Week 2, Day 10

After about a week, the family seems to have adjusted to the time difference, for the most part. We're adjusting well and thankful every day for the Lord's provisions and the love and care of all who are around us. We certainly feel His hand guiding our steps and providing for our immediate and long-term needs.

One wonderful provision has been through our IBC church member Jeff Lee, who connected us via email with his former pastor in Chicago before we left the States. This pastor's family has been out in Chiang Mai for the past year. The first Korean couple we sovereignly met was when we dropped Eli off at the church nursery this past Sunday and introduced ourselves to the teacher that day. The teacher happened to be the wife of the pastor and said she knew of our coming and was waiting to meet us. Since then, they've been a great help connecting us to Korean resources, giving us helpful tips, and just driving us around.

Here are some updates:

• Weather: If you've been reading the news, two typhoons came through southeast Asia, bringing about some of the worst flooding here in Chiang Mai in decades. Our immediate area had minimal flooding in the streets, but overflow from the Ping River caused major flooding with over 200 deaths in Thailand. Please pray for those affected, that God would meet their physical and spiritual needs. 
• Transportation: With the help of one of the other missionary couples, we were able to obtain Thai driver's licenses! It would've been quite complicated on our own, as we had to first go to Immigration, then to the clinic to get a physical, then to the DMV. Normally, there's a 3-part driving test (colors, brake reaction, perception), but we only had to do the first part. David is still researching the best car for our needs, but we hope to purchase something next week. In the mean time, Ester is hoping to learn how to ride the songtheaow (taxi truck) to get around without a car.
• Housing: Praise God!!! Through the referral of the Korean pastor mentioned above, we found a home. At the end of October, we'll be moving into a 4-bedroom duplex. We'll be sharing the duplex with a Korean pastor and his wife. Hope they don't mind hearing our boys cry in the middle of the night. The home is unfurnished, so we'll need everything...literally. Like many Thai homes, it also doesn't come with an oven, so we hope a toaster oven will cut it. We're debating whether to purchase a dryer. It also doesn't come with a stove, so we'll have to get portable burners. Although there's a great grassy lawn, we're not sure if it's safe for the boys to play in because snakes and other pests can often be found hiding in the grass. (Side note: We're learning every day that the Korean community is truly a small world. We had a conversation today where the pastor we'll be living next to said, "Oh Master's Seminary. I knew a guy named Jin Soo Young." Happens to be IBC's very own Elder Andrew. =P)
• ZOE: This year, ZOE is trying something new, giving the new missionaries 5 1/2 months to study Thai before working full-time. David will take intensive language classes while teaching English to ZOE students once a week. In the mean time, Ester's been learning some basic phrases through this awesome Youtube Thai Learning site. She's wrapping up Lesson 1. =P
• Food: The wonderful thing about Thailand is that you can eat a meal for $1/person. Ester's been enjoying Japanese bento lunches for $1.60! You can't beat that. With reports of flooding coming in last week, we went to the market to stock up on food in case we couldn't get out and about. We continue to receive dinner meals daily from the ZOE family. What a help and blessing. We live right by the main road, which has all the major food stores needed. Big C is like a Walmart, Lotus is like a Target, Makro is like Costco, and Rimping is like Whole Foods. We frequent Big C most often. However, we were able to get some imported goods at Makro and Rimping. Ester was thrilled to find basic cooking ingredients for Japanese and Korean cooking. However, imported goods are more expensive. It's been nice to become more independent, cooking meals for ourselves. It's also been nice to have some tastes from home, without having to figure out what the boys will be willing to eat. Ester's been able to make mac 'n cheese for the boys (Ian's favorite!), daenjang jigae (Korean bean paste stew), salmon kimbap, and beef curry. We even got a referral to order kimchee from a local kimchee lady who delivers it to your door! (There happens to be a large Korean community in our neighborhood.) Beef is harder to come by. After looking for thinly sliced beef to make bulgogi, Ester came across what was called beef knuckle. After that meal didn't work out, she was able to find imported Japanese beef at Rimping. Now we know. Ester's also been on the hunt for some breakfast sausages, which isn't readily available. David found the last box at Rimping for $6!
• Church: This past Sunday, we visited Chiang Mai Christian Fellowship, which is where several of the ZOE missionaries attend. In fact, most of the congregation is made up of missionaries from all over the world. It was a great time of praise, teaching, and fellowship. What a blessing to attend church with our fellow ZOE missionaries. During praise time, it was overwhelming to be in a room full of families who've all left the comforts of their home and join together to lift our praises and hearts to and dependence upon our Lord. Sundays must truly be a time of encouragement, comfort, and joy. Another blessing was that Ian and Eli went right into their respective classes and enjoyed playing with toys and new friends. Eli had some tears at the beginning, but adjusted quickly. The teacher said he kept asking for more crackers. Ian said, "I was shy at first, but then I felt happy."
• Ian's Schooling: This week, Ian went in to school for a 45-minute kindergarten readiness test. He did great and is testing at a 5 1/2- to 6-year old level. Today, Ester had a meeting with the elementary principal and his kindergarten teacher. He will get to visit his class tomorrow and get a feel for a normal school day. Hopefully, he'll adjust to the classroom setting as well as he has been to everything else here in Thailand. He's doing exceptionally well, considering all the life changes. There are 11 other students in his class, coming from 6 different languages. What a neat experience for Ian to be exposed to children of all cultures. We're looking forward to this school year as we've heard great things about this Christian school. His school day runs from 7:40am-11:30am. This school year, there have been days that the school has been flooded out. We'll see how the rest of the season goes.
• Pregnancy: Ester is now 13 weeks, and is due for a monthly checkup at the end of the month. She got some good referrals for some doctors and hospitals, so we'll be checking these out in the next week or so. We're still praying about where to deliver, with the option to fly to Bangkok coming into the mix. We'll keep you posted.

