Where'd you leave that sense of humor, Honey?

It’s time to move again!  Here I am looking at the “home” in Chiang Rai we’ve only just settled into for three months.  After we found a good site for the factory and it was one and half hours away in the town of Chiang Khong, I knew this day was coming!  If there’s one thing I am good at, it is packing.  But this time around the task seems just onerous and burdensome.  No way, really, to put a good face on it.

 

As I prepare to make myself a well-steeped cup of self-pity, I start working on my packing list.  What should I take?  We’re going to be living between two places for the next month.  I just know that I’ll not have something I need where and when I want it.  What a bother!

 

But as I stared at the computer screen, a still, quiet voice crept up on me.  “So what do you think I want you to pack for this next move? Does it matter which couch you take, which bed you sleep on, whether you eat out, or cook in?   Here are a few essentials, you shouldn’t forget:”

 

1. Good attitude
2. Sense of humor
3. Spirit-filled energy
4. Gracious hospitality
5. Peace
6. Gratitude for another home.
7. Blessings for your new neighbors

 

I know in the coming weeks I’m going to be wondering just where I packed many of the things on that list.  The house, in bad need of repair, will need to be totally re-painted.  And it’s probably inevitable that I will spill a bucket of paint (the last time I stepped off the ladder into the bucket!)   I’ll need a good dose of Number 2—and so will Peter.  When the lights don’t work, and the water leaks… I’ll be needing lots of Number 1.  We expect to be hosting as soon as the paint is on the wall, so I’ll need to have plenty of Number 4.  But mostly what we’ll need is the peace that only God gives and a sense of gratitude for another good roof over our heads (plenty of 5 and 6). 

 

Psalm 84 has been one that has kept us going these last few years:  “Blessed are those whose strength is in you, who have set their hearts on pilgrimage.  As they pass through the Valley of Baca, they make it a place of springs.”  We’ve seen God do this before in our lives.  With his strength maybe we can even find a little Number 7 to pass around…. “Wait a minute, did we leave that back in Chiang Rai?”    Ruthie.

Factory Setup

In it together--Post Retreat Visitors

A Great Conference for Reluctant Networkers

Ruthie and I can be described as “reluctant networkers” at best. Some people love a good conference and thrive on the collegiality and stimulation of exchanging ideas and experiences. Not us. Given all that is happening in our lives, we would have chosen another time (or not) for the “Asia ECC Worker’s Retreat” held from February 14-20 at a beach in Thailand.

But Wow! What a great time of inspiring messages, discussions, prayer, and sharing each other’s burdens this retreat turned out to be! I was inspired by our president, Gary Walter’s call for us to emulate Christ in “reaching out to those who are spiritually afar, those who are vulnerably at-risk, and those who are culturally at-odds.” And the reminder we received from Al Tizon, formerly the pastor of Berkeley Covenant Church, but now at the Evangelicals for Social Action seemed to be aimed right at us! He said “doing is not where mission begins in the Bible—it calls us first to be the people of God.” We are “called to be human be-ings, not human do-ings, he reminded us.”

And so these reluctant conference-goers were inspired by many stories from active and relevant ministries throughout Asia and we had a chance to tell our story as well. In the end, we were reminded again that being part of larger community, not being ‘lone-rangers’ is a good and necessary thing, and a source of great strength and wisdom. We’re still basking in the words and worship. Thank you to all you who made this meeting possible—and made it mandatory!

Sia Dai

A friend of ours from Laos wrote this--which I thought beautifully summed up feelings all of us have had as we’ve been forced to fold up our companies and leave Laos…..

 

 The Lao have a saying -- "Sia Dai."  Literally it means "Lost & Dead" and means "Wasted" or "What a pity."  Just this morning I watched seven cargo trucks loaded with our people-food mill going across the Mekong river to Thailand and just thought "Sia Dai" or "What a waste"!   All the money people invested and all the volunteer work to see this happen. Just the day before yesterday I was in the rafters handing down extra screens for the seed cleaner and saw a little four inch auger that an elderly farmer in Stronghurst, Illinois donated to the project.  My mind went back to the many things given, some small and some large.  I thought "Sia Dai" about all the time and money people in the States donated for this project.  "Sia Dai" that we have to leave and the whole country of Laos does not have a company that can produce the food supplement that WFP needs to buy. 

 

Just a few days ago Michael said it was like a drink offering being poured out on the ground.   Just think of it.  All the work to make a glass of wine (the grapes had to be grown, the juice squeezed out, and processed) just poured out on the ground and it soaks into the dirt.  It's gone, useless.  What a waste.  But wait a minute.  It was not wasted because it was poured out as an offering to God.  The physical wine was lost to the person offering it but God accepted it as a pleasing expression of thankfulness.  It wasn't "Sia Dai" at all.

 

More than that Peter and party are buying the mill.  They have been poured out as a thank offering to God, which has been "holy and acceptable to God," and they are going to continue to be poured out. Hopefully, we all will be until we can also say, "I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time has come for my departure." (II Tim.4:6-8) .... AB, a friend in Laos

Factory Moving Day

We have a Site!

After we got the word that the factory site we chose in Chiang Rai was a “no-go”, we began the search for a new site.  We looked at about 20 different options.  Then on January 29th, the company in Laos we are buying the factory equipment from, was ready to ship it across the river.  At first we thought we'd store it temporarily in the location here in Chiang Rai, but since the shipment was a day late Peter had time in Chiang Khong (the little town on the Thai side of the Mekong) and found a great storage place with easy accessibility.  We have known the warehouse owner for a few years, but not well.

 

Anyway, after spending a day getting the equipment unloaded, Peter began to wonder if this wasn't a possible site for the factory itself.  We had been hesitant to look here, because we felt we were too close to the border.  But, nothing else was opening up and God confirmed in our hearts that we do not need to worry about the Lao authorities.  So we made the decision to rent this place for two years while we continue looking for a more permanent home.  By renting this site we hope to get the factory up and running in time to make deadlines set by the World Food Program.

 

We had two men come from North America on January 30th to help us with design layout for the equipment and installation.  Well, that was great, but unfortunately, the electricity at the site was inadequate for the size of motors we are running.  So, we went to work applying for a new transformer and heavy-duty electrical service.  That has moved along quickly and we hope to have full power in a week or two.  Praise God for this answer to prayer!  Ruthie.