This picture was taken at the Bangkok airport. They have these idols at the end of each row where you check in for your flight.
We will be starting out in the city of Chiang Mai for language. Thankfully, since we’ve visited that city before, he knows how to navigate there, get a tourist SIM card, find transportation, etc. which eliminates the learning curve of a new city and allows him to better focus on the things he needs to accomplish before coming back in February. We have missionary as well as Chinese friends living there who have offered to help and house him, and we know of a church who has a ministry helping expats get situated in Chiang Mai that he hopes will be another resource in this process.
Once he returns, we hope to leave a few weeks after that, basically as soon as we can manage it. I’ve been working on packing and inventorying everything we’ve been using or have acquired while here that we’ll leave in storage and helping the boys sort which toys they’ll take and which they’ll leave behind. All their treasures can’t go, but being able to put them in a box to keep here (rather than throw away), even if they don’t remember them when we come back, helps with closure and the mourning process of leaving. Somewhat unfortunately, they started collecting rocks this past year and each have a colorful collection between the Natural History Museum’s gift shop in D.C. and gifts they’ve received. Lance is not excited about transferring rocks around the world. Fortunately, we had the foresight (we’ve learned a few things on this journey…) to tell them they wouldn’t be able to take them all back with us when they acquired them. Unfortunately, I am now slogging through this (agonizing for them and me) sorting process with them. As they have no concept of all the many things we have take over with us (like the next few years of homeschool books etc.) and have no concept of weight and a 50 lb./luggage limit, they get disappointed we don’t let them take all their legos, rocks, games, handmade crafts, etc. with us back and forth. When coming back from our previous country, they tried to talk us into bringing our hamster back, though that wasn’t a discussion as much as a “nope, absolutely not.” These aspects aren’t a highlighted part of missionary life, but they’re definitely an integral component.
Please keep all this in prayer as we move forward.
– Ruth, for the Baker family