Here are some pics...Ian's first mac 'n cheese in Thailand...how come I didn't know how easy it was to make from scratch?

One of the missionaries stopped by to drop off some chips and guacamole he bought from a local vendor. Yum!!!

Japanese cooking...soy sauce, light soy sauce, sake, and mirin...now if we can find some bonito flakes and kelp:

In addition to these treasures, Ester found sugar and sesame oil...now she's on the hunt for some dried anchovies:

God is good!

Day 4

Each night seems to be getting better. Last night was the first night Ester left the boys to sleep on their own. When she went to check on them at 1am, she found Eli sleeping on the floor, even though he has a queen sized mattress on the floor to sleep on. Eli slept from 9:30pm to 6:30am, and Ian slept from 9:30pm to 5am. Ester's been waking around 3am every morning, but this happened in the States because of pregnancy insomnia anyways. David woke at 4:30am.

David left this morning at 8am to attend a new missionary orientation. He was able to walk 5 minutes to a local restaurant where the meeting was being held. The great thing about ZOE is that all the missionary families try to live near each other, so we are within blocks of one another.

Ester ventured to do some laundry and take a walk around the neighborhood with the boys. After walking for about 15 minutes, she decided to come back home, as the humidity was pretty thick. Ian enjoyed seeing some birds, a dragonfly, stray dogs, and a black cat.

Tomorrow, David will complete his orientation and then all the missionary families will head up to ZOE for their regular Friday night meeting with the children and introduction of new missionaries. The ZOE facility is about an hour away in a more rural area in the mountains.

Here are some pics...this is Ester's attempt at toasting bread without a toaster...it worked. =)

The food deliveries have been awesome and plentiful, but Ester realized we don't have a microwave and have a hard time reheating leftovers for the next day. This worked:

This shouldn't be a problem at our new place, as we will be purchasing a microwave. =P

Here's Ian turning anything into fun and games...coins, my hair rubberband, and a receipt:

Walking around the neighborhood. We're in a secure community. This is at the entrance of the gate:

Our street:

Our home for now:

Doing the laundry:

Where the boys play:

A typical bathroom in an older home:

The boys' room...another thing we learned is that American fitted sheets don't always fit the mattresses. We were told to bring our own, as nice ones can be expensive here. Our twin and queen sets are just a tad small. Good thing we brought the flat sheets: 

Our room:

An extra room where we're storing luggage:

Sorry for this, but here's a pic of the gecko droppings if you're curious. Normally, there aren't this many, but the home was empty for a few months before we came, so...

Ok, time to rest...

We Made It!!!

After an emotional sendoff at the airport Saturday night, we took the 17-hour flight into Bangkok, and then had 2 hours to make our 1-hour flight into Chiangmai. Thanks to all our family and church family for making it out so late to the airport...babies, children, and unborn children, and all. I was thinking that Sunday morning nurseries and classes might be rough. When we were going through the final checkpoint, the guy asked us if all that noise was for us. We love you all and are going to miss everyone one of you very much.

