Hit the Ground Running

We had a great summer visiting the USA and were able to join our foundation's annual board meetings in Colorado, before returning to Thailand. It was awesome to see our board members again after several years and to visit with alumni volunteers and friends. Eden even hiked her first 14er, Mt. Bierstadt! (it was mine too! haha) She's a superstar.

As usual, we rallied for some long travel days....(try to find Eden in the picture...)

Upon returning to Thailand, we hit the ground running. We arrived on Adam's birthday and had an impromptu gathering with all our neighbors. Eden was especially glad to be back with her besties again.

Adam left on a 3-week trip soon after, and then the girls were feverish for about a week. Adam was working hard in the jungle and we were grateful for nightly calls with him and consistent communication, which isn't always possible.

In the meantime, I got busy catching up at HQ and started doing English classes for our medical patients who are in Thailand for treatment. I also had the daunting task of writing new ESL units for our medic student's ESL book. It is tailored for students in remote areas and is a lot of work! I also signed up for a trail running race and got back to office workouts, which I'd missed :)

In October, I also set off with the kids and a team to put on a couple of Good Life Club programs in an area near the refugee camps. We were able to put on programs at two churches and also a worship night at a children's home in Mae Sot. I usually don't travel much without Adam around, but I appreciated the help of my teammates! We had a great time and were able to share the gospel through a beaded bracelet (we use it as a story tool) and talked about giving our Fears to Jesus (Jesus calms the storm story from the Bible).

Later I traveled to another area to pick up Adam and was able to hang out with some Karen friends and do a baking night.

It's great having Adam home, though its always an adjustment for us all to change routine, manage the kids' extra feelings, and get back on the same page. We are trying to be better at reintegrating and debriefing after trips/ times away, so Adam and I went away for a night for some time together. We hope we can start making this part of our routine and being better at all these transitions- we need prayer for that! There's always so much to catch up on and these days we get lots of bad news that we need to process.

Another big event this month was Eden's 5th birthday. We are usually in the jungle for her birthday, so this year we had a big Unicorn costume party. We had close to 20 kids and many adults, so it was a fun, wild affair.

As we move into November, we'd love prayer for a couple of things:

1. Safety for travels.

2. Clear direction for where to be and what to do.

3. More strength to love people well in all situations and to do what God is calling us to.

4. Freedom from fear and anxiety over uncertainties and unknown risks.

Thanks for keeping up with us and for all your love and prayers. We appreciate you!

Love, the Wallis family