Please read to the end...

 

A journal entry last night:

Praise Jesus! Thank you God that 36 kids, 6 staff and my team can completely drown out a blasting sound system singing 'Blessed Be Your Name' in two languages. That you that during our worship service all the chairs end up getting pushed to the side because our dancing knocks them over. Thank you that I when we all pray, I can feel you in that room. Thank you that at any given point, if I look behind me I see teenagers crying, literally crying out to you, undignified and unhindered. Thank you for rescuing them. Thank you that little Mai is here, dancing her heart out for You instead of in a brothel. Thank You, thank You, thank You for this beautiful place of hope and light you created. 

Amen

 

     Last night, our final one here, was the first night it had really rained since we got here, and so in the morning light was late coming over the mountains. Half an hour after it's predicted rise, sitting in the dark, I wondered if the sun would even rise at all. If at anytime in the near future the universe was going fail I wanted it to be this morning, just so I could stay here longer. Just so that all 45 of us could stay in the one big room and worship, with the chorus of their precious, heavenly Thai voices.

Oh, so sweet the chorus of these beloved

How much their cries delight the Lord

Their hearts radiate.

      I still can't get over how great this place is. The kids here love Jesus so much! And they care for each other unlike any other community I have ever seen. Our translator Ning, who will soon be the director at Sila Home is one of the wisest people I have ever met even though she is only twenty. I'm not going to be able to compose myself over the next couple hours, that's for sure. Every story here is just so beautiful. 

Abused kid wants to be a missionary when he grows up.

Mother dead, father left, and the thirteen year old who was caring for her ten year old brother submits herself completely to the Lord.

A girl who has been to bed hungry too many times to count, came here a thief and a couple years later is an example of gentleness to the younger kids.

     I haven't written too many blogs lately because I have been using my creative juices to put together a website for Sila Home. After living here for a couple weeks I sat down to think of how I could really help this place. I don't want the only difference I make to be a thousand hugs and some manual labour. To be quite honest, what Sila Home needs is money. 

     The staff are raising 38 kids with almost no income. The roof leaks, there is mold in the kitchen, the truck works sometimes. Gracious neighbours let the kids glean their fields and people in the market know the good that Sila home does, so they'll bump down the price a bit, or let them pay when they can. Despite the odds, no one ever goes to bed without without a hearty meal or stays home from school because putting gas in the car is a daily prayer. God takes favour on Sila Home day by day. However, God is calling Sila Home to expand, and the foundations are, literally, already laid. Sila Home has vision to see more children live with them, and every child is so significant! The kids here are happy, discipled, loved, educated, healthy and passionately in love with Jesus. But they come from poverty, abuse, adandon, crime and uneducated hopelessness. The best part about fundraising for Sila Home is that will not need outside support forever. They are going to buy land, farm it and make handicrafts. I have been to other orphanages in the region and seen self-suatinability work. Sila Home just needs support to set everything up and build new buildings. Please check out the website: www.silahome.weebly.com !!!

Read about the astounding ways that God has led the leadership to this place (About - History) and what they are preparing for in the future. Do they ever have vision! Even consider being a part of the answer to the prayers they all pray every morning and every night - that God would provide for them and fund the plans he has put on their hearts.

     It would be easy for me to have just spent my time playing with the kids, but I knew that I couldn't look at the fact that Sila Home needs funds, knowing that I have a ton of knowledge about how fundraising works that they don't and ignore it. I would say that most of us tend to take the easy route instead of tackling the most important things sometimes. Don't we? In the end I had a lot of fun sitting with our translator, Ning, and the director looking at expenses, pouring over the purpose and history of Sila Home and, my personal favourite, a good few hours trying to code paypal buttons in two different alphabets (we just aren't the most computed saavy people).