Spring 2012
Dear Friends,
Greetings from sunny, gorgeous and cold Vancouver. Being in San Diego last year really spoiled us – especially Joanna who took up running while we were there – she never had to scrape snow off the van before her half marathon training last year! Joanna has signed on to run the Vancouver Half-Marathon May 6 to raise money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society again. To give to her fundraising efforts for cancer research you can click HERE. She has about $425 of her goal of $1650.
We are settled into our home, which we have fondly dubbed “the tiny house”. We have seen how it has been a benefit for all of us to be in one place again, growing roots with family and friends. We had an unexpected door open when within couple of days of each other we had a request for Wade to start to make soap again, along with a generous offer of soap making equipment being given to him as a gift from an old friend. Throw in a free pick-up of the equipment to save on shipping costs, our upstairs neighbours offering some space in the garage behind the house, a lot of moving and re-arranging, and boom – Wade has a soap workshop set up again! The plan is for Wade to make soap to be sold on the continuing Steps of Justice tour, as a way to raise awareness of the Akha people, and to help in our fundraising efforts for Thailand.
In the last 18 months our perspective on our Thailand adventure has changed from a 3 month visit, to a 6 month stay, to the idea of giving ourselves at least 2 years there when we go. Our travels of the last year have helped us realize that moving back and forth between countries every 6 months is not what is best for our kids at this age. Of course, the idea of a long-term move brings a lot more to think about and it has been good to be able to process this change with our home church family at VEV and the YWAM community in Vancouver. YWAM Vancouver’s sister operating location in Vancouver, YWAM Nexia, has a lot of staff who have served overseas long term (including in Thailand) who can consult with us, so we appreciate the richness of experience that we have available to us here.
We still don’t have a firm date for going to Thailand. We are committed to being debt free before we go and we are persevering in that. We’re trusting in God’s perfect timing, resting on the faith that has grown in us in this last year as we have seen each new part of this adventure be just what we’ve needed, even when we didn’t know it at the time. We are keeping our eyes on the goal of being able to walk alongside the Akha to see them be a free people in their own nation. In the mean time, we are very blessed to have this precious season in our own nation.
Thanks for your love and support,
Hug hug, kiss kiss,
Wade, Joanna, Sophia, Eleanor, and Pax
Team Pallister Adventures 