An update on my THAILAND ministry!
Many of you remember me fundraising for a sweet little girl, Chosen, who we are fighting for Thai citizenship for. This would give her legal residence in Thailand, access to free education and healthcare, and so much more. Her rare heart condition makes this citizenship that much more valuable and urgent so she can receive the medical care she deserves. Keep praying! My team and I are in close contact with YWAM Ratchaburi, who is carrying on this project while we are ministering in Zambia. They are in search her parents currently to get some necessary signatures. Pray that they will track them down so Chosen can walk into her new season of life. We believe where there is God’s will, there is a way! Here is a very recent photo of Chosen! She is the little peanut in the stripes next to the girl in the red pants (whose name is “I Love You”. Cute, right?).
Three of my teammates and I fundraised for Chosen, while the others fundraised for our dear friend, Mongkhon, and our neighbors! Mongkhon became a Christian after hearing about Jesus through YWAM Ratchaburi in prison. He began attending their intensive discipleship training school prior to his release. Once released from prison, he went on to work full time with YWAM Ratchaburi. He is one of the most kind, gentle, caring people I have ever met. Mongkhon served us the entire time we were in Thailand, driving us to ministry, joining us at all of our Christmas parties, constantly surprising us with delicious Thai meals, and more! We were praying for a way to show Mongkhon our appreciation for all of his hard work and love he invested in our team. Like most missionaries, Mongkhon makes very little money, especially with his lack of support base. He has very bad eyes and had an outdated prescription for his glasses. The frames of his glasses were taped together on both sides, as they had broken and he did not have the funds to fix them. We raised funds for an eye appointment and a brand new pair of spectacles. And GUESS WHAT?! We raised the EXACT amount we needed to pay for an appointment and purchase the new glasses. (GOD!) We weren’t able to set up the appointment before we left for Zambia, so we asked YWAM Ratchaburi to keep us updated. I just received photos of MK in his new glasses! LOOK how handsome! And his smile. It’s so fun to bless God’s people.
The other half of the fundraising my teammates rallied together was to serve our neighbors, who cooked for us usually twice a day! They have a small “restaurant” on the first floor of their house where they cook for many people in the neighborhood from early in the morning until late at night. We made great friends with them and they soon started surprising us with different Thai fruits almost every time we went to eat! We walked their dog, Omo, and always got friendly smiles upon passing their home. We noticed their restaurant was becoming pretty worn and dilapidated. The paint on the walls was more yellow than white and had peeled almost entirely in many places. They had old, torn plastic tablecloths on their tables and to be frank, they just needed some updates really bad! We decided this was the perfect way to bless them. We asked them if after close one night, we could work into early in the morning to spice up their home! Here are the results! The whole inside was painted orange and we found beautiful new floral table cloths for an extra touch 🙂 The wife is Puu, and the husband, Vit. Afterwards we were able to have breakfast with them and tell them all about Jesus! This was a really cool opportunity in this largely Buddhist culture.
Puu, Vit, and the team after a hard night’s work and a little TLC!
I hope this blog encourages those of you who are such faithful givers to the kingdom! Your support of ME has allowed me to come into contact with these people and your support for these projects have blessed some really incredible people in the name of Jesus. I will continue updating on Chosen as I receive updates! 4 more weeks in Zambia for me. Then HOME. Wow. How time flies. I love all of you.
