April 2026 Newsletter

Dear Brethren,

March was a very busy month. I hope all is well with everyone. I am thankful for all of the love, prayers, encouragement, and support that we receive from all of you. It is our pollution season. In SE Asia, the people burn off their fields before they plant their new crops. We get smoke from the mountains here in Thailand and from the burning they do in Myanmar. The air here is filled with smoke. Two days ago, Chiang Mai had the highest pollution index in the world. I guess that makes us both the winner and the loser!! Today, the AQI is 339 here in Chiang Mai.

We also have another problem. The war in Iran has caused a fuel crisis here in Thailand. Most gas stations are out of fuel… almost all are out of diesel. Both of my vehicles run on diesel. We know that gas stations have diesel when we see long lines of trucks waiting. My wait time to get to the pump is between 30 minutes to an hour. In the past, we waited till we were down to a quarter of a tank to find a gas station. Now, when the fuel drops below the full line, we start hunting for a gas station. Most gas stations have a limit on how much we can buy, and the prices keep going up and up. They are announcing that in the next two weeks, diesel prices will go up to just over $9 US per gallon. It will cost about $200 US dollars per tank of diesel. At the moment, diesel is $5.46 US per gallon. That is up from $4.20 US per gallon four days ago. Diesel is the CHEAPEST fuel to buy here. Naturally, this causes us a big problem with our work. As you know, every Christian needs to worship every week. We spend a lot of time on the road. Please keep us in your prayers.

Most gas stations have a limit on how much we can buy, and the prices keep going up and up. They are announcing that in the next two weeks, diesel prices will go up to just over $9 US per gallon.

One of our young ladies, Rinrada, just finished her second year of university. She is going to be a nurse. In the nursing program, finishing the second year comes with a ceremony in which they get their nurse’s hat. We had decided to go and encourage her. We planned to take her sister, Waan, with us from Chiang Mai and go to the ceremony. Then make a large loop through the mountains to pick up three young ladies to bring to Chiang Mai to work during the summer break. Even with the gas shortage, we decided to try… not knowing if we would be able to make it back to Chiang Mai. Every time we saw a line of cars at a gas station, we stopped and got as much diesel as they would let us have. In two days, we spent around four hours in line to fill up the truck.

Rinrada just finished her second year of university. She is going to be a nurse.

When the university finished, we took three girls from Mae Hong Son to their villages for a week to visit their families before coming to Chiang Mai to work. We took one girl straight to Chiang Mai with us.  We try to find jobs for the young people we help during the summer break. It sounds easy to take them home… but the roads to most of the villages are horrible. I am sending a couple of pictures. Unfortunately, we cannot get a picture of the worst parts of the roads. (It is too dangerous to stop and take a picture. The roads are so bumpy that the pictures do not come out if we take them while we are moving.) Imagine a one-lane, deeply rutted dirt road covered in huge rocks and a sheer cliff to the right and a drop-off to the left. Then imagine part of the road washed off the side of the mountain, and the gap bridged by small trees that were cut down and laid across the gap. Honestly, it was very scary. In the picture where I am standing, looking down on a truck, that truck is stuck in the mud. We were trying to figure out how we could get them unstuck and get around them. There is also a picture labeled Google Maps.  You will see that there is absolutely nothing showing… That is how far off the beaten track we were when taking them home.

We took three of the young ladies that we are helping to do practice teaching. They taught in Kindergarten and in First Grade. The three young ladies did a fantastic job. The principal and the teachers were very impressed with them. The students also had a great time. One of the young ladies just finished 11^th grade, one just finished 12^th grade, and one just finished her first year in university. We like to help the young people get practical experience in their chosen fields.

March is also the month when my visa has to be renewed. You can see the stack of paperwork that I have in my hand.  Before I could do the paperwork, we had to do about the same amount to send to the social service part of the government to get a letter that allows me to get a new visa. Then we started on that paperwork. I was at immigration for 10 hours on the day I got my new visa. Thankfully, I received the visa in only one day.  Most years, it takes two days to get it approved.

You can see in one picture that our auditorium is finished. We all really like it. The building continues. We are worried about rising prices due to the fuel shortage here. We have hired a second team of builders to come to get all of the building down as soon as possible. The new team will arrive on Thursday. You can also see that progress is being made on the electricity problem. Hopefully, that will all be completed in the next two weeks.

Right now, we have a large portion of the university students that we help staying at the property here in Chiang Mai. I am using this opportunity to teach them the Bible. Especially, those who are not yet Christians. Please keep all of our efforts in your prayers.

I want to thank everyone for your love, your prayers, and your help.

God bless,
Michael