My hair has grown about 5 times the size since arriving in Thailand. Humidity is real, and I am from the south so I get it. It is just about 10 times stickier and oh so buggy. We took a plane, bus and taxi to get to this location so after 3 days of traveling we were pretty excited to get to our new home here in Thailand. Down a gravel road we turned in to Sending Hope International which is actually beautifully manicured piece of property in Northern Thailand. That afternoon we were about to get settled in our new “home” which is an adorable little cottage-like house that has hot water, bunk beds and even a washing machine. The team and I are certainly spoiled this month.
That night at dinner we got to meet the girls of the home. Learning 40 Thai names is no easy task! But we soon learned it would turn into 40 reasons why we love this place. These are some of the sweetest girls we have ever met, it is evident that they know and love the Lord. After dinner, they sang for us and even brought us flowers. I was already thinking to myself how hard it’s going to be to say goodbye in a month when I know this is only day one. Looking around the room with tearful eyes I suddenly noticed, by the look of my teammates, that we were all thinking the same thing. We were in love with this place, and God knew we would be.
Every day we plan a “kids camp” and it is almost more entertaining to watch my teammates get in “camp mode.”
Camp Mode: Adjective
Be willing to do anything at any moment to make a child laugh. Can be found mostly in the form of song, dance, relay races and tickle fights.
Example- Kristen was in total camp mode with her blue glitter paint today.
We rotate in stations between Bible stories, English lessons, sports and crafts every morning. In the afternoons we do a huge group activity like capture the flag or a slip-in-slide. Then we finish off every evening with a worship session and prayer. Sometimes you have to get a little creative with your resources but we seem to be enjoying every moment of being with these girls.
More recently, I have had a 10 year old, Esther, attach herself to my hip. As if I mind, she is the most intentional girl I have met. She waits for me to come and hold her hand at prayer, always makes sure I have a buddy for the worship session, waves at me in the breakfast line and gives me about 4 hugs goodnight every night.
We found out that most of these girls actually do have a home. They have parents or at least one parent in the picture. A lot of them come from divorced parents and are seen as a “curse” by culture. Any child coming from a broken marriage cannot be taken into a new marriage without bringing “bad karma” into that home. So they are seen more as a “part of life” for these mothers instead of a gift from God. As far as we have learned, every child of the 40 has another family member of some sort that they can go back to- all except my little buddy Esther. My hope and prayer is to make all these girls feel known and worthy and loved. I want them to know they are gifts and nothing less. We want them to know that they are beautiful and have a multitude of abilities that the Lord wants to bring out in them.
Goodnight from Northern Thailand
