After debrief, my team left our squad, and went to a village about an hour and a half away called Chiang Dao. It’s great to get away from the city and the rest of our squad. It is kind of crazy that the leadership sent us teenage guys out to nowhere. My goal for the next two weeks is for our guys to build unity and point each other to the Lord.
We are right by a giant mountain with small ones surrounding our village. We are surrounded by mountain ranges, most of them small but there is one very large one that dwarfs the others (Doi Luang is the big mountain). The host home we live at is called Fountain of Hope, a children’s home. It isn’t a orphanage because it is not under the government’s provision, but the host family is waiting to get approval to become a foundation. The home has a little courtyard, with enough rooms for fourteen children to live in.
I thought it might be cooler than Chiang Mai because it is by mountains. I expected the weather to be cooler due to the mountains surrounding Chiang Dao, I was wrong. It’s extremely hot and humid in the village. The mornings and evenings are not as bad, usually cloudy and cool. There’s no A/C, but we do have fans at night that are a lifesaver.
Our ministry for the next two week is real manual labor, it was cutting down bamboo with machete, and digging holes with shovels. Our ministry host has around two acres of land for their new home they are going to build, since the one they live in right now is a rental. We have to cut down bamboo and dig holes for the fence line around the new property. It looks easy, but it’s not. We found out that we are all sensitive to bamboo for some reason it was very itchy. Another thing that is challenging is that we have to wake up at 5:30 in the morning every single day. This village took my comfort zone to a new level.
Now I know this is what life on the field is really like. It pushes me out of my comfort zone a lot, with bug bites that itch for like three days, and our wonderful squatties. But those wonderful children’s smiles changed everything. The smiles that are in the kid’s faces bring happiness to all of our teammates. The delicious home cooked meals the children prepare for us are sooooooo good. Our host family is so kind and welcoming, they made us bamboo cups, took us to a village thanksgiving, and fishing in a rushing river. God has blessed us to live with all these children, and we’re making the most of the time we have here. Knowing God gave us this opportunity to love these children and steward what He has given us well helps make the entire experience worth it.
