Since we had to come to Singapore anyway, we are enjoying our time here. We have some friends who have a daughter just a few months older than Abi who have graciously played host for our impromptu trip. We have seen the Singapore sights and eaten of the numerous food options here in the Lion City while little Abi and Maya have had a great time playing and interacting with one another.

We are heading back to Thailand on Sunday afternoon and plan on getting back to the village this week once we have begun the application process for Abi in country.

Thanks for all your prayers! We’ll (try to) keep you posted.

She did very good and walked exactly where I told her to. She didn’t cry and neither did I.

After we gave money to the policeman for a special stamp we went back to see my parents in Thailand.

They were very excited to see me again, but I was indifferent.

I think I will take Esther to Myanmar again next month. Maybe my dad can make a better movie about that trip, because the only thing I like about this video is the song.

Click To Play

Goodbye, I love you all!

As for our visas, we were able to procure a 30-day visa extension as we are waiting for approval from Bangkok for another 1-year visa. It took 3 round-trips from Chiang Rai to Maesai, and a lot of apologies and wais, but as of early this afternoon everything is finally in order. Please keep our visa situation in your prayers as we hope to receive the approval from Bangkok in the next week.

All that driving between here and Maesai really wore Lori out, so we will probably spend the rest of the day at home in Chiang Rai and then this weekend we will join the celebration of the 2007 Akha Bible Institute (ABI) graduation. This is always a fun time, as hundreds of Akha come down from the villages to join in the celebration each year. This year we will be honored with the presence of Dr. Paul Lewis, the linguist who first created the Akha script, wrote the Akha-English-Thai dictionary, and translated the Bible into Akha. We hope to post more on all of these festivities next week.

My ‘Grandpa Du’, 89, in the last two weeks has been suffering from an infection and low blood pressure and needed to have a wire then a pacemaker implanted onto his heart. In the past, he has suffered from multiple heart attacks, needing bypass surgeries and stints placed into his arteries; he also endured a severe case of diverticulitis four years ago. There has been difficulty in regulating the pacemaker, and the infection is not yet under control. We are looking forward in faith to being able to celebrate his 90th birthday together with he, his 6 grandchildren and his (soon-to-be) 9 great-grandchildren at the beginning of next year.

Secondly, through the madness of morning sickness, village trips and working with our director on his dissertation, we really dropped the ball with our visa and work permit. We were supposed to send our passport info to Bangkok at the beginning of February to apply for another 1 year extension, but missed the date and sent it down two weeks late. This mistake mostly just causes a headache for everyone and will cost us some fees in renewing our visa and work permit for an additional 10 days. Our visa expires later this week and so we will have to go to the immigration office to request a ten-day extension on the expiration date.

Thank you for your prayers.

Once our work permit is complete, we will need to apply for a new visa. Last year, we had to travel to Myanmar every three months to check in with the passport authority of Thailand. From what we understand, under the work permit and new visa all we will have to do is mail in a letter stating our location and what we are doing. We also will be able to renew or Work Permits and Visas in country, which will save us significant expense.

Please pray that this process would continue to go smoothly. We are still waiting to see when we will go up to the village. Once all the red tape is taken care of we will probably go to Chiang Mai to pick up A-Ju and all go back to the village together. Thanks for your prayers!