1,420 miles later...

Gonzalez Family Going to Thailand Vol. 1, No. 11

“God, send me anywhere, only go with me. Lay any burden on me, only sustain me. And sever any tie in my heart except the tie that binds my heart to Yours.”

-David Livingstone, London Missionary Society

On The Road

Two weeks ago we packed up everything we intend to take with us to Thailand and began our long anticipated "farewell trip". We spent about 10 days traveling from Missouri, through Texas and eventually ending up in Arizona, where we will spend at least the next month. This trip gave us the opportunity to say goodbye to friends and family along our route. If we didn't get a chance to see you, we are very sorry. Our timeline and sensitivities to the potential spread of Covid forced us to carefully consider our plans for this trip. We still hope to connect with as many friends as possible via Zoom, Face Time, etc. before we leave the states. While it has been a wonderful trip I must admit that we are already feeling the effects of not having our "own" place. However, we would not trade it for anything in the world. Seeing how our Father provides for us every step of the way has been nourishment for our souls.

Visas and Travel to Thailand

We continue to evaluate and work through every possible avenue to gain entry to Thailand so that we can begin language and cultural assimilation. However, as of writing this update we are still awaiting necessary documentation to apply for our visas. While we have flight reservations for the end of this month, our window for obtaining visas in time for that flight is quickly closing. If we don't make that flight, we will look to January. Thailand seems eager to reopen but there are still significant concerns about allowing Covid into the country. If you know other cross cultural ministry laborers, there is probably a good chance they are dealing with this same challenge. Most of our friends who came home at some point in this last year are striving to get the necessary documentation to get back to their ministries abroad. Please pray for all of us as we are eager to resume the work to which God has called us. If we don't make it to Thailand this month, we will likely begin an online Thai language course in January. We were hoping to wait until we could learn in a more immersive setting but at this point we feel like this might be one of the most productive uses of our time.

Forwarding Address

Every year we look forward to receiving various Christmas Cards from friends and family. However, this year it will be difficult for us to see many of those cards/updates given our "homeless" status. Thus, feel free to send us cards or updates via email if you are so inclined. If you do have the need to send us anything in the mail we do have an address in Joplin where we will continue to receive mail:

1259 Reinmiller Rd.

Joplin, MO 64804

When we make it to Thailand we intend to setup a PO Box and we will publish that as soon as we can.

A Moment of Vulnerability

Before I list specific prayer requests, I (James) want to share a personal struggle and say thank you. It has been about six months since our original planned departure date. It has been about 10 months since I let TAMKO know I would be resigning. I would be lying if I didn't say that there have been days where I just wanted to quit and go back to the "safety" of a corporate job. I have even had a few unsolicited opportunities come up in that time period. These tempting offers represented a degree of stability and security that I long for on hard days. However, the encouragement that I have received from so many of you has been vital in getting me through these tough days. Don't ever think that your prayers and words of encouragement don't mean anything. Let us all be part of the "great cloud of witnesses" that enable one another to finish the "race that is set before us".

Specific Prayer Requests

• Please pray for the Lanna Theological Center. The staff, faculty and students seem to be handling this adversity so well and we pray they will continue to thrive. We are eager to play a small part of what God is doing at LTC.

• Pray that we continue to stay focused despite all the uncertainty we are enduring.

• Pray that we and the many other ministry workers waiting for different types of paperwork will have favor with those who are processing the various requests for entry into Thailand and other countries.

"Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers."

1 Timothy 4:16

Thanksgiving Fun, Family and FOOD!