It has been a while since anything new has graced this informational site. This is mostly because nothing news worthy has occurred, and being reminded to read something when nothing has happened is kinda like crying wolf, and is also the bain of the monster called "blogosphere." Well, we have some new developments:
Development #1:
The newest (and only) addition to our team is Julie McCarty. We know Julie from Freed-Hardeman University, and have been close friends for 6 years (or so). We all attended school together, but she had to leave us to finish her Psychology degree at Austin Peay University in Clarksville, TN (her home city). She will mostly be supported by her home congregation, the Hilldale Church of Christ (Clarksville), but also has the task, like us, to personally raise a good portion of the funds needed for this trip.
Look! It's Julie!
Development #2:
Due to some logistical reasons, we have pushed our actual departure date back to the beginning of 2006. So that means that this will in fact be a "Thailand 2006" trip. Some reasons are that the price of airline tickets are significantly less expensive after the New Year, and also that our Thai liaison, P' Rung, will actually be in the US until late December, so we would definitely like her to be there when we get off the plane in January.
Development #3
We have wings! Tickets have been purchased for January 10, 2006. We will be departing on United Airlines flight 5331 from Nashville to Chicago-O'Hare, and then we board United Airlines flight 881 from Chicago-O'Hare to Bangkok, Thailand (with a two hour stop in Tokyo-Narita, Japan). All in all, the time traveling will be 22:30! Yes, that's 22 hours and 30 minutes. But the kicker is that we will leave Nashville at 9:25 AM (local time) on a Tuesday and arrive in Bangkok at 11:30 PM (local time) on Wednesday.
Development #4
A lot of people ask me about how this trip is being funded, and how much we still need to complete this work for the 8 months that we have committed. I, personally, am very pleased with the response that we have received from our various supporters. I would like to report that as of the time of this post, we have received roughly 78% of all of the funds needed to - send Dalissa and myself, buy teaching materials for our students, house and feed us for 8 months, and bring us back. Seeing that we have only "officially" been fund raising for 2 or 3 months, and that we still have a good 12 weeks before we leave, I am very optimistic that all our needs will be provided. The need is still there, though, and if you are able to help, please feel free to contact me. All funds are under the oversight of the elders at the LaVergne Church of Christ and are distributed accordingly.
One last thing, if you are personally interested in the day to day happenings of Neale and Dalissa Bryan, please shoot over to our personal site.
Thanks! and God bless,
Neale
