10. You’re seriously missing Team B.L.I.N.G. (Love you Kara, Shannon, and Ashley)
Some things you should know about Thailand so far…
We’re seriously in the middle of nowhere, sleeping on mats, cuddling with ants, and mastering the “squat”. While all other World Race Teams are in the cities drinking Starbucks, we’re in a Thai village that has seen very few white people and serves crickets at the lunch table. We couldn’t be more exited about the difference of our experience and are enjoying life on the RACE. J
Well, we’re staying at the base of one of the only churches that exists in this entire province. The percentage of Christians is less than 1%. Pastor and MAH, our two contacts, have experienced a lot of opposition in beginning their church here. They’ve had rocks thrown at them, received nasty hate mail, and even had someone mix a plant like poison ivy in their garden so that they would itch while going for fresh veggies.. It was rough but they’re excited about what the Lord is doing in ministry here.
Mum is the regional manager for Compassion International and has about 60 sponsored children who are under her authority. They are constantly on the grounds of the church, so this place is always busy. It’s fun. It’s strange to be linked so closely to Compassion children when I have been sponsoring one.
The church is located on the same plot of land as a government funded leper colony. Many of the children that we play with everyday are the grandchildren of the lepers. It was hard to walk back to the colony yesterday and see so many of those children running around. ((If you’re looking to sponsor a child thru Compassion, look into children in Selapume, Thailand the Issan province. J I’ve probably interacted/met/loved on most of children on the website from this area.))
Next week is a HUGE festival here in Thailand. April is their hottest month, so they counteract that by having a nationwide water fight. The 13th-15th are the official days of the water festival and I’ve been warned that “there are NO RULES.” You basically soak whomever you can, whenever you can. I have already had ice cold water poured down the back of my shirt, and tackled the little girl who did it. It was marvelous. So, pray I find a super soaker in the market tomorrow J
As for ministry, I have a blog coming on what we’ve experienced so far. Only one week but it’s been quite a journey. Easter was definitely different overseas, but there were eggs hunts and Easter baskets to make it feel like home. Easter has been such an adventure that it deserves its own blog. So, stay tuned.
Team BLINKVAH (combination of Tikvah and BLING) begin English camps and bible class this week. Should be amazing…
