I hardly know where to start. I think that I last wrote about waiting, and waiting and waiting to move. Well, after waiting for so long, we found ourselves with a compelling reason to take quick action…my visa was just about expired. We were getting ready to call the mission again to see what could be done, when they called us! Within a few hours, we were headed to Bangkok to get the paperwork, and then followed an overnight trip to Lao to the embassy. For once, it was a rather uneventful trip, and other than being exhausting, it was just fine! (although I still don’t like visa runs!) When we were there at the mission, getting the paperwork, the President told us that it was OK for us to move!

After a quick phone call to Travis, things really started happening fast. He and the kids started packing the rest of our things, and he started working on getting permission to move all the kids. We wanted to make sure that everything was done right so that there would be no trouble. He also started calling around about transportation…which turned out to be rather tricky. All our willing friends were at campmeeting, and by that time the general had said that we could move the kids, but only on the following Sunday. There were a few days of frustration since we finally had permission to move from the mission, and permission to move from the general, but no truck! Travis solved the problem by finding a public mini bus that could be rented, along with a driver. Since they offered a 15 person passenger van, we felt that our problems were at an end…except that it cost a LOT! But, we have had to budget carefully before, so we decided to just go for it and hope for the best financially. After all, there were no other options.

While all this was happening…Roy and I on our visa run, and Travis trying to manage all the kids and the details of the move also…he got a phone call from Ahmesow’s grandma saying that we just had to take him with us! We returned him to his family believing that he would be going back to Burma to live with his parents, but it seems that they refused to take him back, and poor Grandma is just too old to handle such a trying seven year old. So, Travis went and got all the appropriate paperwork signed for him, and we once again had a high maintenance little boy on our hands.

Sunday dawned at last, and the entire family was up early and excited to get going. Our favorite neighbors showed up to see us off, along with a sweet contingent from the local church. It was much harder to say goodbye than I expected, but we did, and piled into the van. And that is where the nightmare began.

At the first town that we got to, our driver demanded all his pay for the trip so that he could “buy gas”. We really should have known better, but we trustingly gave it to him. Three of the children got really car sick, and were busy throwing up in the back of the van. Hannah was her usually bouncy self, and like usual, she needs to use the restroom way too often. Our driver did not seem to mind the long waits while the three kids stumbled to the bathroom and back at each stop, and the healthy ones raced circles around the van, until later in the day. Then he suddenly lost all sense of patience, and decency I might add! We had payed him very liberally for two days, so we knew that we had plenty of time, but he suddenly decided that he needed more money. I might have seconded his plan if the kids had been naughty, but they were little angels while we were driving.

Travis had been following the van all day on the motor bike, pulling our trailer, so at one of the stop Pawkuhmooeydee asked if she could ride on the motor bike with Travis for a while to see if it would help her not to feel so car sick. I guess that was just the opportunity that our driver was looking for, because he took off from that stop like a race car driver. It didn’t take long to lose sight of Travis and Pawkuhmooeydee!

One of the stipulations with taking the kids was that we needed to be with them when they traveled, so all of a sudden, we found ourselves in a very bad situation. Travis did not have any paperwork on him, and our driver would not stop! Not only that, he started saying that he would not take us all the way to the new school, but would drop us off in Mae Sot. We kept asking him to stop and let Travis catch up so that Pawkuhmooeydee could get back in the van before the checkpoints, but he was determined that either we paid him more money or he would not cooperate with us. At each checkpoint, Roy jumped out of the van and tried to explain to the Thai speaking soldiers what was happening, but nobody really understood. While all this was going on, the kids and I were praying that God’s will would be done in this situation, and I kept feeling impressed to pray especially for Travis.

To make a long, sad story short, we finally decided to offer him more money if he would take us all the way to the school, but he was so enraged, that he would not take it. Instead, he pulled over to the side of the road, and started dumping all of our belongings on the ground. We were a forlorn little group sitting in the dark of the night beside the road, and I must admit to doing my share of crying over the whole situation. But my phone worked, and Ben soon enlisted the help of his friends and their trucks for our rescue.

While we were waiting for help to arrive, I got a phone call from Travis. He told me that he and Pawkuhmooeydee were up on the mountain and they had blown another tire. It was late at night, and there was no help in sight. I told him that I would do my best to send help. A kind pastor friend in Mae Sot went to their rescue. Soon the trucks arrived to transport us the rest of the way to our new home.

Ben had also been hard at work that day. He had found out that there was no place for us to live once we got to the school,and no money to build our house, so he rented a house nearby and went to work cleaning it up and getting it ready for us. He even cooked a special meal for us. When we got here, we found a wonderful wooden house that has electricity and a refrigerator, with a hot meal on the table, and plenty of new friends to help us unload. We had a lovely midnight supper, and went to bed, totally wiped out.

But, if I thought that I was going to get any rest, I was in for a surprise. Destiny was not about to go to sleep. She has been sick again, and just could not settle down…then the phone rang. It was Travis. He reported that they were safely in Mae Sot, staying with the Pastor, but he just could not go to sleep until he told me his story.

When Pawkuhmooeydee got on the motor bike with him, he realized right away that it was a mistake, since he was already overloaded and was driving pretty fast to try to keep up with the van. Then, the tire blew out on the bike from the overload. He found a shop, and got it fixed as fast as he could. He was feeling a great deal of pressure since I had informed him of the problems that we were having. Soon, the tire blew again, and again he got it fixed and was back on the road chasing us. Then, he had to stop at a gas station to fill up the bike. After filling up he drove it over to the restroom to wait for Pawkuhmooeydee. While he was waiting, he walked around the trailer checking on his load, when he saw that the wheel had broken off! It must have just happened between the pumps and the bathroom! He looked around, and right next to where he was standing was a bunch of men, welding. So, he walked over to them and asked if they could weld his trailer back together. They happily agreed, did a fantastic job, then refused all pay. A ways down the road, the tire blew again, and this time the repair shop, who were supposed to be closed already, did the job, replaced the bad innertube, and refused all pay.

They the got back on the road, and came to the first checkpoint. They were a bit nervous, but the soldiers asked them a few questions, and then waved them through. They said that they understood the situation, and that they could go! They passed checkpoint after checkpoint with no trouble. But once again the tire blew. This time there were no motor bike shops for miles around, and it was dark. Travis was exhausted from the stress, and from worry for their safety, plus battling his heavy load all day. That is when he called me. Later, when the pastor arrived to pick him up, he asked Travis how in the world he called for help. Travis said that he just used his phone, but that when he tried to use it again, it would not work anymore. The Pastor looked at Travis and told him that there was no cell phone service on that mountain, and never had been.

Does God care? Absolutely! There is no question in our minds. Not even crazy, greedy drivers can thwart the plans that God has for us. If God be for us, who can be against us?