The last week before we left was cuh-ray-zy! It was a difficult endeavor to pack our entire lives into bags and boxes, deciding what to take, what to store, and what to bring later. We packed until the last minute. Most of the missionaries out here have their belongings stored in their homes that have been rented out. So we just got rid of as much as we could. We ended up taking an extra few bags and paying the fees.

The flight itself went better than expected. Eli fell asleep within 40 minutes of the flight around midnight.

Every couple hours, he'd wake up crying from a stuffy nose, but for most of the flight, he was okay. Right at the end, he started to meltdown and cried the entire way down as we landed. Then he was just plain exhausted and inconsolable as we tried to make our next flight. Everyone stared at us as we stood there waiting for 30 minutes trying to get through customs with a loud, crying, screaming baby. Ian, on the other hand, was the perfect traveler and was excited the whole time and was without complaint. God is gracious. As we waited for our 12 bags at the baggage claim, we saw all the travelers get their bags and exit, while we ended up being the very last people to leave, as we waited for our car seat that we checked in at the gate.

We're 14 hours ahead here, so we arrived Monday morning and were warmly greeted by a crowd of ZOE missionary families. Right away, we were hit with the heat and humidity. That will take some getting used to. The Tang Family, whom we met during our visit last November, took all our bags into their car and drove us to our new temporary home, which also happened to be their home last year, and the only home we visited in November. We were pleasantly surprised with 3 gift baskets of food, snacks, cleaning supplies, and other items we'd need right away, provided by ZOE. The Tangs showed us around the home and got us settled in.

The ZOE family has been amazing. They promptly gave us a schedule of different people assigned to drive us around each day and provide us dinner at night. We're so impressed with the quality of people who work at ZOE, just the best of the best. We're humbled and excited to work alongside such generous, kind, Christ-loving people. We love hearing everyone's life stories and what brought them to work at ZOE. Apart from the founders, David is the only one coming from a full-time ministry background. All the other missionaries come from professional backgrounds...business, accounting, finance, government, engineering, education, law, etc.

Tuesday and Wednesday have been full of errands...shopping for more supplies, getting cell phones, setting up the internet, setting up a bank account, looking for a car, etc. We tried to pack 2 bags that we could work out of for the first month so we wouldn't have to open up all the bags, but before we left, we had to keep redistributing the weights so everything got mixed up. We ended up opening up all the luggage and repacking. The boys are happy to see their toys and have been happily playing and watching DVDs. Eli picked up some bad habits (whining and hitting) in the weeks before we left, in the chaos of the move and not being able to be consistent with training and discipline. He's not happy about us bearing down on him now. The boys are doing extremely well with the jetlag. We all try to stay up until at least 9pm, but have been waking up anywhere from 3am-5am. All to say, we're tired. But we are overwhelmed with thankfulness for making it here; for the support of our family, church, and friends; the love of the ZOE family; and simply God's goodness.

We'll be looking for a home and buying a car in the next week or so. Here are some things we learned so far about life in Thailand:

