The Tentmaker Visa, and Surfers Bound for Phuket

Back from South Africa, where he had met with believers old and new, Philip began changing how he stays in touch — moving from the printed newsletter to a twice-monthly WhatsApp broadcast (+66 61 032 0307), while still emailing the same news. In June he travelled to Bangkok to submit his business-visa application, was warned it could take up to three months and advised not to leave the country; the work visa then came through, letting him stay while the work permit followed. The tentmaker path — using a lawful island business as a foothold to keep ministering, and to employ and train the Moken on wages — was properly underway.

The island's spiritual life was visibly deepening. Sunday gatherings grew, with a Moken young man now sharing at them; the Moken meet every Tuesday evening in four groups to read the Bible; the Myanmar church from Ranong came for an outreach; and Theo from Global Challenge visited, deeply moved, with a team possibly coming the following year. Wud, Philip's eldest foster son, home on army pass, planted grass on a quarter of the new soccer field — and introduced his fiancée.

The young Moken surfers, training almost daily, reached a milestone of their own: three of them travelled to a competition in Phuket on 25-28 July, their first time ever out of the province. They fell out early but stayed to cheer the rest of the team, and the island's one Moken girl surfer did well. Among the youngest is Yood, a five-year-old who plays his heart out on the board under supervision. "Come rain or shine," Philip wrote, "we are in the ocean almost every day."