to all who help with our mission work to provide a better life for others and give them a hope of Heaven.

God bless you all.

November - what can I say that is good about it so far?

Forgive me for rambling in this post because there have been so many things happening lately.   Some good and some things not so good.   

We had the remnants of a tropical storm hit early one morning with 55 mph winds for four hours.    When it was light enough to see outside, it looked like a war zone with tree limbs down everywhere.   No trees fell and all limbs were small enough to remove easily but I have spent two weeks just picking up limbs.  We lost power for a short time and were blessed much more than the people of Louisiana who were without power for up to a week in some areas.   Our yard again looks like the pictures I posted in the last blog segment after many hours of hard work.       

The election was a disturbing mess and continues to be unsettled.   Georgia will go through a recount but they were still counting ballots today.   President Trump was right to predict the mail-in ballots would create a huge problem.    There were many irregularities and yet I doubt it is enough to change the outcome.    We did lose sleep two night as we anxiously listened for the results.    There is nothing more we can do but pray for our leaders and our nation.    

I sprained my foot on Saturday afternoon.     I worked hard in the yard most of the day and came in to rest in my easy chair.   After checking emails and reading the news, I got up to go take a shower.   I managed to put my computer on the small table in my office before I had a very hard fall.   My right foot had gone to sleep but I did not feel it.    It gave way and I fell, hitting my head on my office chair and making a big noise.   Ron was in his office and heard it so he rushed in to help me up.   I could not get up because my foot was sprained.   We got my tennis shoe off and put an ice pack on it.   I managed to pull up enough to get to a bed and with ibuprofen and the ice pack, I got some relief in about an hour.  Now, two days later, my foot is swollen and black across the top and on both sides of the ankle.   I can walk without much pain but it will take a while to heel.

The saying I saw on Facebook comes to mind...."Is that promise my mother made to slap me to the next year still open?"    2020 has been a year none of us will forget.    Often, when Ron asks when something happened, I have to remember how old our kids were or where we were living at the time to figure it out.  I don't think we will forgot anything that we have experienced in 2020 and yet there are blessings galore.   We must remember to count them when things are not going exactly as we wish.     

Ron is trying to get an appointment to have his painful shoulder checked but with the pandemic, a simple doctor appointment is not simple.    I need two more dental appointments and with things happening, it is hard to know when to schedule them and I really rather not go out with the pandemic raging again anyway.

We lost a friend in Texas to cancer last week and today Leigh Ann (our daughter) lost a friend of 35 years to brain cancer.    A couple of weeks ago, a friend in Alabama lost her husband with a stroke.  Life is precious and even when we have the many ups and downs, we still should be thankful for each day of life.   Don't forget to tell those you love how much you love them each day.    

On a cheerful note, my niece in Oxford, Mississippi became a grandmother this week and they are so delighted to welcome Lewis into the world.    

Ronald (our son who has the orphanage in the Philippines) wrote that they have a new boy 10 years old.  When I want to feel sorry for myself, I remember children that have gone through so much more than I will ever experience.   This little boy's mother died of cancer.   There is no mention of a father.  He was living with his grandmother but going around to neighbors begging for food.   They are very poor and have nothing.   Can we put ourselves into the plight of this grandmother or that little boy?    How blessed we are and how ungrateful we are to complain about things.    

Some  years ago while we were working in China, I remember thinking of those mothers that abandoned their babies. It was different from uncaring mothers aborting their unborn babies.    These mothers were so desperate they would leave their babies in the cover of night, wrapped tightly in old clothes and lay them near a place where someone would find them,   How many of these women cried their entire lives for the children they were not allowed to keep?   What pain they must have had.    How happy could you be wondering if your child lived and was cared for? 

Our work in Asia continues without any problems.   None of our girls or workers are sick.    Many have suffered in Laos from recent flooding.  Ron will report by newsletter when he gets a report from our workers and how they have been able to help Christians who lost homes and needed food.   Today, I read where a typhoon is hitting Viet Nam and Cambodia with severe flooding.   It is a constant problem for poor people from Nicaragua last week to these people this week in Asia to suffer losses.   When we realize that 80% of the world's population lives in poverty and are continually enduring storms and earthquakes, we should thank God every day for our many blessings in America.   

Keep your focus on life and what is really important and don't let trivial things get you down and ruin your day.   My daughter, Leigh Ann, has posted on the Facebook page something like this:  "Live each day as if was your last."    Cherish each day you wake up and each night when you can lie down in a comfortable bed, safe and without hunger.

I am sorry I got carried away with my focus on us not being appreciative enough.   But it is a lesson we all need to think about.    

With love to all of my friends and family...and to those who care about us and our work that I do not even know very well...May God bless you. 

