We have so much news to tell you – about our Stateside trip, the SEA (Southeast Asia) Missionary Kid Retreat our boys just attended, the status of Inspire (our homeschool helper program) – however, we are now in crisis mode this past week and need to update you about that, so you can join us in prayer for the current situation.
First, a quick recap so you know briefly where we are in life. We were in the States from mid-December through the end of January celebrating the holidays with family and traveling to gap-year discipleship programs to present the Inspire missions opportunity. (future blog post to come) Two weeks after we returned to Thailand we drove our boys, two days driving south of Bangkok, to a retreat specifically designed for missionary kids. (so awesome – future blog post to come) Then, the day we returned (this past Monday) Lance received a call from the foundation we have our visas through to let us know that our visa renewal was denied for this upcoming year. Thus, we’ve spent the rest of this past week in crisis-mode trying to figure out what now.
Last year, many, many families on our visa type had huge problems when trying to renew their visas and are still trying to figure out long-term solutions even now. We (praise God) had no trouble and since this is our fourth year on the same visa, we assumed we wouldn’t have trouble. Also, we had already passed the yearly interview at City Hall showing all the volunteer work we do, had gone through all the other check points and were just waiting on our approval letter from the governor’s office which you (usually) automatically receive once all your other paperwork and interviews are finished. Except in our case this year apparently, so this took us completely by surprise.
– Ok, this is Lance now. The projector is better for Ruth, but not a good enough solution for extended computer use. Anyway, our annual visa expiration/renewal is March 7th, so this situation has left us with little to no time to plan and get everything booked for a visa run/border run to a Thai embassy in a nearby country. The places other missionaries have gone include Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaysia and Singapore. The lady from my Foundation called Laos, and they said they won’t issue our type of visas, so we’ve settled on giving Cambodia a try. The odds of success are low, so it’s probable that we’ll have to return on 60-day tourist visas, and then figure out a better long term solution. One of the most viable options seems to be to start a business here in the city, and then we’d get permanent visas through that (future blog post to come). But for now, we head to Bangkok tomorrow, and then depart for Cambodia on Monday morning.
An interesting God thing – last week at the youth event in Prachuap KhiriKhan we reconnected with a family we met six years ago, and they’re now serving in Cambodia, and they happen to live 20 minutes from the airport, and they’ve offered to pick us up and help us secure housing and transportation, such a blessing!
We’ll be staying at missionary guest housing, and we’ll even have access to a kitchen. We don’t know how long it will take to work the visa situation out, but we’ve been told anywhere from 3-10 days. So we’re bringing homeschool books, and I guess we’ll get a crash course on how daily life in Cambodia works… (or doesn’t work, as the case may be).
Please pray with/for us as we travel, and that God would go before us to prepare whatever visa solution He wants us to have.
-Lance & Ruth, for the Baker family
Never know what you’ll see while driving across the country. A truck in a pickup?
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Serpent-themed suspension bridge.
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There are two hammocks rigged up in the back of this pickup.
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