Ruth lighting candles at the Christmas pageant.
2024 started out with some time spent in the States where I was able to speak at a number of gap-year type discipleship training organizations. I presented our Inspire homeschool helper program, and it was well received.
In February, back in Thailand, our boys got to go to their first-ever SEA MK Camp (South East Asia Missionary Kid Camp). That ministry is a great blessing to our family because it has really helped our kids have a community of other MK’s who are in a similar life circumstance. Following that we were informed the visa we’ve had for years here was going to have to be changed, and we went across the border to Cambodia to get that done, where we were given this new employment visa that we have currently. It’s turned out to be a real hassle, and also expensive, so when it expires this March, we’re going to take a trip across the border for yet another new type of visa for this upcoming year. You can keep us in prayer in March for that.
Ruth, Josiah and I started full-time language class in May and have been slowly developing our ability to converse in the Thai language. The boys are all taking Muay Thai martial arts class together, and they’ve been doing really well. They also play with an ultimate frisbee group twice a week.
2024 saw a number of interesting opportunities unfold ministry-wise. We served meals to over 400 kids from orphanages/group homes around the city on Children’s Day. I’ve continued volunteering at the Police Station English Corner as well as teaching English at a temple school for low-income kids across town. We’ve become much more involved in service at our church here. Most attendees have full time ministries among Thai or other people groups, and so there are quite a few needs at the church that we’ve been able to fill to help keep it a strong place of support/fellowship for international workers. About 250 attend on a normal Sunday with visitors from all over Asia as well as Europe, Africa, the Middle East and the Americas. We lead a worship team, Ruth is on the Fellowship Committee as well as the Women’s Ministry Committee, Josiah is on the youth leadership team, and we hosted a small group weekly in our home for about four months this year. I’ve been able to meet with multiple missionaries who need support due to the trauma or difficulties they’ve faced (or are currently facing). We’ve hosted holiday gatherings for missionaries (since holidays can be a particularly difficult time on the field). We’ve helped a national friend here design a logo and launch a small food delivery business to support her family. I’ve done quite a bit of research into starting our own small business as well actually because that would be one avenue of us getting a better type of Thai visa. I had a duel-motive because we know quite a few families here who are having the same visa problems we are, and having a business with multiple “branches” could be a viable way for us to help multiple families get visas.
One of our major ministry focuses this year has been to get our Inspire homeschool helper program off the ground. We’ve got a page of our site devoted to it (see above), and we’ve had our first full-term helper arrive in September! Her name is Faith, and she’s adapted faster than we could have anticipated, and has been a GREAT blessing to both families in whose homes she teaches. One of the reasons we moved to a new house in 2023 is because it has a homeschool room/guest room attached, and Faith was able to stay there for her first month in-country as we had planned, and it all went swimmingly well.
The month of October was spent doing a lot of flood/mud cleanup after some of the worst flooding Chiang Mai has seen in 40 years. See our two most recent blog entries for more on that. Also, my parents were able to come visit in October – we’re thankful that the flooding didn’t prevent their plane from landing or anything! In December we put on a Christmas pageant for about 300 people downtown, led worship at the Juniper Tree missionary guest house, caroled at one of the larger hospitals, and were involved with other seasonal events.
And in other random news, you’ll be happy to know that the terrible raw sewage smell we’ve had in the bathroom attached to our bedroom all year was finally resolved! After servicing the septic system, treating the pipes in the house, etc., the third service company we tried finally was able to fix it.
All in all, it’s been an eventful year, and we have many blessings to be thankful for.
In Christ,
-Lance, for the Baker family
Police Station volunteer group.
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Teaching at a low-income temple school.
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