Saturday, August 29, 2009

Back in the saddle again...

The past two months have been quite a journey for both of us but through the experiences have learned a great deal about ourselves and the Lord who supplies us with grace each day.

We returned to the states in late June to attend the wedding of our youngest daughter, Kara, to a fine, young, godly man named Zane. The wedding, the reception - everything was just perfect!!! After spending a few days with friends and family, I (Robert) returned to San Antonio with my mom and Kay went on to Amarillo to spend several days with her parents before we returned to SE Asia.

However, Kay slipped on a freshly mopped floor in the facility where her parents reside (no - there was not a warning sign), fell, and broke her elbow. Six days later we were back in Roswell to have a 2 1/2" screw put in her elbow. The surgery went well and we returned to BKK a week later with the left arm in a sling, not to be used for six weeks. At first, everything seemed to be going well but, after our six-week checkup, it seems that the bones may not be healing as fast as they should be. So...another six-weeks in the sling.

Besides that, her left shoulder has begun to hurt a lot and there seems to be no proverbial 'light at the end of the tunnel.' So, if you would pray for healing in her arm and shoulder. With all that we have on our plate, this truly has become a major distraction.

On a more positive note, I finished Module 5 (and decided to take it again for reinforcement) and Kay will finish Module 4 this week and begin Module 5. We are both on a good pace for our language study. In a couple of weeks, we will both take oral 'snapshots' of our language learning as we will record a conversation with a Thai friend to show just how far we have come. When we reach Level 5 (not Module 5), we'll receive the okay to head on to our assignment in the southern part of the country to begin our work there. (A Level 5 would be equivalent to how a 5th or 6th grade Thai student would speak. We relate to the TV show, Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader? In a few weeks, we'll find out!) It is important we do well in this assessment. Pray we'll have good ears to hear and steady tongues to speak on that day.

All else is moving along. We have continued to develop relationships with several Thai friends (as well as several from other countries around the world) who need to know Jesus. They are all an intense burden upon our hearts. Pray that, as our strategy coordinator said this week...'they would find Jesus irresistible!'

I'll do my best to update our blog on a weekly basis. Our schedules have been fairly complex these past few weeks.

Blessings.