Further Up and Farther In!

Hey all! Here what we have been up to lately! We have been really busy doing all sorts of things! Hopefully the below summaries will give you a glimpse into our lives!

Visa run: these two words have consumed most of two weeks for Jessica and I. Basically to live overseas for any length of time, you have to have a visa. It seems like Thailand is one of the most confusing of all places to get one! The visa Jess and I went over on only lasts 2 months so to get a new one that is the right one we must go out of Thailand and apply at a Thai embassy. To get there one must figure out what exact visa you are trying to get (so many little differences that all take different paperwork), when the best time to get one and where (find a cheap place that will actually has a Thai embassy and will issue your visa). This is a complicated issue and we just barely figured it out before our current visa ran out (also known as being an illegal immigrant). Of course God took this hassle of a problem and turned it into something nice! Now we are required a vacation :)

Outreach: Don't worry living internationally has its perks too! Jessica and I have been able to reach out to many different kinds of people lately. Thai's in general are very interested in spirituality, the main difficulty is language. Which by the way is something else we are doing. Learning Thai. You have not tried to learn a language till you try Thai!!! Any way back to outreach, Jess has been able to go to the Chinatown area of Bangkok and assist in reaching out to free-lance prostitutes. These women are in very sad situations. Some are forced to be there, some are there because its sort of a "last stop" in terms of available jobs. As you might imagine not a very safe, clean, or happy place to work. I on the other hand  have been able to go with one of the employees of The Well and play soccer with boys from the slums.

Counseling: Jessica is doing 4-5 counseling sessions a week (each session is about one and a half hours). For not speaking Thai, and working with translators she is making some great in roads with the women! She feels over her head because she has no counseling training, but I think she is great :) She feels like she is getting more connected and able to help the women. Obviously we can not say to much about what she does, but she does love it!

Teaching: Both Jess and I are currently teaching one class a week. I am doing a lesson series on the parables and Jess is doing some basic art therapy. I am also involved in planning the teaching schedule and classes that should start in January. Connected with that I also am developing the actual areas that the classes will cover.

Assisting: Both of us have also be able to help organize and assist the main leaders of the well in every day running of The Well. This includes photo taking, being a meeting secretary, and many other things.

Everyday Life: Of course not included in this are our daily life schedules! Eating food on the street, riding public transportation, going to church, doing laundry (and hanging it out to dry), paying for our bills.

Well hopefully you now know what we are up to! Also we hope this gives you even more reason to pray for energy for us as well as for our co-workers! Also that we won't get bogged down by all the details, but continue to see God working through the relationships we get to have with Thai's.

We love you all and thanks for your continued support even when you don't hear from us in a while!

Johnmark