August 8, 2006 Update

Dear Mission Friends,

The day has finally come after a two and a half week wait for the van to make its way back to the shop to get its bearings put in. I found out the reason for the difficulty on finding bearings here in Ireland. Our van has an independent rear suspension which was only used on Japanese vehicles that were specced for use in Japan. This particular axle does not use your typical tapered roller bearings but uses a self contained pressed in unit type bearing. Therefore, there were none here in Ireland since there is no demand for them. Well, Lord willing we should get the van back tomorrow. It will then need to go in for a complete four wheel alignment to straighten up the back end.

With our van being down it was the perfect timing for our electric power shower to go out! This was the icing on the cake. With the warm summer weather and the extra walking with not having the van running, the family got a bit sweaty each day. Thank the Lord we still had the tub to get a bath. The shower was down for a week and a half. We do thank the Lord that it happened just after our visiting pastor and his wife left (maybe they broke it!! just kidding). Anyway the landlord finally got the shower man out to replace a heating element and thermostat in the shower unit. So, they shower is back up and running today! Praise the Lord. You just don't realize how many things that you take for granted each day until you are without them.

We made our way down to the city centre of Dublin last week to do our annual registration with immigration so that we can remain in Ireland for another year. We were so excited because normally it is jammed with people and can be several hours wait, and this time there were only five people in line ahead of us. But with the good there comes the bad--as we looked around we saw signs posted that declared it would now cost 100 Euro's per person per year to register. That was a great surprise to us since it has been free in the past until now. I guess Ireland is no longer a
FREE country! So far they do not require us to register the children, but that day may soon be approaching. Just the other day while out on the doors we talked to a man for about 40 minutes who was in his mind happy and content with his life without God. This man, Pat, was convinced that there is no God, the Bible is nothing more than a mere book with no benefit for man, and when a person dies then you simply cease to exist. He would not accept Scripture. He would not accept any literature nor a Bible. He was fine with us being out knocking on doors since according to him "it just makes you feel better about yourself" he informed us. As we walked away I felt disheartened as I thought about the day that will be coming soon when his eyes will focus on the Lord and his knee bow down and then confess with his mouth that Jesus Christ is Lord. What a shocking day that will be for so many. Well, this seems to be a bit of a gloom and doom type update, but it is the way the past couple weeks have gone. We are not discouraged but are keeping our eyes on the Lord who meets our needs and sustains us each day. Do pray for the van that the job will get done and done right and for a fair price. Continue to pray for Eamon's growth and the salvation of his family. Also, pray that the Lord will give Lisa wisdom as she gets things in order for home schooling which will start very soon. We thank God for you and your continued prayers.

May the Lord find us faithful,

Don Thatcher