God has given us a large house just outside the little town of Chiang Khong. Located just 500 meters from our factory site, it is a beautiful country setting—mountains in the background, an irrigation canal running nearby, and a monstrous yard full of lychee trees (which are in fruit!). We feel truly blessed.
The house itself has hardwood floors made from large rose-wood planks that, no doubt, floated across the Mekong in wilder, less-regulated days. Our 3 bedrooms are full. We are blessed to have Alan and Janet Bemo living with us for a few months; Wessel Huisjes may stay a bit longer as he works on getting permission from the Lao government to marry Ut who pops across from Laos a couple of times a week to study English with Janet (and see Wessel!)
Anyway, as my daughter, Erin, would say, this house does have issues. Mainly it’s a problem of holes and leaks. First--a roof that channeled buckets of rainwater into Ruthie’s office during the first 3 rains of the season. New galvanized tin valleys and flashing solved that problem. Then every bathroom had worn-out, leaky plastic pipes. I replaced them one by one. Finally, the beautiful rosewood floor has major dry rot and termite problems, with several significant holes and spongy boards threatening to not spring back. Ruthie climbed up a ladder in Wessel’s room and ended up sprawled on the floor when one of the ladder legs went clear through. But what’s the bottom line on this place? This house, this place God has given us is meeting the needs for three families at this time. And I can already tell it’s going to be a memorable place of blessing. Thank you, Lord.
