I have the blessing to be able to work at a place called, “Agape Home”. Agape Home is a Christ centered orphanage located in Chiang Mai, Thailand. The Agape Home provides a loving family for 100+ children aged 0-21 years. Many of the children who come to Agape, live or at risk of being HIV positive. Many of them, sadly, have already lost their parents because of AIDS and come to stay at Agape Home. Agape Home also has group homes called “Jarawee Villages” for older Agape children to live like families. If you are wondering where the word “Agape” comes from, it is a word that originated from the bible defining a love that is selfless, sacrificial, and unconditional.
A whole week has passed since I started ministry work there. Ministry work is not just characterize as preaching or bible class but also getting dirty and being a small piece of a bigger picture. I will continue to work at Agape Home for a few more weeks, as of now one weeks has passed. While there, I worked on sanding furniture, painting a clinic, playing and building relationships with people. I start off the day with leaving the hostel, that I am staying in, at 8:30 am, it is a 30-40 minute ride to Agape. Once we get there we start either sanding or painting, then we have lunch at 12:00 pm, we get done the labor work at 2:30 and at the end we get one hour and thirty minute to play with the kids. Unfortunately, the older kids are at school while we are there.
First I wanted to introduce my team, this picture was taken a few days before getting to Thailand. The members of my team are Kelsey (Team Leader), Deven, Miranda, Abby, Natasha, Grace, and Hannah.
Here I am putting primer on the walls of the clinic. I haven’t spent much time on the clinic but I am excited to keep you all updated and informed on how far we go or if we finish it.
Here I am with one of my amazing team mates, her name is Deven. We are working on sanding a table set, I believe this set will go in one of the group homes.
These are two of the many amazing children there. We get the opportunity to spend time with them, take care of them, play with them, and be there to hold them real tight. I have grown to love all the children there and know how precious they are. I have become especially attached to one little girl in particular. She took and kept my heart. She is the little angle in yellow.
I have learned so much with in last week. I learned that I may not always see the harvest but I can plant a seed of hope, love, and kindness. I also learned that I am only a piece of a much bigger picture.
I hope you all enjoy the pictures and information on what God is doing in my life. Thank you for all your support. I will try to keep you all as updated as much as I can.
