A New Truck

We have had some very interesting vehicle experiences over the last few months. And, although our Suzuki is back in our possession, she is on her last legs - stalling every time we tap the brakes. With a pregnant wife and a future child to care for, it has become obvious that our little Suzuki is no longer a reliable family or ministry vehicle.

So we have been looking around for a "new" truck to fill our needs. Unfortunately, vehicles in Thailand (especially in Northern Thailand) are even more expensive than those in the US. The trucks we have looked at run around 470,000 baht. This number was incredibly discouraging to us, as we are just not comfortable spending that much money on a vehicle.

Fortunately, we have found a truck that will suit our needs that is much more reasonably priced. Our friends the Bazemore's are moving back to the U.S. to have their baby and have agreed to sell us their 1990 Nissan 4x4 for $7,250 (after they gave us a generous deduction in the price as a donation to our ministry). Even more incredibly, we had already received $2,500 in donations to help with this purchase before we asked for any help. God really takes wonderful care of us.

We have a little bit in savings, but if you would like to partner with us by donating towards this purchase it would be very much appreciated. You can print out a copy of our Partner Coupons or send your donations to:

Foursquare Missions International
Attention: Paulette McCammon
PO Box 26902
Los Angeles, CA 90026-0176

Please make checks out to Foursquare Missions International. Please include a note in the memo line which states “Support for Paul & Lori Vernon”.

All donations are tax deductible

No fees or administrative charges are deducted from your donation. One hundred percent of your donations are available to us for our personal and ministry needs.

It would also be helpful if you could contact us to let us know about your donation. This will help us to designate the funds correctly. To contact us, please Click here and choose "Partnership Info" in the Subject box.

Thank you all for your continued support.

Tags:

• ministry
• vehicle
• support

Miracle

I can think of no other word than miracle to describe what happened last week as we were driving down the road into our village. In some ways, I don't even feel qualified to write about this miraculous event, knowing that my words could never aptly describe God's providence. Yet, at the same time, I cannot let the incident go unspoken, because my heart overflows with praise and thanksgiving for a God who is so good!

We had been in the village for several days and had driven into the little Chinese town of Mae Salong one afternoon to buy a bottle of children's Tylenol for the Akha Clinic. As we were returning, we turned down the steep road which descends into our village to see the road packed with about 30 of our village friends. They were a joyous group, to say the least, participating in the Akha tradition of escorting a young bride from her village to ours for her wedding the next day. Within seconds of seeing the group, our emotions went from joy to panic as we realized that the brakes on the truck we were driving had gone out. I began waving frantically and Paul was honking the horn while we both prayed desperately that our friends would understand that we weren't simply joining in the fun of the wedding procession. As the truck gained speed, everyone began to realize that we were out of control and started yelling to one another to get off the road. Meanwhile, Paul, firmly directed by the hand of God, was swerving from one side of the road to the other, avoiding the various groups of people on both sides of the narrow road, while at the same time trying to avoid sending us careening off the side of the mountain into the valley below!

The final group of people we passed was on the right hand side of the road and so of course, we had swerved on to an embankment on the left. As we came racing down from the embankment, we were filled with horror as we saw a tiny two year old girl all alone and directly in front of us. My only prayer was "Oh God, no!" because I could not think of any way that we could possibly avoid hitting this tiny child. As we passed the point where she was, time seemed to stand still and I held my breath as I braced myself for that inevitable bump... that never came.

About thirty feet later the road leveled out, the brakes on the truck re-engaged and we were able to come to a stop. Both Paul and I, running on pure adrenaline, were out of the truck within seconds and running towards the crumpled heap of a girl lying in the dirt on the side of the road. Paul reached her first, utterly relieved to find her conscious and crying. Seconds later, her uncle who was part of the wedding procession, whisked her up and carried her down to her mother in the village below.

