Mirror Dimly

June 4, 2011

The Decision

The last blog entry was written on April 1st, at that time we were still undecided about where things were headed. That has all changed now because we have made the decision to move to the mountain village where Anchalee was born. Full story here

I have to say that it is a great relief to be moving beyond uncertainty. It took us 29 months to do the research, to pray, to try new things, and to understand what it was that we really wanted and to see what God had provided.

The decision to move was not an easy one. One thing that is certain, is that I am going to have to learn a new way of life. Although I have been in Thailand almost 8 years, My normal living conditions have not been very different from what westerners experience back home. My life was never luxurious, but it was modern living. We did make trips every year to to remote and poor places, and I know I can handle hard conditions for weeks. But now these conditions will become my normal and the modern life will be the exception.

Don't get me wrong we plan to build a good environment for the kids, and we should be able to have a good standard of living here. But that only extends to edge of the property. I won't be able to change the fact that 7/11's, high speed internet, malls, and western style food will now require a day trip down the mountain. In addition to this, I will be the only white person in the area and once again I will have to learn a new language.

Village culture is very different from what we are used to. Privacy is non existent, and everything you do or say gets debated over the cooking fires. And then they come and tell you that you are doing everything wrong and it is rude to disagree because they have been there longer, or they are older, or they have some sort of authority. And it could be over something as small as how you stack your firewood. I know that I will be stretched in many areas.

It is our dream to be an example in this village; an example of faith, an example of prosperity thinking, and example of Kingdom love.

Once we are moved in we will establish a Bible study, which hopefully will become a church. There are a number of Christians in the village, but there has never been good teaching here. Most villagers are animists, even many of those that say they are Christian. We will work to improve the spiritual condition of this village and perhaps other villages too.

But with all that to consider, I am excited to be doing this. I mean what is the point of living on the other side of the world if I haven't got the courage to take one step further. Anchalee and I are uniquely positioned to take we we have here and make a real difference; for our kids first, but for the whole village too. Please stay tuned, as the action is about to unfold.

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April 1, 2011

Starting over

I admit it. I haven’t given this blog the attention it deserves. But I am going to give this another shot. I think I will primarily use this space for progress updates for the kid's home. But I won't rule out some random editorial comments.

Currently we are still waiting to purchase land. We thought we had it all wrapped up. The bank had approved the loan, and the owner had agreed to our offer. We were only waiting for the owner to line things up with his bank. Maybe this is where things went south, we don't know. But the owner's brother called us last week and said that his brother owed too much on that land (more than we were offering and more than the appraised amount) so he couldn't afford to sell it. Perhaps the bank forbid him to sell it? Who knows? But none of this makes a difference now. The deal, as it were, has passed by.

So now we are wondering about our next step. There is more land out there, but either it costs more or has a dodgy title. There is a piece that is really perfect but the asking price is 1,500,000 Thai baht, or about $45,000 Canadian for about an acre and a half. We offered them 900,000 baht, but they didn't go for it. We think we can make a deal work at about 1,000,000. But we don't know what the land will appraise at. This is important because the bank will lend us half of the appraised amount. We have about 350,000 set aside for land. If the land gets appraised at 1,300,000 but sells for 1,000,000 we would be able to make it work.

So that is where we are at for the moment. God knows which way this will go. Maybe the original deal will revive, or we will find a new piece, or perhaps we will receive a little more money for the land fund. It is all in God's hand, so we are going to be fine.

Bless you all

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