Here is a picture of our group - John, Kathy, Marlene, Barb, Dan, Wayne, Steve, and Schaun. We were waiting for another plane. We were in the airport in Bangkok enjoying coffee and blueberry muffins!
This is a very nice restaurant that we took Mindy E. and Jeri to, as a "thank you"for all their hard work and great hospitality!
This is a very spicy fish dish and very crispy pork.
When we arrived at Nok and Saman's house, I noticed this bulletin board full of all of the cards that my family and small group members from church had sent to the Grace House girls! It is fun to see and feel the connections and relationships growing!
Here is a picture of the Grace House that sits adjacent to Nok and Saman's house. Currently, there are 20 girls between the ages of 5 and 15 living there. Saman recently built the shelter over the clothes lines, to help the clothes get and stay dry during the rainy season.
Here are the girls new bunk beds, which Saman built. He said that when they were lying right next to each other on the mats on the floor, they were having problems with lice. The bunk beds have helped with that problem!
Here is Nut's bed. It was so special to see that she had posted the picture of Dave and Ben, that we had sent to the Grace House, right above her bed! I made sure to let Nut and all of the girls know that we pray for them all every night before we go to bed!
Here is where Manee sleeps. She, too, has pictures of us posted above her bed. She also had some artwork of Sydney's hanging beside her bed!
It was so fun spending time with the girls. Here is Nut, Manee and Jiib.
When we first got to Nok and Saman's house, the girls were still at school. We had to patiently wait for them to come home, to see them! Nok explained that when the girls get home, they have to immediately take a shower before seeing us. So, we stood out front, watching them run up the driveway, and back to the showers. They had great big smiles and would wave to us as they passed by. Nok came to me and said that Nut had asked for special permission to come say "hi" to me before showering. Nok allowed her to! When we saw each other (Nut and I) we exchanged smiles and she came running to me with open arms! I picked her up and said, "Sawadikah! Sa bai dee mai?" She looked at me with amazement in her eyes and replied, "Sa bai dee kah!" She understood me! Then, I set her down and she ran off to get a shower! Only moments later, she was showered and back, ready for the evening!
Here is a picture of Nut teaching me how to write in Thai. She is a very good teacher - very patient!
When we went up to the hill tribes, we met Nut's father...(Unfortunately, he blinked!)
...and mother, and two younger sisters. They are a very nice family. They had us into their house and served us some 7-up! They are one of the very few Christian families in the hill tribes.
Me and Manee!
Here is the school for the hill tribe children.
Just a cute little boy - playing with the dogs!
This is Fha and her family. Fha just recently became a Christian and was baptized. Her parents have been very supportive of her decision. They too, would like to accept Jesus into their hearts and be baptized, but they are "stuck" right now. Fha's mother does not want to be disrespectful to her mother (Fha's grandmother), who is Buddhist, so they said that they are just waiting for her to pass away and then they will make their decisions.
This seemed to be a common issue among the families we visited. Several people we talked to said that they were willing to accept Jesus into their hearts to become Christians, but that there was somebody in their lives that would be upset if they did, so they were waiting. They all seemed to use the term, "stuck" in reference to not being able to proceed with their decisions.
After visiting many hill tribe families, we went on a little hike into the jungle to find a cave in the mountain. My camera was not able to get good pictures - sorry!
Here is one picture of me before I got too far down in the dark part! There was a waterfall running down and around the boulders, so it was pretty loud and misty!
Kathy and I were responsible for planning lessons and activities for a group of non-christian children at the Chiangklang Church, where Sakjai is the pastor.
Initially, Sakjai planned for the event to occur between 4pm and 6pm, but when he realized that none of the parents would probably allow their children to attend, he rescheduled it for 2pm-4pm and wrote a letter to the schools to see if the teachers would bring the children - like on a field trip to the church?!! The teachers were very cooperative and ended up bringing 65 children!!
This was something that I had been struggling with since before we even left Kansas City. I kept on trying to get something planned, but I just kept getting stumped, or "stuck"! I knew that we were going to play a few games - not a problem! I also knew that we needed to teach a very quick and subtle lesson about God, in order to plant a seed, but not scare anyone away - not a problem! But what was the problem? I could not get it to come together.
So, Thursday morning, the day of the event, we had nothing planned. Kathy had done so much - collected resources and materials for games - she was totally providing the necessary items, but, we just didn't have a plan - still!
While we were doing a few loads of laundry and trying to come up with a plan, it finally happened. I finally did what I had not been doing all along. I gave the whole thing up to God. I surrendered to God and gave him the authority over the task - I let go, and let God! Then I understood why I couldn't make all the plans in KC, I didn't know the needs of the children and community. After letting God take over, Kathy and I looked at each other in amazement and started writing God's plans! Then the lessons were centered around the common issue we learned about the day before in the hill tribes - their being "stuck".
