January 14, 2022

For a one-page printable version of this letter, click here

Dear Friends,

Preparations are now in earnest for our return to Thailand. Actually, preparations have been in earnest for some time. The process of returning to Thailand post covid is far more complicated than it was before. More of that later.

But first, I would like to update you on what we have been doing for the past two months since my dad went to be with the Lord. We stayed in Denver through Thanksgiving and then traveled as a family back to Minneapolis. In December I flew back to Denver twice to spend time with my mom and help out however I could. I was able to bring the girls on one trip, then the boys on the next. We spent Christmas in Minneapolis, but immediately following, we all drove to Denver to spend about 10 days over the New Year. God’s grace has been evident in my mom’s life, and she seems to be doing well. Thanks for your prayers for her.

Celebrating New Year's with Grandma Scott

We are now back in Minneapolis packing and preparing to return to Thailand. Lord willing, we will leave on Tuesday, January 18th. Quarantine requirements to enter Thailand have changed many times over the past few months. We have been approved, after submitting many documents and jumping through many hoops, for a seven-day quarantine. The charge for the quarantines is not cheap. Before traveling all of us except the youngest must receive a negative covid test result. Because of the high demand for covid testing and the unpredictable timing of lab results, we think it is necessary to pay for expedited tests results. The combined cost for the quarantine and covid testing is $5,000. 

But here it the exciting part: Last week we received a gift from someone with a name we do not recognize, who is not on this mailing list, and does not appear to be a member of a church that regularly supports us. The amount of this unexpected gift: $5,000! What an encouragement!

Please pray that we all have negative covid tests. If one of us is positive, we will have to postpone our flights and start all over with the process of quarantine scheduling and approval for entry with the Thai government. It may be in God’s plan for that to happen (it happened to our co-workers a year ago), but we certainly hope not.

Before bringing this letter to a close, I have the joy of telling you of another answer to your prayers. In October I asked you to pray for a Christian Pakistani refugee family in our Bangkok church. They were awaiting the vote of a Canadian church regarding resettlement sponsorship. Praise the Lord, the church did vote in early December to be the sponsoring agency for the Khokhar family. Sadly, the process to bring them to Canada will probably take a couple years. But this was the essential first step they had been waiting for. About half of the required funds to bring them to Canada have been raised. If any of you would be interested in helping them, you could send me an email for more information.

We are encouraged and excited to go back and get reconnected with the church family and other friends in Thailand. We really hope that we can make the trip next week. Thank you so much for your prayers.

Your partners for the gospel,

Duane and Hannah Scott