May 16, 2012
The countdown has begun for our flight to Thailand, and there is so much to do! Getting visas, packing for the flight, getting rid of extraneous possessions, moving our stuff out east and/or storing it here, and more. We are excited to be finally going!
A lot of our friends have been wondering why we are able to go, when we didn't reach our original goal of $40,000. So Daniel and I thought we'd write out the re-visited budget. Some budget items have changed as we have gotten more information on what things cost, and some things have already been paid for.

Launch Budget:
Travel: $3,358.55 for one-way tickets to Bangkok, Thailand (we opted for one-way...round trip wasn't more economical this time, and we're not sure on flight date back). Train to Chiang Mai:$57.
Non-immigrant Visas: not yet purchased, estimated at $400 (the application to allow for a full year stay has to be completed in Thailand).
Thai Language School tuition (Daniel, and maybe Tesha, will likely be taking this course in Chiang Mai twice a week, to learn the language). $812.50 per person, so up to $1,625 per year needed.
Moving to WV/Storing belongings: Estimated at $2000-$4500.
Cell-Phone Disconnect Fee: $300 estimated.
Totals: $7,057.95 to $10,370.45.

Monthly Budget:
Tithe/Offerings (dependent on income): $170-$364.
Daniel and Tesha's Student Loans: $250 (current low-income payments) to $420 (standard payments).
Flight Tickets Savings: $350-$700.
Visas/Border Crossing Expenses: estimated $30-$250.
Diapers/Baby Care: $100-$150.
Food: $120-$240.
Emergency/Other: $100-$300.
Totals: $1,120-$2,424.

Already Covered:
Fundraising Trip: about $750
Dental Work: $250
Vaccinations: $140
Passports: about $210
Vehicle: We believe this is covered (estimated to be $16,000-$20,000 to buy a car in Thailand), since we have been offered a place to stay within only a few hundred yards of the All-Asia TV studio, and since we are told we can schedule the use of a truck (which I gather may belong to the Educational Opportunity Foundation which Tesha will be working with).
Praise God for His provision on these items! And thank-you to all who have donated!

Wish List:
Mac Pro laptop, video software and a professional camera: approx. $2000 for used, to approx. $4,000 new. This would help for Daniel to be able to work while traveling in Thailand.
Window Air Conditioner unit for the house in Thailand: $300-$400 estimated. This would be desired, not for temperature control, but for humidity control, as the humidity can produce black mildew and mold in the houses in Thailand.
Maybe Daniel will need a motor scooter for light travel.
Our Student Loan Payoff: If anyone is impressed to pay off our student loans, our combined total is around $40,000.

A big “Thank-you!” to all who have already given money or time or expertise to helping Thailand Gospel Media Project get started. You are very appreciated!

After five weeks of travel, presenting our project in seven churches and visiting family, we were glad to be back in our own beds. We are at almost 10% of our launch goal and we have over 10% of our monthly support (that we know of). It has been a week and a half since we returned, and we are still catching up on sleep. Once we got home, we caught fevers one after the other that thankfully lasted less than 48 hours each.

A prayer that was on my mind before our trip and during our trip was that out little ones would not be over taxed from hours in the car, and also that our car would hold up for the 4500 miles of travel. God blessed, and in other ways too, in that five weeks of travel we only had to buy three nights of hotel rooms. Gifts received before our trip also kept the monthly bills paid while we were away, too.

On our trip we spent one week at the JFA - MissionTV studio in McDonald, TN, where I gained some training in studio production and video editing. During that time we discussed the issues we would face in Thailand and we decided that it would be best to seek the Educational Visa and learn the Thai language. This is definitely important for missionaries and specifically so for our project in that we will be seeking native language speakers to put in front of the camera; speaking Thai will be necessary for networking, plus we will need to know what they are presenting. We also enjoyed spending quality time with our project administrators, Jon and Natalie Wood, and with all the GMI volunteers at the studio.

We want to thank all the churches for their hospitality and letting us present our project. We thank those that have supported us financially and we really appreciate all the prayers, too.

Here is a video update of our mission project status as of June 1st 2012.

Here is our first presentation of our mission call that was at Alvarado SDA church on October 8th.

Some are curious about our goal of $40,000 to raise for launching expenses. To some, it may not seem like a lot for a family of four compared to some other mission programs; yet others wonder why it could cost this much just to get to Thailand. Here is a simplified breakdown how we estimated this figure:

• Travel (Round-trip* airfare; shipping of donated books, etc.; 1-year visas): $8,500 to $10,000
  *We must return to the USA within 1 year to renew our 1-year visas.

• Pre-launch expenses: $1,750 to $9,750** $3,750
  Includes pre-launch eye, medical and dental expenses; rental/purchase of storage space for personal possessions; etc.
  

• Electronic equipment: $1,750 to $4,000
  Includes computer equipment, software, camera(s), etc.
  

• Education materials: $850 to $1050
  Books, software and tuition for language training; etc.
  

• Vehicle expenses: $16,500 to $20,000 (we are praying that a vehicle will be available for us when we arrive.)
  With a family of four, two being toddlers, we will need a vehicle that can take car seats.

• Miscellaneous personal items to be purchased before departure: $250 to $1200

**We are praying that someone will donate a semi trailer which should be sufficient to store our belongings and that God would provide a vehicle in Thailand for our use, thus reducing our goal from $40,000 to $20,000.

As you can see, we are now praying that we will receive a minimum of $20,000. We are also praying that funds would come more than we need so that the construction debt on the All-Asia TV Studio could be repaid and equipment for production could be purchased. We trust that the Lord will provide in one way or another for actual necessities that are not met by the time we leave.

Regarding our monthly support: Humanly speaking, we would love to have commitments for monthly support of around $2,000 per month. This would cover required annual travel to the USA to renew our 1-year visas, regular monthly expenses, etc.

We hope that we have given sufficient detail for those who are curious. If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.