It’s nearly 5am here in Thailand and I just finished packing up so I figured I’d shoot off a quick blog to let you know how we finished our month in Thailand. We’ll be leaving in a few hours for Cambodia.
Once we returned from the Drop in Center in Mae Sai we came back to Chiang Mai for a day before heading 3 1/2 hours away to a Karen village near Mae Sariang. While in the village we stayed with Ray & Candace’s ministry partner’s Willapong & Nettapong (sp?). They are such an amazing couple and we all really enjoyed working with them. Willapong had a vision from God of 20,000 children in his area praising God. He has an amazing heart and has opened his home to 3 young men now and hopes to have 18 boys living with him soon. He disciples the boys, helps them with schools, and creates a safe place for them to live. This man has such joy and you can see it spreading to those around him! We went to 3 different schools to share about God. We were also able to share at a youth group to about 300 13-18 year olds. We also had the privilege to attend a church service in one of the Karen villages. Altho we could not understand a word that they were saying it was a great experience.
We were supposed to head down the river next to stay in a village that is on the border of Bu-rma but our plans had to change for safety reasons because of multiple gun shots that were heard across the river. Please keep this village & the villages in Bur-ma in your prayers. Since we weren’t able to go to that village we were able to work with Willapongs’ sister Ruppee and her husband. Along with Ray & Candace they have purchased land, called ‘the Promise Land’, which will be the future site of a children’s home. We spent a day and a half clearing land so they can build a fence around the property. Theft of fruit/veggies on their land is a problem so this was a priority.
After working on the Promise Land Ray gave us the opportunity to climb down to a cave. A few of us on my team had expressed to Ray that we wanted to be baptised and he said this was a great opportunity to do so. I was baptised as a baby but after accepting Christ into my life again in college I have wanted to be baptised as an adult. We were told that it was one of the most beautiful places in Thailand, and let me tell you…it was! This is a day that I will never forget. I am now cleansed of my past and it feels great!
This month has been super busy but I’m excited to see what God has in store for us this next month. If you want to learn more about our amazing contacts here in Thailand go to www.outpourmovement.com I have a video that I’ve created with pictures from this month that I’ll post as soon as we get internet again, along with another blog. (Sorry for lack of photos, internet is slow, more to come in my video)
Cambodia:
I’m not exactly sure what our ministry looks like in Cambodia but we do know that we’ll be located in Phenom Phen. We’ve been told that we could be putting on Vacation Bible Schools, teaching English, leading sport camps, preaching, and evanglizing. Here goes month 2!
Thanks for all your continued prayers & support!
