December can be a month of real contrasts in Michigan. It started warm, and now it has turned cold and snowy. The tempo of our lives is steadily increasing as we move closer to our launch date of December 27 at 12:20 a.m. There is so much to do and so little time to get it done.

We just received the documentation we needed from the Thailand Adventist Mission so we can get our visas. That will mean a trip to the Thai Consulate in Chicago. We have nearly all the required documents, but we are waiting, hoping and praying that one important one will come today—an original copy of our marriage license, something we have not needed in nearly 46 years. We have already secured a duplicate copy of our graduation diplomas and transcripts. The originals have been packed away for nearly a year in a box deep in our storage trailer.

Next week we will spend three days in a crisis-training seminar learning as much as we can about what to do if we need to evacuate missionaries from a project in an emergency. Then there is Christmas and packing for the trip and sorting the last of our belongings from our condo at the AFM Center. With just two weeks before we fly, it is very important that we get to Chicago tomorrow to get our visas. Time never waits for anyone, and we are beginning to feel the pressure.

We are excited to be in the last days before plunging into our work with missionaries in Southeast Asia. God has been so faithful to us, and we are so grateful to each supporter for your donations and prayers. Thank you for making it possible for us to do this work with God.

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