After more than 70 hours of travel and some cultural training my team (Haden, Jake, Anna, Michaela andAfter more than 70 hours of travel and some cultural training my team (Haden, Jake, Anna, Michaela and I) arrived in Chaiprakarn, Thailand, a mountian town mere miles from the Northern Burmese border. (Us talking to our translator... "So how far away is Burma?" wondering how many hours drive... "You see that mountain right there... that's Burma") We are living at an orphanage called 'Sila Home.' Sila Home houses 41 youth ages 7-19. Not all of them are truely orphaned, but were abandoned or in situations that made them vulnerable to sex traffickers or drug abuse. They are, seriously, all beautiful.

After more than 70 hours of travel and some cultural training my team (Haden, Jake, Anna, Michaela and I) arrived in Chaiprakarn, Thailand, a mountian town mere miles from the Northern Burmese border. (Us talking to our translator... "So how far away is Burma?" wondering how many hours drive... "You see that mountain right there... that's Burma") We are living at an orphanage called 'Sila Home.' Sila Home houses 41 youth ages 7-19. Not all of them are truely orphaned, but were abandoned or in situations that made them vulnerable to sex traffickers or drug abuse. They are, seriously, all beautiful.

The property is also home to a small church that draws a handful of people from a vast area to a Sunday morning service, but despite the church's small size, the evidence of Christianity here is uncomparable to any environment I have experienced. The kids all get up at 5 am every morning to worship and pray before school. Some evenings they gather together to pray over the land that they aspire to build another church on. The kids diligently do chores and homework, but also love to play sports and games. 

 

Our schedule includes planning nightly games for the kids, helping build the new church and teaching english at two different schools. We want to pour as much love into these youth as we can because truely, they are missionaries in their schools and they are the ones who will impact this city. Our methods of evangelism will be very different than in Nicaragua, because although legal, Christianity is not well accepted. However, we know that God has put us in this place with purpose and that oppurtunities for sharing God's love and growing will arise. For example we are helping to prepare for a Christmas service that more than 500 Buddhists attended last year! 

 

Some great memories so far:

-going to Bangkok markets and seeing the floodwaters

-organizing a dance party for the kids

-mustering up joyful hearts to mow the lawn with garden hoes

-teaching english to 1st-3rd graders

-getting to spend time with my new team

-worshipping and praying with the kids

-trying to explain a game to 110 hyper 7 year old Thai kids at the school

I have been trying all week to upload photos, but the internet connection is not good enough. I will try to post photos on facebook today, please check there.

-helping to build the new church I) arrived in Chaiprakarn, Thailand, a mountian town mere miles from the Northern Burmese border. (Us talking to our translator... "So how far away is Burma?" wondering how many hours drive... "You see that mountain right there... that's Burma") We are living at an orphanage called 'Sila Home.' Sila Home houses 41 youth ages 7-19. Not all of them are truely orphaned, but were abandoned or in situations that made them vulnerable to sex traffickers or drug abuse. They are, seriously, all beautiful.

The property is also home to a small church that draws a handful of people from a vast area to a Sunday morning service, but despite the church's small size, the evidence of Christianity here is uncomparable to any environment I have experienced. The kids all get up at 5 am every morning to worship and pray before school. Some evenings they gather together to pray over the land that they aspire to build another church on. The kids diligently do chores and homework, but also love to play sports and games. 

Our schedule includes planning nightly games for the kids, helping build the new church and teaching english at two different schools. In Thailand our methods of evangelism will be very different than in Nicaragua, because although legal, Christianity is not well accepted. However, we know that God has put us in this place with purpose and that oppurtunities for sharing God's love and growing will arise. 

Some great memories so far:

-going to Bangkok markets and seeing the floodwaters

-organizing a dance party for the kids

-mustering up joyful hearts to mow the lawn with garden hoes

-teaching english to 1st-3rd graders

-getting to spend time with my new team

-worshipping and praying with the kids

-trying to explain a game to 110 hyper 7 year old Thai kids at the school

-helping to build the new church