Thanks to you all for following the blog...I'm still alive! I'm not a fan of the two-thumbed typing on the blackberry's, sorry for my 'absence'. There's so much to catch you all up on - this post may be a bit random as I go through some highlights.
Let's start off with some funnies... George has multiple bruises on the top of his head due to tiny door frames. Photo evidence to follow. I successfully climbed up and down the mountain/cave in 39 degree weather (yes, that's Celsius folks) and now I'm catching a cold. Also, the language barrier is proving to be quite a hilarious experience. The other day John McCollum (spelling?), the new Executive Director of Asia's Hope was giving his first address to the Staff as director. He asked them to read from Colossians 1 "We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all the saints..." Such sweet words of encouragement. However, the translator mistakenly read from Galatians 1 "I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel - which is really no gospel at all." Oops! After receiving quite a few confused looks, the misunderstanding was all straightened out.
Now for an events overview... backing up to Tuesday, when we went to Hot Springs park. It was so fun to get out with the kids and do activities that they wouldn't normally be able to do. It is a beautiful park. I just didn't understand the whole concept in sticking my already sweaty feet into 40 degree C water... call me crazy. We were able to get ice cream after, which makes more sense to me.
Wednesday we went to visit both high school and elementary school. We were able to talk briefly with the Principle of the High school. He seemed very compassionate and expressed his awareness that the majority of the kids in the surrounding area come from broken homes and that they try to make school a positive environment. At the elementary school we saw Miki hugging one of her teachers, which I found to be very comforting. After that was the mountain and cave climb, which Ruthanne already talked about.
Thursday was definitely a highlight of the trip for me. In the morning we all piled into Pastor Suradet's pickup (all 15 kids in the back) and took a drive to the Elephant Show. There we met up with some of the younger kids from the other Doi Saket orphan homes who had never seen the show before. We got there in good time and were able to buy some bunches of banana's and feed them too the elephants! So much fun! Some of the kids were so into it - you get to feed an animal by sticking food in it's nose! COOL! But others were hesitant to get close to such big animals. Then the crowds moved to a stadium-like area, Thai style of course. The elephants are quite talented... playing harmonicas with their trunks, soccer, and even painting pictures!
After that, we treated our Hot Springs kids to lunch at a buffet and went back to Doi Saket 1. This is the biggest of Asia's Hope's orphan homes in Thailand (housing 80ish kids, I believe) and often serves as a Base Camp for events. Thursday afternoons event: needles! (Sorry to the nurses reading, we couldn't get a straight English answer for what sort of vaccinations they were.) A westerner coming up the driveway would have had no clue what was going on, it is so incredibly different than the way we do it in Canada. All the kids are crowded around a picnic table while the nurse prepares a needle. A brave kid steps up, gets stuck with the needle, squishes their face in pain... while the surrounding kids laugh. Cheap entertainment I guess? On the flip side, it was a cool thing to see. Vaccinations are what part of the child sponsorship pays for.
Friday afternoon George, Ruthanne, John McCollum, and I went up to Wiang Pa Pao farm. Owned by Asia's Hope, there is a house on the property where 4 widows live. Currently they're building a widow's house and the current house will be converted into another orphan home. Tutu is the Thailand director of AH and her parents have a house at Wiang Pa Pao as well. They farm many delicious things (Lychee fruit was ripe :)) They also have a bunch of pigs where they have a bio gas system set up. We met up with Ashley there as well. She's a 19 year old intern who has been here for 8 months. It was nice to spend some time with her and to have another person my own age around (NOT that George and RA are old...) We all spent the night and the next day George and RA were able to sit down with John and Tutu and talk about the Highview/Hot Springs/Asia's Hope partnership.
After our little retreat, it was back to Hot Springs. Our kids are fantastic and it's so enjoyable to just sit there and play dominos or cuddle despite the sweat. I'm still trying to find words to express the joy and contentment of spending time with the wonderful kids! There are so many little stories and amazing moments we've had with them, I can't wait to share more when I get home. It's hard enough to express these experiences in person, let alone over the internet.
Sunday morning was the service at Hot Springs. RA preached and did wonderfully as always. Before the official service, there was a sort of Sunday School time and George spoke on Faith. During communion, I played a song on guitar while the three of us sang... we basically ran the show!
After church I was driven back to Doi Saket to spend some time shadowing Ashley while the other two stay at Hot Springs. It's been a great experience for me to see what the life of an intern is like. Today there are some people from Campus Crusade who have come to do an English Camp for the week. So much fun. I head back to Hot Springs tonight (not really sure how I'm getting back...but even if we had a plan, it would change!) and we'll spend one more day at Hot Springs before heading back to the Guest House for a day. I know I won't want to leave our kids, but a day at the guest house will help prepare us for the flight/transition back home.
Sorry if this post seems long... I still feel like I've left so much out! But it's lunch time here, so I need to be off. I hope this post is coherent. If it's not, I blame it on the cold.
Thanks again to all of you back home for your continued encouragement and prayers. We definitely would not be here without you!
Starr....sooooooo wonderful to hear from you!!!!! I can appreciate your aversion to the blackberry...I can't believe you typed so much!!! Your thumbs must be raw...ha,ha.
ReplyDeleteThankful that this is a "full" experience for you as well.
Juanita