visas and tickets

We received the kids' visas this week. It felt good to finally have them in hand. It has been an interesting experience, and I'll spare you the boring red-tape details for now. The nut shell is that we're going to need to leave the country every three months to renew our visas. It's really not a big deal. Basically, it's just a matter of driving to the border and checking in. The upside is that we'll probably get to act like tourist for a week: visit yet another country, stay in a hotel, visit some markets, ... touristy / family-vacationy stuff. It may also be an opportunity to do some networking with other church leaders.

We've purchased the tickets. We're scheduled to fly out Monday, April 27 from KCI. Kendra is excited that we have a 2 hour layover in Tokyo. We arrive in Chiang Mai, Thailand 7:25AM Wednesday (that's about 7PM Tuesday US time).

The school curriculum has been ordered, and it seems someone has covered the bill for us(Thank you for that $900 gift!). The outreach needed the same books my kids needed, so it is a win-win. My kids will be able to pass the books on to the next person or share as needed.

We were also given a new laptop computer. That was a huge blessing. Thank you to the group that made that happen.

Two weeks from tomorrow...!

More good news from Ahtapa

The weather is hot and God is so good to us that he cools us down with heavy rain. The sky is clear now. A couple of weeks ago we thought we would not see the clear sky again. The smoke covered the whole area of Chiangmai. It was declared as a smoke disaster area. Now it is clear and the sky is beautiful.

We planted three hundred banana plants. We are happy that the rain dropped right after we finish the planting. We are pretty sure that all 300 hundred banana plants will make it.

The SOT (ACE School of Tomorrow) students are doing fine. We sent the list of books we need to Brodie. He will order them and have them shipped to Brian in Kansas.

Brian got his non-immigrant visa and will come to work with us in April. Brian is coming with his three children. His children will be in SOT also. Beside Brian, we will have Racky Burgos coming to be with us. She graduated from the International Christian College in Manila early this month. She will be coming to help us teach music and Christian education and assist the Kids for Christ Program. On April 14 brother Robert Cabaltej, former president of ICCM, will be visiting us with the possibility that he and his family will come to work with us for the long term. Brother Joseph and Christine along with 8 children under their care will be coming in next month. So many things are happening here.

I am preparing for the Easter combined gathering for Christian Church around Chiangmai. Brother Samuel Leme is organizing this and I was asked to be a speaker for this gathering. Leah and I are also preparing to come to USA for a short visit. We are praying and waiting for the Lord to give us direction and financial provision on this matter.

In Christ,
Ahtapa and Leah