Before Departure from Chiang Mai, Thailand (October 2020)

In almost four years since Kristin and I relocated to Chiang Mai in 2016, we decided to leave Thailand. It was a sudden decision due mainly to the stick visa restrictions that the Thailand government has imposed upon the foreigners for their re-entry whether they have a permanent residency or not.

I gave away my books to a Christian library, sold the car to the youth pastor couple at CMCC, sold the motorcycle to a British guy, and had to leave a few main items for Kris to take care of.

Overall, I was proud of myself for having been able to reduce all my stuff to one check-in luggage, one carry-on luggage, and two backpacks.

Kristin handled most of the household stuff, through sale, giveaway, or throwing away.

Before we left, we had a get-together with a few people. We had lunch at Chic 39. Their foods are beautiful as well as delicious. Caleb helped us in the initial settle-down process and later with the BTC.

I invited the Freedom Films Production people to lunch at Ohkhazhu Restaurant. They were Angie, Woot, Nit, and Noi. They have worked hard to make the BMT project moving with a tight time schedule. I am deeply grateful for their cooperation. Ohkhazhu's foods are always fresh and abundant. This restaurant was one of our favorite restaurants during our stay in Chiang Mai.

Peter Lee of Skybay Thailand came up from Bangkok to see us with his new wife. We had a get-together with Tae Hyeong Kim's family at Ohkhazhu Restaurant near the airport. Our fellowship was delightful. I pray that Peter will live a more stable life with his new wife.

We took a selfie with the Dairy Queen ice cream place at the Central Festival where we walked a lot for exercise. It was not a natural hiking trail, but was airconditioned, weather-proof, safe, and entertaining with many shops and things to eat. Dairy Queen's ice cream was a treat for us after our hike.

Chiang Mai gave a gift of a talented Kingdom Fellow for the SfK Ministry. It is Tae Hyeong Kim who is an ordained pastor, a missionary, a mobile app developer, and videographer. He is greatly talented. I wonder what God has in store for our relationship. I have given him a lot of stuff, including a small statue of Jesus Christ, which I have kept for the past 25 years.

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Before throwing away the name tags for some of the conferences I attended, I took a photo shot as a souvenir.

Kamal in Nairobi, Kenya sent me the following photo, showing a woman riding a bicycle with three children, a bunch of wood sticks, a big pan on her head. Wow!

Definitely, she needed to balance them all. I am pursuing this type of balance in my life, without tilting in any direction. Oh, God, help me. Looking back, the time in Chiang Mai was a blessing in my ways.  - Jeffrey