Dear Friends,

Hello! It's hard to believe that I last wrote to you in March. I apologize for the long delay. Deputation in the U.S. has been quite a whirlwind. If you recently signed up to receive this email - welcome! It's such fun to have this network of friends grow.

Traveling in the U.S. has been a real adventure. So far since I arrived in April, I have managed to lock myself in a hotel bathroom, have my shipment get held up in U.S. customs for 2 months, sing Aretha Franklin's "Natural Woman" badly at a karaoke place, get confused by the variety of devices used to turn on a shower, and get lost trying to get out of my own city because I was listening to NPR so intently. I have also seen the Statue of Liberty for the first time, celebrated the Lord's Supper with Bishop Malkhaz Songulashvili from the Evangelical Baptist Church of the Republic of Georgia, gone tubing on Rangeley Lake in Maine, eaten chicken feet in San Francisco's Chinatown, gone to a rubber stamp convention, discovered that a haircut now cost more than a lobster dinner, reconnected with 85 friends and 13 family members, and met almost 2,000 new people. ...and I thought ministry in Thailand was crazy!

In May, I had the remarkable experience of meeting John Black, the former president of the engraving department at the Crane Paper Company. He still hand engraves steel dies and prints each page on an old press in his basement. It was exciting to meet an artisan who is preserving the ancient craft of engraving. He let me try my hand at scratching out a die for a few hours one afternoon. Eventually, he had mercy on me and fixed my mistakes so that I could actually run some paper through the press. I painted the die with ink, slid it across some butcher paper to remove the excess, put the die into the press, and screwed the press down into the paper. An experience of a lifetime!

In some ways it has also been difficult to be in the U.S. It's hard to tell the stories so many times and still speak authentically from my heart. I really miss Thailand, and some days I feel displaced, like I don't belong here. I would just rather be there, getting on with ministry. But God had a lesson to teach me. I was driving from western Massachusetts to New Jersey and found myself in New York State. I was feeling a little tired and decided to pull into a rest stop to stretch my legs. I walked into Roy Rogers, and ordered a sandwich. While I was standing there, the young woman behind the counter turned to her friend and spoke Thai! Greatly surprised, I asked her, "Are you Thai?!" She gasped and asked, "You speak Thai??!!" It turns out that there were four Thai college students who had come to the U.S. to study English and were working in this Roy Rogers together. They came over and sat with me while I ate my lunch. We chatted about their experience of being in the States for the last few months. Then one of the girls came out with, "We have a problem." She explained that they had ordered a cab to come and pick them up the following day to go do some sightseeing. But when she looked at her credit card online, she discovered that the cabbie had already charged her card - twice! She didn't know what to do and her English wasn't strong enough to explain the problem to the bank. So I pulled out my cellphone, called the bank, and got the situation straightened out. Then I finished my lunch, said goodbye to my new friends and went on my way. As I was climbing into my van, I thought to myself, "Isn't that just like God. I can just see Him pinching His chin and saying, 'Hmm, who do I have in upstate New York who can speak Thai?'" In that moment, I saw how God was really ministering to my heart. I realized that I don't have to be in Thailand to be of use to God. God can use me anywhere He wants to put me. So even though I would rather be in Thailand, God has uniquely called me to be here in the U.S for right now. And He was kind enough to remind me of it.

On another note, I mentioned in my last email that I would be sending you a schedule of my travels. I regret that I have been negligent in that department! So for those who are interested, the current version follows this email.

Thank you so much for your ongoing support for me and my work. Your prayers encourage and sustain me. I especially appreciate all those who prayed that my shipment of crafts would arrive safely. It took a good bit of coaxing, pleading, crying, and some stiff taxes to get the stuff through customs. But the boxes finally arrived safely. I could use some prayers for God to give me the energy and focus to finish this year of deputation. It's hard to find peace in this dizzying schedule. I enjoy meeting new people, but some days it can get a little overwhelming. Also, as we look toward the World Mission Offering window in American Baptist Churches this September and October, I pray that you will encourage folks in your church to give generously to help keep our missionaries in the field. Last year's World Mission Offering fell behind by about 1 million dollars, and missionaries have actually started to accept voluntary recall in a sacrificial effort to help keep others in the field.

So anything you can do would be greatly appreciated.

Many blessings to you,

-Kit

My schedule:

(for those who are interested!)

So far I have been to:

April: Green Lake, Wisconsin

Parchment Valley, West Virginia

May: Oakland and San Francisco, CA

Western Massachusetts

Eastern New Jersey

June: Eastern New Jersey

Indianapolis, Indiana

Central Ohio

Central Maine

July: Central and Northern Maine

Green Lake, Wisconsin

August: Green Lake, Wisconsin

Southern Ohio

From now on, I will be in:

Sept 3: Hartford, IL

Sept 5: St. Louis, MO

Sept 5 pm: Evansville, IN

Sept 6: St. Louis, MO

Sept 10: Hamilton, OH

Sept 14: Wyoming, OH

Sept 17: St. Albans, WV

Sept 18-23: Harrisonburg, VA (attending a conference)

Sept 24: Alhambra, CA

Sept 26-28: Nipoma, CA

Sept 30: Thousand Pines, CA

Oct 1: Fullerton, CA

Oct 6: Covina, CA

Oct 8: Pasadena, CA

Oct 11: Riverside, CA

Oct 14: Chino Hills, CA

Oct 15: Corona, CA

Oct 18: Painesville, OH (?)

Oct 22: Cincinnati, OH

Oct 23: Geneva, OH

Oct 24: Martins Ferry, OH

Oct 25: Newark, OH

Oct 26: Marysville, OH

Oct. 26: Marion, OH

Oct 28: Alliance, OH

Oct 29: Newark, OH

Oct 29: Vanderhoff-Coolville, OH

Nov 8: Lewiston, ME

Nov 9: Waterville, ME

Nov 11: Gardiner, ME

Nov 12: Gardiner, ME

Nov 19: Fairfield, ME

Nov 26: Carrabassett Valley, ME

Dec 3: Kingsville, OH

Dec 6-10: Oil Creek Association

Dec 15-26 Eastern PA

Jan 7 Fairmont, WV

Jan 13 Cincinnati, OH

Jan 14 Cincinnati, OH

Jan 16 North East, PA

Jan 17 Kenmore, NY

Jan 21 Columbus, OH

Jan 28 Johnstown, OH