We were left shaky and in shock, but surrounded by some of our best friends. Everyone was immediately shaking our hands, patting us on the shoulder and praising the Lord for His obvious protection as we all slowly made our way down the road to the village. When we arrived in the village a group was already crowded around the little girl examining her for signs of injury. Miraculously, she just had a few scrapes on her chest and back and a bit of a bruise on her hip. No one had actually seen what happened when our truck passed her, but it was concluded that our front left tire must have brushed against her back pushing her forward onto the embankment. Because the little girl couldn't tell us what had happened, and because no one was really sure of what transpired, we were still very worried that there may be some hidden injury. So, the mother, the little girl, Paul and I headed off to the hospital in Mae Chan (about an hour and a half away) for x-rays and an expert opinion. Ten dollars and four hours later we were home again in the village with a clean bill of health for this precious little one.

Even now as I think over the events of the day, I cannot help but see spiritual forces at work. Our adversary prowls around seeking someone to devour (1 Peter5:8), and I'm sure the wedding party looked mighty vulnerable on that steep hill. What better way to destroy a Christian community than to have such a blessed and happy event completely torn apart by what could have been such a tragic accident? But the Lord is ever faithful to protect his sheep. We are convinced that His hand was guiding our vehicle, keeping us and everyone else safe. Beyond that, we know that what Satan meant for harm, the Lord has used for good, increasing our faith in the sure, strong hand of the Lord that protects his own from the schemes of the Enemy!

Tags:

• Akha
• village

Stay tuned...

We have a lot of stories to share from this time in the village. Harrowing adventures, miracles, weddings and hospital trips top the list. We are resting in our bamboo hut this afternoon after a wild week, and will return to the city on Monday to pick up our Suzuki from the mechanic. (No word yet on the extent of the damage or cost). We plan on staying three days in the city (putting together wedding videos for the happy Akha couples) before we come back up to the village.

We will fill you in on all our adventures when we have computer access, so stay tuned!

Tags:

• Akha
• village
• mobile

Suzi is Dead, Long Live Suzi!

We are afraid our dear little companion might have barreled over her last off-road trail. Lately we have had a number of problems with Suzi as she has been feeling the weight and the difficulty of her years. Especially hard on her tough little chasse has been the last seven years that she has served as a missionary vehicle in Akha villages.

These last few months we have had a number of problems, ranging from intermittent air conditioning, the gearshift getting stuck in third while driving down the highway, the carburetor filling with grease (probably from a bad tank of gas), and a general unwillingness to idle at stoplights. Our wonderful mechanic has been faithfully fighting to keep the old girl alive, but we have begun to ask more and more whether this little Suzuki is a dependable vehicle for our growing family.

Yesterday added much more significant doubts in our minds.

We had gone up to Maesai for a Visa requirement and while driving back heard a distinct "clunk" from the left side of the engine. Having been in two vehicles while they lost their transmissions, my heart sank at the familiarity of the sound. Moments later, I lost all power in fifth gear, then fourth, then she died altogether as we coasted to a stop about 45 kilometers north of our home in Chiang Rai.

We popped the hood and saw that the overflow tank for the radiator had rattled off, disconnecting it from the radiator itself. We checked the oil and found that the levels were ok. A wonderful little Thai man saw our plight and let us use a bucket and water to help cool down the engine. Hoping that the engine had just overheated and no further problems had occurred, we took about a half an hour for the engine to cool and to get some fluids back into the radiator.

Once we had gotten the water in, we tried to start the engine again. After a few attempts it rattled to life, but then the problems got much worse. A "chocolate milk" mixture of oil and water began pouring out of the air filter box and the oil dipstick tube, and engine fluid began spouting from underneath the engine block. Now, I do not know much more than theory about car engines, but I do know that when fluids are pouring out of the air filter that the engine is in really bad shape.

We, of course, only speak the tiniest bit of Thai, so we were severely limited in our conversations. However, by the grace of God, a young Thai mom came driving up on her scooter and asked (in English) what she could do to help. Through her help we were able to procure a "tow truck", which was really an old Land Rover that had a big tow rig welded onto it, to drag our invalid vehicle all the way down to Chiang Rai.

By the time we reached our mechanic, he had long since closed for the day, so we are waiting around this morning to get a ride over there to speak with him.

Please join us in praying for guidance in this situation. That our mechanic can advise us as to whether this problem is going to be worth fixing and that we will be able to find a suitable vehicle in the meantime or a replacement vehicle if Suzi has rolled her last mile.

Tags:

• prayer
• travel
• vehicle