greenery and large mountains. The days are warm and sunny and
we ride our bicycles everywhere we go. The King is respected
here and you can find his picture almost anywhere you turn. The
people are beautiful. Their bone structure is one to be envied
and compliments their dark almond-shaped eyes perfectly. They smile
with their hands folded in front of them for a greeting. This is
where I am spending my second month, and I can honestly say that it
is everything, and more, than I could wish for.
My team joined in with another team of
all girls while our boys went off to do some “manistry.” We total up
to 10 girls in all and we have a blast laughing, praying, eating and
ministering together. Four of the girls work at a coffee shop across from Chiang Mai University to build relationships and teach
English to the people there. Six of us (including myself) are
working during the day at Garden of Hope: a ministry for at-risk
children that live in the slums. It is a Christian after-school
organization that teaches children English and the love that Jesus
has for them. Honestly, when I first heard that we were going to be
working with more slum children I started crying. Through my tears I
said to God, “Okay, I’m really looking at you redeeming in my eyes
what prevention looks like for children, cause it was a really hard
month in Cambodia.” (Now, just as a disclosure, I knew this trip
would be hard, and that many tears would be shed over the injustice
of it all, however, I knew that my God could show his face through a
ministry to little ones, and that it didn’t have to all look
hopeless. Praise God, he’s good and this is a redemption month for
prevention with children!)
All of the 30 children come from
abusive households. But since they have been at Garden of Hope, there have
been only two cases of abuse within the last two years. This
ministry is really seeping into the community and teaching them the
love of Jesus. Last weekend I went out into the neighborhood where the children
live and we prayed in the name of Jesus with every
parent that we met. All the families I saw believe in Jesus and
love him and teach their children in his ways. It is encouraging to see.
During the weekdays we go into
ministry and the first thing we do is pray for the upcoming day. We
teach the children a bible lesson and a memory verse, then we teach
them english. I am working with the pre-schoolers, their ages range
from 4-7 years. The girls are quiet and completely content to color
and chat the whole time, while the boys are extremely good at being
rambunctious. 🙂 It is exhausting and a joy all at the same time.
Stay tuned to hear what our team is
able to do at night! A new post about that will come soon! I love
you all, thank you so much for your prayers, comments and love. They
mean the world to me!
