Dear Family and Friends

Paul and I arrived back in Thailand 4 weeks ago, with loads of happy memories of Bolivia still crystal clear in our hearts and minds. We are so blessed to have had that opportunity and thank you again to all who helped make that possible. While I was travelling I know many of you were praying for us and particularly my health, so I do want you to know that while we travelled my pain was significantly less, it was incredible really. I was able to do all the things I wanted without ill-effects. Since returning to Thailand my pain level has increased again. However, I am not giving up on hope. I value your continued prayers for my health.

I often find encouragement in “Streams in the Desert” by LB Cowman. “The world says that seeing is believing but God wants us to believe in order to see. The psalmist said: ‘I would have despaired unless I would have believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.’ Ps 27:13. Do we believe God only when circumstances are favourable, or do we believe no matter what the circumstances may be? Faith is believeing what we do not see, and the reward for this kind of faith is to see what we believe.”

Some exciting news for us is that our Zachary has asked his girlfriend, Michelle to marry him and she said yes. They will be married in California on October 25th, in just 3 months. We are thrilled for them both and of course we plan to attend the wedding. Zac and Michelle want to live in Australia from January 2009, so we’d be glad if you will pray for them as they plan their wedding and make plans for their future.

Caleb finished school on the 6th of June, and his plan is to relocate to Adelaide and find work. In fact as you know, Luke, Pe and Jaci have all been living back with us this past 15 months since Caleb’s accident last May, and the time has come for them to return to their work and studies. As of August 7th there will no longer be any Wilcox children in the Wilcox family home, they all leave that day to set up home again (for Caleb the first time) in Adelaide. Paul and I will be making the adjustment without them, we will miss them…..

We do plan to be in Australia for a communication and ‘report back’ time of 6 months from November ’08. Our goal is to communicate with our supporters, and to see family and friends. So if you would like us to see you or you know of a group of people who are interested in the work we do, then we’d be glad to come and share stories of our work and lives here. That is what our trip to Oz is all about, communicating with you. We hope this timeframe will work for you, as after those dates we want to return to Thailand to continue our work and very probably not return to Oz for quite a few years for that same purpose! Please email us if you’d like to book a date with us.

Well, that’s more than I wanted to write. If you got through all that, you are indeed faithful friends!

We send our love.

Paul and Penny