No news is good news as October comes to a close

 It is difficult to find anything interesting to post when we stay home all the time and our days are rather routine.   After 10 years of travel in the RV, relocating every two or three weeks, I am enjoying staying in one place in a house but it may get really boring before the winter is over.    

Ron continues to work on the RV repairs and touch up painting on pretty days after he answers his emails.  We need to get the RVs sold and he is diligent in working toward that end.   The American Dream that was donated to us a year ago has been in a shop for repairs that Rou could not do.   It is now ready for us to pick up but Ron has not found a dealer to sell the RVs so we will bring it back to our driveway on Friday.   He should complete the work on the Tiffin RV we own in another week and then we will clean them up and find someone to sell them for us.

The work has been really hard for Ron because he has one bad shoulder and continuous back pain from having a problem in 2004 that resulted in a disk being destroyed by e-coli in his upper back.   He will be relieved to be free of the RV maintenance when we can get these RV's sold.

On nice days, I am working a few hours in the yard to get some physical exercise.    I rake leaves in the driveway and walkway and pick up sticks all over the front and back yard.   The trees are wonderful in the summer, providing shade and keeping the house very cool,

but in the fall we have the dead limbs falling along with "raining" leaves.   The neighbors next door are helping me with the front yard leaves since they have a mower that picks up the leaves very quickly.   We will leave the backyard "natural" but we are burning the dead limbs that fall.   

We are anxious for the election to be over but we don't expect things to settle down and be peaceful.  There are rumors that Georgia is the #1 state to have riots and trouble if President Trump wins the election.    These groups that are no different from terrorists, state that they will target the rural and suburb areas since these are where people live who vote Republican and start a civil war.    The city of Atlanta has had riots during the summer months due to racial violence with shootings and the police.    We will avoid the city until we know things are calm.    We have no need to go into Atlanta except to go through the city to get to my dentist for a couple more appointments.

Our work is going well except the border between Laos and Thailand is still closed.    We can't add more girls to the house in Mukdahan, Thailand until our worker in Laos can go there to search for vulnerable girls in need of a home and education.     Three of our girls in Nepal have been reported to have the virus.   The son of the local minister came in to teach a Bible class and reported ill a few days later and then three of the girls got sick.  We are waiting for a report about them and any other girls who may have contracted the virus.     Schools are still closed in Nepal.   The girls can go to their schools three days a week to pick up assignments and do their work from the safe house.    Most of our safe houses have a garden nearby so the girls get out of the house to work in the garden but stay close by home.   

We are happy to send reports about our work to anyone and we welcome your emails.    Ron's email is ronbrown20@gmail.com and mine is patbrown10@gmail.com.    Thanks to everyone for being interested in our work and providing us with so much encouragement to continue the work.   God has blessed us with wonderful sponsors and continued good health.     God bless you all.

Our trip to Thailand has been cancelled

With mixed emotions, I must report that the trip to Thailand has been cancelled.    Ron has spent hours working on the reservations and trying to get a VISA to get into Thailand.   American Airlines changed the reservations several times but he finally thought he had the trip worked out to Hong Kong.   The problem was to get into Thailand from there.   Some airlines were flying from Hong Kong to Thailand but VISAs are required.   We got our pictures made for the VISA applications.  Ron tried many times to submit the applications to the Thai Embassy on-line but each time the computer said the website was not operating.    He read all the things we would face, such as a 14-day quarantine in one of their designated hotels.    All of the hotels were expensive and it would be at our expense.   I do not know for certain, but I imagine the meals will be preset and there would not be "room service selecting from a menu."   There might not be internet service connection either.   Being stuck in a motel room in Bangkok for 14 days under these circumstances would be difficult for both of us and delay the work.    

We have a small window of time due to our age to make another difficult trip to Asia.   Ron will be diligent to make a Plan B and determine our next steps in regard to the building of the next safe house.  No doubt, God will open doors for us and things will work out according to His will. 

The upsurge of the virus numbers in the U.S. will keep us close to home throughout the winter months.  My autoimmune disease (Sjogren's Syndrome) and our ages (82 and 83) put us at high risk for recovery from the COVID-19 virus.   Our health is important, not just to each of us, but for the SAS work to continue without difficulty.    We will continue to work from home to maintain the work and oversee the workers to increase the number of girls we care for in each country.    The virus seems to be must less in Asia at this time so our workers can maintain the care of the girls without difficulty.

We ask for your prayers for us and for our work in Asia.     We pray for our workers and for the girls in our care.    We also pray for our supporters and sponsors because YOU are the backbone of our mission work.    We are the people who go and get the work going and maintain it, but YOU are the reason we can do the work.    Without the support from loving, generous Christians, no mission work can be successful.    