• Airport: The Bangkok airport is crazy big. Poor David had to trek from our first flight to our second flight carrying a car seat on his back, his backpack on his front, 2 laptops on his side, and a rolling carryon bag. I think we walked half a mile. We barely made our flight 2 hours later.
• Food: Food will be an adjustment for the boys as we'll have to find textures and tastes that they're willing to eat. So far, they seem to be good with chicken/rice dishes. It's been hard finding fiber sources for them, as we're used to eating avocados every day. We've been relying on grapes and apples. Milk tastes a little different here, and our hypersensitive Ian quickly noticed this. Thankfully, they're used to it now and drinking away. We are doing our best to avoid foods sources that may get us sick, eating lots of yogurt, and drinking lots of what would be called yakult in the States. So far, no bacterial sickness, but Eli complained of a tummy ache yesterday and had a looser stool, so we'll have to keep an eye on that. David and Ester have meds ready in case our tummies are not adjusting. 
• Driving: If you thought driving in LA was hairy, Thailand is no joke. Ester is wondering if she'll ever be able to drive here, as she'll be doing most of the driving because David can take a ZOE shuttle to work. Thus, we're looking for a home within 5 minutes of walking distance from Ian's school so she can avoid driving. And her record of not being at fault for 3 of her accidents in LA is no advantage here, as we were told that being a "farang" (foreigner), you will likely pay something regardless of who's at fault. And pedestrians don't have the right of way here. If you try to take it, they will mow you down.
• Critters: Thailand is full of all kinds of critters. We were told that we'll see geckos from time to time crawling along the walls in our homes, but we're to leave them be, as they eat up the other unwanted critters. However, we should pick up the droppings they leave around the house. Ian's job is to find the droppings before Eli does. One advantage is that we don't have to have artificial white noise for the boys because there is the natural white noise of frogs croaking, birds chirping, and other animals and bugs chiming together. We were also told to do the dishes right after meals, so as not to attract ants. David's happy about this one, as it's a pet peeve of his to leave dishes in the sink.
• Weather: The first day seemed the warmest and most humid. Every night, it's been raining hard, and then overcast or clears up during the day. Today, it rained during the day. This home has a fan and A/C in every room, so we try to stay in the same areas so we only have to run one A/C. In the evenings, we have the fans running all night.
• Conversions: Everything is in kg, celsius, 220 volts, and baht (instead of dollars) here. We're having to recalculate constantly to make sure we know what we're doing.
• Electronics: Most Thai homes don't have dryers (just washing machines) and a lot of the electronics that we Americans use. If you use too many at once, the power may go out. Being in this temporary home, we're not purchasing appliances just yet (toaster oven, microwave, dryer, etc.), so Ester's making the most of a simpler life. =) Without the internet, tv, and phones the first few days, it was nice to just enjoy one another rather than being distracted by everything else. And if we try to plug in something that is not designated as 110V-240V, then we can fry our electronic.

Here are some pics...happy on the airplane:

Carseats aren't required in Thailand:

This is a mom and her 2 kids covered in a tarp driving in the rain on a motorcyle:

Embracing Thai culture...sitting in the back of a truck:

These 2 guys are just hanging on the back of this songtheaow (taxi-type of truck):

All for now...thanks for your prayers!

Last Post Before We're in Thailand!

We'll be offline for a bit until we get settled in Thailand. This week has been crazy with getting rid of more stuff and packing. Our family and church family have been a great help and blessing bringing meals, taking the boys out so we can get things done and they can get outdoors, and taking furniture and other items off of our hands. Additional updates:

• Commissioning Service: We had a wonderful time worshipping and fellowshipping with our church family and guests this past Sunday at our commissioning service. It was a full house with relatives traveling all the way from Canada and NorCal to say goodbye. We were overwhelmed by the love and support of everyone in our lives. Thanks to everyone who made it out to see us off. David preached from Ephesians 6:18-20 about prayer, and asked for prayer for us to be bold to preach the gospel of Christ, and to persevere in the years to come.
• Housing: We found a temporary home to rent. One of the ZOE missionary families knew of a home that needed a temporary subletter, so we'll be renting for at least a month, but we have the option to stay longer if needed. Hopefully we'll find a place with a week or so. Praise God!
• Packing: We've shipped off 24 boxes of mostly David's books, some DVDs/CDs, and paper files. Hopefully we'll get all that in a few months. It looks like we'll need more than 8 bags to check in on the plane, so we'll pay the extra charges for maybe a total of 10 bags. The family (except Ian) has all developed a bit of a dust allergy with phlegm and coughing, as we've kicked up all the dust in our place. Hopefully, it'll clear up once we're out of here. 

Will post pics once we arrive and settle in Thailand. Bye everyone! Thank you!!!

10 Days to Go!

We are now counting down in "days" and can't believe how fast the time has flown by. We enjoyed a wonderful time with our church in San Diego at our 15-year annual retreat. We've been busy packing and having our last meals with friends. Sadly, we're now at the point where we have to turn down offers to meet up one last time with friends, as we are busy packing, Ester is either finishing up a work project or laid out sick on the couch throughout the day and night, and David is running around doing the errands. Unfortunately, the boys are watching way too much tv, and playing way too many computer and ipod games. We hope to get back to a normal life once we're settled in Thailand. A huge help has been a dear sister from church, Tiffany, who's been coming on her days off to take the boys out in the mornings so they can have some fun and we can make some progress.

David's parents are arriving today from Korea, and more relatives are arriving in the days to come. We look forward to spending time with family before we leave.

