I thought that it was about time to tell you what is happening with the boys! At 17 years old, Travis has decided to strike off on his own. He really liked the village that we went to when we rolled the pickup. It is WAY out there, and that really appeals to Travis. Plus, the principal of the school is really nice, and she loves to teach Travis Karen. He went up there to visit for one weekend, and she taught Travis to read in Karen, which made his day since I didn’t know how to read yet! Travis’ village is on the same road that I live on, just a long day further up the road. There are 18 river crossings between here and there!
I am pretty sure that Travis will be teaching English up there, but I don’t know if they will have him teach anything else or not. He does not have cell phone service that is convenient to use. I say it that way because he can get cell phone service! He just has to hike up the trail about 2 hours, and then climb a huge tree that has a bamboo ladder up the side, and then sit just right on a platform that was built for that purpose at the top. Needless to say, I don’t hear from him very often.
(as a side note- hiking a long ways and then climbing trees to call people is not uncommon around here. Every time Gayle or her boys wants to call me, they hike a steep mountain, and then find a perch in a bee infested tree. Gayle got stung twice during one of our short conversations!)
Travis has his own house in this new village, and he really likes that also. We went shopping and bought him all the necessities of life, like a mosquito net, a pot, a pan, a machete, soap and some spoons. Funny how his necessities are so much less than mine!
He will have to hike out every other month to go on visa runs with me, so I expect to see him quite a bit.

The challenges Travis will face at his new village are rather staggering. That is the village where the devil possessed man lives, that I told you about before. Travis found out that he is not the only strange one in his family. One of his brothers likes to chase any unfortunate passerby with his machete, which may be fun for him, but not necessarily for those who are being chased!
The other major problem is that this is an SDA school, and therefore it is supposed to be upholding SDA standards. But, Travis is finding that it is common for our members up there to chew betel nut, smoke, drink and a host of other unacceptable things. They seem to just have no idea of what it means to be Adventist. Travis has already expressed the desire to be a lot older so that it would make it easier to help the people. Not all people respect 17 year olds! Add to all this the fact that they have the same problem with the children up there as we have around here…total lack of training…. and it gets rather interesting around his place! (he caught one child trying to eat his precious antibiotic ointment!) But, in case you are getting worried, you will find it a huge comfort to know that I am only a strenuous 12 hour hike away…he can come home anytime he wants!

Jason is living here at the training school with me until Roy gets back. I don’t know how the boys came to a decision as to who got to stay with me, but Jason it is!

He is a very valuable member of the training center team. He is the chief mechanic, which is necessary since every time we need to make a trip out to Travis’ village, we have to redo the motor bike, you know….bigger gears, huge knobby tires, lift kit….all the stuff necessary for those 18 river crossings. Trust me, they are necessities, not extravagances!

Jason also helps me with the students, he is my trusted baby sitter when I have to go update my web site, he is a professional snake killer, and my translator. He helps me teach English in the evening, corrects my pronunciation all day long, and I have no idea of what I would do without him! ( Did I mention that he does a great job of serenading Hannah?) Jason is Hannah’s hero.

Jason is very interested in doing medical work, and so he will be leaving me a little early to go to a special medical missionary training up in Chiang Mai in June. We have planned to do EMT training for him each day here at home, but so far we are having a hard time fitting it in to our schedule. He has had a LOT of offers of other places that he could go to work, but so far he is staying resolutely by my side. (obviously that will not last much longer…he is now getting even more urgent offers of places that need him even more than I do!)
While here at the training center, Jason has taken a special interest in our local church. Like most churches these days, there is a lot of internal strife. Jason has gone to every prayer meeting, every vespers, AY, and church service that he possibly could, just to be a help and support to the poor struggling church. We find that they get along better when we are there, so he has been doing them a lot of good by just being there, and setting a good example.

These are the two boys who are nearby right now. Andrew is still in Cambodia, teaching full time, and working on learning the language. He is very busy, and doing really well. Andrew is planning to come visit me and meet his new little sister in June, so I will get some pictures and prepare an update on his activities at that time.

Ben is now back at KAFA School, where the school year is just getting ready to start as soon as they get the rice planted. He tells me that they are very excited about all the computers that he bought for the school. He is already asking me to send in more next chance I get. They want him to teach computers to all the teachers, and pastors.

As you might be able to tell, I am really proud of all my boys. They don’t have it real easy here, but they are all up to the challenge, and it seems to me that the harder things get, the better they like it! When one of them has a problem, the others are all there ready to help. Jason spent a whole week gathering up all the things that Ben would need for his trip, because Ben was not able to do it. I never hear any complaining from any of them. They are so happy and fulfilled  doing the Lords work. There is no better way to live!