THANK YOU for being on our team for the Lord's work.    Be safe during the months ahead.  Maintain your focus on service to our Lord and the work of carrying His message to the lost.  Continue to support our work as you are able.  

God bless you with love from Ron and Pat Brown!

Fall has come to Georgia

We are having some very chilly nights in northern Georgia.    The days warm up to the low 70's but nights are in the 50's and 60's.   The burn ban is not on so Ron is breaking up fallen limbs and burning them in the burn barrel Leigh Ann purchased for this purpose.    We hope to get the yard cleaned up and in good condition before our trip to Thailand.  Our leaves are not turning yet.  When we get the yard in better shape, I will post some pictures.   

The confirmation for our departure is now November 5, leaving Atlanta early for Los Angeles.   The flight through Dallas on November 1 was cancelled for lack of passengers going to Hong Kong.   International travel is not back to capacity and many airlines have cut back flights.    American could not make a connection from Hong Kong to Thailand but Ron has found several other airlines that do fly there from Hong Kong on a regular basis.   He will continue to work on reservations and hope something will work out before the first week of November.    We will end up in Lampang, Thailand but may have to go to Bangkok first.  I will post more about our plans as the trip gets closer.

We made a fast trip to Tennessee and Kentucky last week.    While it was good to get out and travel a little, we rushed a long trip in a short time and put many miles on the car in a short time.    We got home late the second night with only one night in a hotel in Franklin, KY.     We kept our distance and tried to only visit those we knew were safe, hoping to continue to escape the virus.   

Enjoy the change of seasons and the fall weather wherever you are.   God bless everyone!

All set - Go!

The title is a little misleading.   We are getting ready to go to Thailand on November 1, 2020.  But, we have a lot to do in the short time left.   

Ron is busy getting the maintenance done on our Tiffin RV to try to get it to a lot for sale before we leave.  RV service places are totally busy and its hard to get any help to do the repairs.   He has a man coming here on Saturday to try to find the electrical problems not working.   He has a man here today washing it and getting part of it ready to paint.   He will have to get someone to help him with the canvas awning that needs some work.   

I have a dental appointment in two weeks to get some small cavities filled.   I had a tooth pulled about a month ago that had an infection under a crown for a very long time.  I thought I just had some gum problems but it was actually a bad abscess under the tooth.

We will try to clean up the back yard before we leave.  There are many limbs fallen from the trees but there is a burn ban on now.   In October, we can break up the limbs and burn them in a burn barrel.  We want to get the yard in a good shape before we leave because it will have to be left until we return in the spring.   We will try to get the young neighbor next door to rake leaves in the front yard but the back yard is just natural and we will just let them accumulate there.   

We will fly from Atlanta on November 1st.   Originally, Ron planned to leave on Nov. 11th but he changed the reservations so we can leave before election day.  We will vote by absentee ballot as soon as it arrives in the mail.   We plan to leave early just in case there are uprisings or riots due to the election.   We don't know what will happen if President Trump is reelected and we believe he will be.   The Democrats and organized movements such as BLM and Antifa may try to destroy our cities.  Highways, airports and such like could be shut down to prevent us from even getting to the airport.    

We will have a short flight to Dallas and then from Dallas to Hong Kong.   We will have one night in the hotel at the airport and the next day fly to either Chiang Mei or Lampang.   I'm not sure if flights are available to Lampang but that is where we will end up and stay for almost four months.    Chiang Mei, in northern Thailand, is a tourist area where many expats go to retire.   There are beautiful communities there where rent is very reasonable for extremely nice houses.   Lampang is about l hour's drive from Chiang Mei.   I saw a couple of YOU TUBE videos about this place but it is small and I don't think there's much to see or do there.   They have beautiful temples in Thailand but they are not of much interest to us.   I do enjoy the food so I hope restaurants are open and the markets will be good.

I hope we will be in the hotel in Hong Kong on election night so we can watch the outcome on TV.

The virus was very light in Thailand and we are safe there but may have to quarantine 14 days upon arrival in a hotel.    Thailand will start issuing 90 day VISAs in order to get tourist back so we will apply for the VISA so we will not have to leave the country every 30 days, as before.   This 90-day VISA allows us to renew it again twice (1 month each time) which will allow us all the time we need.  Ron hopes to complete the house construction early in March so we can return to the U.S. 

Due to the Coronavirus restrictions, we may not be able to visit any other country on this trip.   There is still a shutdown in Nepal to some degree and the border between Laos and Thailand is still closed.

Cooler weather came to North Georgia this past week.    We had 50 degrees this morning.   We are not far from the North Georgia Appalachian Mountains.  This is probably a temporary cool spell and there will be warmer days in October.