Here are some additional updates:

• Commissioning Service: Our last Sunday at church will be our sendoff service this coming Sunday, Sept. 18, at 9:30am. David will preach his last sermon, finishing up his series through the book of Ephesians. The 1st hour will be followed by a short update on what we'll be doing in Thailand, then a report on our church's mission trip to Japan. We'll end with a catered lunch. We look forward to seeing friends who'll be visiting the church to say goodbye. However, we'll be sad to say goodbye to those we'll be seeing for the last time before we depart.
• Departure Flight: We are departing Saturday, Sept. 24, at 11:20pm on Thai Airlines from the International Terminal. We will most likely arrive around 8:30pm to ensure enough time for check-in.
• ZOE Funds: As previously updated, we've reached our financial goals for our initial 2-year commitment. We continue to receive funds from family and friends beyond our goals. (God is abundantly gracious!) ZOE will allow us to use any additional funds for emergency situations and future financial needs if we stay beyond the initial 2 years.
• zoe Necklaces/Keychains: We've now given out about 100 zoe necklaces and keychains for donations of $10 or more. Wow!
• Liz Wang Photography: Some wonderfully talented friends of ours from church are offering a limited time family/baby photo session, with proceeds going to ZOE. Click here for details. Make sure to click "Home" to see their amazing photos. Any photo done by them would be a beautiful keepsake.
• Packing: God continues to be gracious to us as someone we know will be moving into our apartment, along with his roommates. This allows us to leave many of the items we would've had to get rid of (e.g., housewares, small furniture, etc.). We're thankful we have less to do in our final days. Everyone asks us how much of our stuff we'll be taking with us. We're packing up as much as we can into 8 check-in bags, which will consist of clothes, shoes, toys, belongings, and some household items that may be difficult to find or expensive in Thailand. We're boxing up David's books, our DVDs and CDs, and will ship all these by sea. We anticipate about 15 boxes. We are fortunate that the ZOE family will have some baby items that we can borrow, so that we don't have to bring these things out now.
• Pregnancy: We are thankful that the pregnancy is progressing well, which means Ester is very sick. She's working hard to keep down what she eats, watching carefully what she eats so it's easy to digest (i.e., no more fatty foods), and breaking down her meals into small portions to prevent indigestion and nausea. Yes, it's all about food. We're praying daily that God would keep the baby healthy and entrusting his/her life into His hands. We'll have one last doctor's visit before we leave so we can have some time to settle in Thailand before having to make another doctor's visit. 
• Housing: We continue to research online for homes to rent. The ZOE family has been amazing, as they've been checking out homes for us on their own and emailing us their videotaped tours of the homes! How great are they! We're so thankful to enter into such a loving ZOE family.
• Ian: Ian is feeling the weight of our imminent departure, as he's now been saying that he only wants to go for a short time and then return to our country. He asked his Auntie Swan why her family can't come with us. We've been reminding him that we'll be able to visit during the summers, and that friends and family can visit us. We've also been telling him that home is where the family is, and that we'll make a new home together in Thailand, and he won't want to leave there because he'll enjoy it so much. We've emailed all his paperwork to enroll him in the international Christian school we hope he can attend. He's currently missing the 1st quarter and will begin his 2nd quarter on Oct. 10. For a boy who struggles greatly with change and transitions, we've often used those times as opportunities to teach him that Christ and His Word is the only unchanging, constant in our lives, that He is the one to find His hope and peace in. This move will be the biggest opportunity thus far to teach him this life-truth. Please pray for his little heart, as we anticipate the transition will be an emotional one for him.
• Visits: Another question that people ask is when we will visit the States. Ester may return to deliver the baby in America, but if all is well with the pregnancy, she may deliver in Thailand. Normally, we should be able to return during the summers for a few months. We get a total of 2 months off! Visits in 2012 will be uncertain, but normally, we should be able to visit during the summer months.

Here are some pics...last visit at Riley-bear's:

Disneyland with Auntie Connie, cousin Nathaniel, and Connie's niece:

First time at Legoland. We usually take Ian's cousin Kristen or Shelby on our trips, but because they were in school already, Zoe got to come for the first time:

Ester's farewell party at work:

Beautifully decorated Thai-style:

Ester with her coworker and boss. They've known each other since 1999:

Another trip to Disneyland with Uncle George, Auntie Connie, and cousins Nathaniel & Leila:

"Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever." Hebrews 13:8

Less Than a Month to Go...and Updates!!!

