Hello to our lovely link church prayer supporters!
It seems ages since our last update as so much happens each day! But the most important thing to say is how much we appreciate the faithful prayers of our prayer supporters. The spiritual battle is very real here and very in your face, and we know how desperately we need your prayers. So thank you for doing such an important job in standing with us in prayer, please continue to pray for us.
We now have some furniture! After delays in each thing arriving we now have seats, a working cooker and shelves for books! This has made us feel a lot more like we are in a home rather than a hall!! The heat has not been as bad as we expected, but then we are not in the hottest month yet, but the noise can be trying. The building work goes on loudly all day, and in the night the big delivery trucks come. At about 5am the stall holders set up outside, and play loud music; the other morning that started at 4am. Eventually we guess we won't notice it, but just now it stops us sleeping.
We have started language study, and although it is hard we are very determined. It is essential we know the language, we have had several bad experiences with taxi drivers which would have been easier to cope with if we had some Thai. Please keep praying for the transport, drinking alcohol and driving is not illegal here, and there are no seatbelts in the back of cars.
It has been great to be able to cook some food. The supermarkets are big, and there are some with some imported goods. One has a whole selection from Waitrose! But it is expensive: a small macaroni cheese was £5! The shelves are filled with rice, noodles and lots of sauces. The variety of fish sauce has to be seen to be believed! When we learn more about cooking with Thai ingredients it will make eating easier. One Australian lady at the church summed it up yesterday when she said, 'the shelves are full of food but there is nothing to eat'! You know but God is so good, just as we were fretting over what we could possibly eat tonight, a neighbour came round with some food for us.
We have nearly sorted out a school for the girls, though not the transport to get them there yet, and we are just waiting on the final agreement from CMS. It has been a very complicated business, the girls had to sit 41/2 hours of tests this week before being approved. Joel has now learnt to put his hands together in front of his nose in greeting, as so many people do that to him. And he is looking more relaxed now with having his cheeks pulled many times a day by complete strangers!
Please continue to pray for us, as we continue to settle in, and try not to miss the simplicity of home too much. We know you have been praying as we have felt an amazing presence of God through the difficulties. We do know this is where God wants us, and that it is one step at a time, one day at a time. Please continue to pray for our protection: Gillian has been bitten a lot by mosquitoes, a few of which have become infected, and the political situation in Thailand, especially Bangkok is tense and uncertain just at the moment, particularly due to a court ruling due on Friday 26th Feb.
Thank you so much for your faithful support, and your emails of encouragement. We value every prayer so much. When we have a moment we will put together a new link letter so you can see some pictures. In the meanwhile, may God bless every one of you.
With love in Christ,
John, Gillian, Leah, Natalie and Joel Robinson
