I thought about writing a very descriptive long blog about my time in Thailand, but then I figured that was ridiculous. SO many things happened, and it cannot merely be described in words that can lead the imagination to think anything. Soooooo, I will be putting pictures to my words to give a little more insight to my life in Selaphum, Roi Et, Thailand!!
Now, let’s start with week one, shall we?
The first week we helped in the rice fields. We did everything from carrying rice from the watered fields to shaking the rice out from the bundles to bundling the empty rice hay. It was very physically exhausting but rewarding work. I learned off of what the Thai farmers did, and now have obtained very valuable life skills as well as a better work ethic. Rest is very important to the Thai people, but work is as well. They are so very dedicated and willing, when work is seen, it gets done. There’s no finish until it is all completed!
(With the mats wrapped around the rice, we could carry multiple bundles at a time to speed up the process. The rice was very heavy!) We would work hard from 9 until 12, then have wonderful homecooked lunch brought to us from our main host’s daughter, Tik. She was a wonderful cook and never left our stomach’s wanting!
This is the field where the workers cut the rice. This season was particularly flooded; meaning the machine that was usually used to cut rice was unable to work because of the water. Instead, many Thai workers were hired by our hosts to harvest the rice with their bare hands. It was a long process, but extremely fun!
This is where the rice that was shaken out of the bundles would lay to dry. After all the rice of a day’s harvest was shaken out and laid to dry, we would scoop the rice into many, many bags.
The first Sunday we were there, we got a picture with the entire church! Our hosts, the lepers from the leper colony, and friends.
The same first Sunday we did yard work in the afternoon in front of the church. We cleared out a lot of weeds and unnecessary shrubs to make the church campus look even better from the road.
The neat part was, it was a church-wide event! Our hosts announced in church that morning that this activity would take place and it was quite the event!
That week I learned the importance of manual labor and that anything could be ministry. Little did I know then, but the majority of my time in Selapum would in fact be manual labor, and I would learn that ministry for Christ is not always the parts romanticized, like door-to-door evangelism, or working in an orphanage, but even things as simple as lending a helping hand during the harvest. Rice means SO much to those in different cultures, even if we might not see it, but by looking through the eyes of a culture not our own, we can see the importance of simple things and make a difference for Christ through that.
I am still $2,658 away from my final and TOTAL goal of $13,805. I have to meet this goal of being fully funded by January 31st (that’s only 10 days away!!!!) or I will not be able to finish this wonderful journey for God’s Kingdom. Please prayerfully consider donating to keep me on the field and continue to impact His Kingdom!! Thank you all so much for your love, prayers, and support!! GOD IS AWESOME!!
P.S. Up next….. CASSAVA FARMING!!!!!! (Picture blog AND video!!)