We are approaching our departure date, with less than a month to go. Here are some updates:

• David's Back! He returned from Japan last week after being gone for 20 days, having enjoyed a wonderful time of ministry and fellowship with our church's summer mission team. The boys and Ester are now depriving him of sleep that he desperately wants in order to help him recover from jetlag as quickly as possible.
• ZOE Funds: Through the generous donations and monthly commitments of our church, family, and friends, we have reached our financial goals for the initial 2-year commitment at ZOE. We thank God every day for the support and love we have through you guys. His love is abundant to us through you.
• zoe Necklaces/Keychains: We've now given over 85 zoe necklaces/keychains for donations of $10 or more.
• Last Goodbyes: We've been busy enjoying playdates and get-togethers with friends and family to spend our last days as we near our departure date. Saying goodbye will certainly be the hardest part about leaving.
• ZOE means "life." If you know the history of our journey to minister abroad, then you know that we're always preparing ourselves for last-minute changes and "things" coming up right before we're scheduled to leave. While David was in Japan, Ester had to tell him via email that she's pregnant. She is now 7 weeks and due mid-April 2012. While we were open to having another child in the future, the timing isn't what we expected, but we have much peace knowing that God's timing is perfect. This news raises additional considerations, as we consider whether to have the baby in Thailand or in the States, finding the best health care, moving abroad as a family of 5...However, with all the new concerns, we continue to trust in God's goodness and plans for our lives, knowing that He will provide what we need every step of the way, as we entrust ourselves to Him. How fitting that as we begin this new season of our lives with ZOE, its Greek meaning of "life" brings even more significance to us as we enter this new chapter.

Prayer Requests:

• Healthy pregnancy, particularly with the busy-ness of these days. Ester has been struggling through morning sickness (nausea, indigestion, insomnia), but thankfully, having to care for 2 boys and preparing to move help the time pass much more quickly than with the 2 previous pregnancies.
• Housing. Hopefully, we can find something quickly that is in the most convenient location to our needs.
• Plane ride. We are not looking forward to 17-hour, then 1-hour, plane rides to Thailand. Eli is our biggest concern. And now with the pregnancy, it's not going to be fun.
• Packing. Pray for efficiency and that we can find a place for everything in time for our departure.

Here are some photos from the last month...

Making final visits to Disneyland:

Greeting Dad at the airport:

Ian and his cousin Zoe as ringboy and flower girl at Carol & Quang's wedding:

"Because Your lovingkindness is better than life, My lips will praise You. So I will bless You as long as I live; I will lift up my hands in Your name." Psalm 63:3-4

Getting Closer!

About 7 more weeks until we leave! Here are some updates:

• Visas: Our visas have been approved. David got his passport back from the Thai Consulate in time for him to leave for our church's Japan trip, leaving this Friday, Aug. 5.
• ZOE Website: We're now on the gozoe.org website. You can see our profile here. Scroll to the bottom.
• IBC: Our church, IBC, has our profile on their missions page here. We thank God daily for the amazing support of our church leaders and church family. We are so comforted knowing we have a wonderful body of Christ backing us. David finished his last series on Missions at church, and will preach his last Sunday sermon at IBC at our commissioning service on Sunday, Sept. 18, at 9:30am.
• ZOE Funds: We're getting closer to our goal for the amount we have to raise for ZOE. We're overwhelmed by the generosity of our family, friends, and church family.
• zoe Necklaces/Keychains: We've given over 65 zoe necklaces/keychains for donations of $10 or more.
• Purging: Our home is looking emptier and messier with each new day, as we sell, give away, and donate as much as we can. We sold our car! We're so thankful that Ian has been having a great attitude regarding our move. He's been surprisingly okay with me selling most of his toys, and even helps me make a sale when potential buyers peruse his belongings, telling them, "This one's really fun. I used to play with it a lot." Every now and then, we hear, "Mom, don't sell this. I still play with it."
• Housing: We're currently researching online for our housing in Thailand, and will find temporary housing upon our arrival until we can physically see the homes and make a decision, hopefully within the first week or so. 

Prayer requests:

• Continued smooth transition as we prepare to move.
• David and the Japan teams as they serve two churches by teaching English classes from Aug. 5-22.
• There are several other new missionaries arriving at ZOE before or after the same time as us. Please pray for all of us as we transition with our families and for the ZOE staff as they orient and train all of us.
• Pray for ZOE as they continue to minister to so many. Follow them on their blog.
• Daily seeking Christ and rejoicing in Him in the craziness of these last weeks.