The two ladies on the left are the teachers from the public, Buddhist school. Then, there is me and Mindy E, the resident missionary, and Noi 1, our translator. We were singing fun "get to know you" songs!
This is when Kathy and I were leading the children in a game of Body Part Bingo. The lesson that accompanied this game was: God made you, just the way you are. You have your own special laugh, interests, gifts and talents, and God has a purpose for you. God wants to live in your heart. (In a nutshell!)
Then we played a game in which the children were to try to get a balloon from one end of the church to the other without letting it hit the floor. The tricky part was, they each had to keep both of their feet on a piece of tape on the floor - as if they were "stuck"! They had to reach to hit the balloon, without moving their feet.
This lesson went something like this: Sometimes in life we go through difficulties, where we feel frustrated, and upset. It is those times that we need to turn to God, as he will help us through them. He will keep us from feeling "stuck" in difficult situations. (Again, in a nutshell!)
After all of the games were over and the children were leaving, Mindy called me over to a group that wasn't leaving yet. She said that they were interested in asking me some questions. She translated for us. First, they wanted to know more about me, so I told them that I am a teacher and a mother of two children - Ben 9 yrs and Syd 5 yrs. Then they asked me why I came to Thailand. I said something like this: I came to Thailand to play games and have fun with you, and to share God's love with you - and to make sure that you know that the living God created you and that He loves you very much and wants to live in your hearts - so that He can help you through the tough times!
Schaun, Sakjai, John, Dan, Wayne and neighborhood children with Steve on the front row - in front of the Chiangklang Church.
This was a true "Good Samaritan" story! We were on our way to the market one evening and we saw this man (in the yellow shirt) lying on the cement bench. He looked like he was passed out. Mindy said that if he was still there when we came back from the market, she would check on him. We came back by about 1 hour later, and sure enough he was still there. So we pulled over and Mindy, Steve, Schaun, and Dan got out of the van to check on him. He was drunk and had thrown up all over himself, so Steve took out his wet wipes and began cleaning off the man's face. Mindy talked to him about what had happened. Apparently, he had gotten very drunk and was driving home on his motorcycle, when he noticed that he could not drive safely anymore. So, he pulled over to sober up. He had been lying there for about 5 hours when we found him. Mindy offered him a ride home, he accepted, and Schaun drove his motorcycle home for him. When we got to his house, his family knew that he was drunk and they were very thankful for us bringing him home.
Just a picture of worship at Pua Baptist Church. Saman is playing the electric guitar and singing! Notice the fans!! Very hot and sticky!
These are some of the children of the church and community that are lined up to attend the special church service in which we performed the "Everything" skit, and Schaun gave the sermon.
Before the service began - Jiib, me, and Nut!
Tak and I spotted each other across the room and smiled and waved. Once we were able to get up from our seats, we met and gave each other a big hug! It was great to see her again! What a beautiful girl! She became a Christian around Christmas time last year, and remains to be one of the few at her school that do not bow and sing praises to Buddha anymore. She says that it is becoming easier to stand strong in her faith and not be afraid to be different from others!
One day, Kathy and I provided art activities for the girls at the Grace House as well as for the children in the neighborhood. We spent all day at Nok and Saman's house creating! Here are some pictures of the day!
Sidewalk chalk in the street!
The children were instructed to use the art materials in any way they wanted. Here is what they created!
Nut made a pig out of foam dough!
Foam dough creations
At one point in the day, we read a few books about Jesus. (We did have translators there to help us!!) Then, we passed out simple English books for the kids to read with each other. They did very well and enjoyed helping each other read!
This is the restaurant we ate at one evening. I had some awesome cashew chicken!!
Here are the gals that translated for us throughout our time in Pua and Chiangklang!
Bang, Noi 2, and Noi 1
As we were driving down the road, we noticed these women working in the rice fields. They are hand picking the rice. This was a moment that I, once again, realized just how easy we have it in America!
3 comments:
Hey, an update. :) I love your pictures and am so glad you went and were able to see those awesome kids again and show them God's love. You're an inspiration! :)
For some reason, I hadn't read all of the comments you wrote yet.
It's interesting that some of the families feel stuck not wanting to offend other family members. When really they should be asking Jesus into their hearts and wanting to plant seeds before anyone passes away.
Nut is so cute, what is the full sentence you said to her? I know the "Swadikah" but what was the rest of it?
Great photos and commentary. It really gives us an insight to what went on there and what you went through. The first time I tried to look at the post, only half the pictures opened - this time it worked. Thanks for sharing!
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