We will miss Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays again.   I loved these celebrations every year with family and friends but since we went into the mission work, it has not been the priority of our lives.  As our children went their separate way, it was not the same if we had to spend the holidays at home alone.  We remember Tatum's birthday on December 22nd (our granddaughter) each year as she was the best Christmas present we ever received.   

September is a bittersweet month but mostly sweet.    Both Leigh Ann and Ronald had birthdays in September.   They are both such a blessing to our family.  Their births are vividly remembered each year and each day of their lives is a blessing to us.    I honestly do not know what I would do without them.  I thank God for giving us these precious offspring.

Ronald and Gigi are celebrating a 9th wedding anniversary tomorrow and through the weekend for a short getaway to a resort in the Philippines where they got a 50% off rate.   We could not ask for a sweeter daughter-in-law.   Gigi is precious to Ronald and to us.  I told them this week that I think God gave each of them to the other as a special gift from Him.  The chance of their meeting just had to be made in heaven.  

My mother died in September and after 37 years, I can vividly picture that time with her and her funeral as if it was yesterday.   We never forget our mothers.   I am always thankful for the life she gave me, the love and protection she extended to me and the teaching she gave me.   The loving care of a Christian mother is priceless.   There was never a time, not even for a minute, that I did not know that she loved me and thought I was one of the best things that ever happened in her life.    My Dad died when I was 3-l/2 and she always told me God sent me to keep her from being so lonely in life.    I miss her and cherish my heritage.

Keep us in your prayers as we continue our daily work with Save Asian Souls and Philippine Mission and prepare for the long trip to Asia again.    I will post another segment as things progress and I have more information to share.  God bless you all with good health and many continued blessings.

God is good and life is enjoyable!

Ron and I are doing well and isolating ourselves as much as possible due to an upsurge in the coronavirus in Georgia the past few months.   Since moving into Ronald and Gigi's house in Woodstock, GA, we have been very busy getting straightened out, doing minor repairs to the house, working in the yard and keeping up with our computer work for Save Asian Souls.

Our daughter, Leigh Ann, came up to visit from Florida over a long weekend toward the middle of August.   She went through some things she left here when she moved to Clearwater, FL last October.   We got to keep and use some of her things, she took a carload back with her and stored other things in the basement to get later.   We have a very nice, livable place to enjoy with a wonderful bird sanctuary in the backyard.    A snake appeared in a brush pile last week and we think it got our favorite little chip monk.   The birds and chip monks put on a show for us right outside our breakfast room window as they fight for positions on the bird feeders and bird bath.   They really enjoy the free food and water.  I will research to see if I can leave a suet ball for them to enjoy this winter when we are gone.    

We have enjoyed a rather nice summer and have not used any air conditioning.    This past week, we have slept under a light blanket at night.    We are enjoying 80's during the day and 60's or low 70's at night.   Fall is in the air but no leaves are falling yet.   

Ron has made reservations to return to Thailand on November 11th.   If we are able to get back into Thailand as the virus is still an unknown at this time, we will return to Mukdahan for a short time for Ron to get someone to complete the construction work left undone on the house we built there this past year.   

The house is more complete now and they have nice gardens producing vegetables on the sides of the house.   The girls are learning to garden and grow much of their own food.  

From there, we will then go to Northern Thailand where Ron will build a smaller house on church property.  It will house about 24 girls.   We anticipate taking a side trip to Laos to meet with our workers and renew our VISA to get back into Thailand for the last month.    We hope to return to the U.S. the second week of March, 2021, God willing.

We do not think we will have sufficient time to go to Nepal or the Philippines this year.   The house our son (Ronald Brown) has constructed for us on the campus of Casa Esperanza of Angels in Tanjay, Negros Oriental, Philippines is almost ready for occupancy.   They are finishing up the final touches and building the bunk beds for the girls.    

A Christian couple working part-time at Casa to relieve the house parents, have agreed to be over the SAS house of girls.   He is on the left in the white shirt and his wife is in black in the center of the back row.   Our son, Ronald, is on the right.

The new house parents have two teenage daughters.   One is a Christian and both girls will be great examples for the girls we support.   

Casa took two older girls in about two months ago when a Catholic girls' home closed.   These girls (top right on the back row) will move over to the SAS house and be our first two supported girls. 

In the Philippines, they also have a large garden underway and the older children learn all the aspects of gardening.    They are being taught many practical things that will help them when they are adults and must take care of themselves.  They are all receiving schooling and attend classes every day at the orphanage during the coronavirus shutdown of schools.    

Surplus vegetables (more than the children and workers of Casa can consume) will be given to the community that surrounds the orphanage.   

As soon as the virus ends and the church can open up to community services again, it will be helpful to have established a good relationship with everyone due to the good food program.   Christians are generous to help others and it is a valuable lesson to teach others and our children growing up in our care.