Jack and Jill of all trades!

Yesterday was a great day. We were busy and challenged and tired and satisfied at the end of it. Colin was left at Bamboo School while I (Ruth) travelled the hour and a half to the city of Kanchanaburi. I was dropping off a patient at the specialist hospital and picking up a medical student - who was a past student at BS (Bamboo School) and was coming home for a week. We also needed to find a guitar to buy for the chaplin (Billay) and finding that in an Asian city (with Thai writing on the signs) proved a challenge. Billay is Karen and so doesn't know Thai and cannot walk (from Polio as a child). We accomplished it all and I enjoyed a great day with Zacho and some of the team from BS.

I got home and Colin had taught our children their schooling for the day. He had also put empty rice bags on the roof of our boys room so the dust/dirt from above would stop falling through. You can't stand up in their little room...even the boys are too tall - but they love it. They have mats on the floor, mosquito nets hanging from the roof and their clothes in a box. They are happy. Colin also fixed up a light switch that had a bamboo stick as the switch and exposed wires previously and fixed up the head wound of a two year old boy that had come up from the village.

We laughed together thinking of the various roles we had palyed throughout the day....Taxi driver, ambulance driver, electrician, carpenter, teacher and doctor.

To end the day we had two older boys come to us asking if they could go to a hut in a nearby village to visit with their father who had just (illegally) crossed the boarder from Burma. We relied on wisdom that we trust God is giving to us and said ok! So ...at sundown we put the two boys in the back of the dual cab...got their Bamboo School ID cards (they don't have Thai ID) and took our passports and drove them past the Dochidore (border police) and took them to the village. We were not stopped and thanked by the boys and will pick them us again tomorrow at 4pm. We drove back home and waved at the police....and laughed a little nervously to ourselves! So to top of the day....we played the role of 'people smuggling' also!

Thank you so much for your prayers! We struggle still with Zach's skin...his eschma is really bad again and is being exposed to bugs and easily gets infected. It is very very cold here at night and very dry. We rely on your prayers.....

All is well and we are peaceful.

We hope to speak to some of you on Christmas day.....whenever that is!!!!! It is very bazaar to be this close to Chrisy and not know what day it is!