This past week, my team and I got to run an English camp at a remote mountain village school. There were around 50 kids there, and for many of them, this was the first time they had ever seen or interacted with a farang (aka ‘foreigner’). It goes without saying that I felt very unqualified to teach a group of Thai students English. I graduated with a degree in Psychology for goodness sake!
When God said that He is glorified in our weaknesses, He was not lying. These three days of ministry ended up being some of the most fun, the most tiring, and the most rewarding days of my life so far. I am confident that many, many seeds were planted, and that God will continue to water and tend to them long after we are gone. I’m thankful that we serve a King who is too detail oriented to let any of our interactions go to waste. I declare in faith that I will see each and every single one of these sweet souls in heaven someday!
Here are some photos; hope you enjoy!
The team drinking our morning coffee while listening to the headmaster describe a song about a Thai woman who married an English man. I think it’s safe to say that India & Taylor’s faces confirm that this is probably the most interesting man we will ever meet in our lives. Lungchai, one year, two years, five years, one hundred years–we will think to you!!
Hua, one of our trusty translators, helping us lead some worship songs for the kids. We taught them ‘Jesus loves me’ & the ‘Hippopotamus’ song. God can use the smallest things to draw people to Him. Praying that the simple phrases in these songs will find their way into these sweet hearts & change them forever.
Meti, one of the eight students that our host sponsors the education of, was one of the students in my group! She is so smart & picked up on the English we were teaching so quickly. On the last day, she handed me a box with a stuffed animal in it as a gift! She told us that she was thankful that we came to her school & sacrificed our time to be with her and her friends. We assured her that it was no sacrifice at all, and that we were so grateful for the opportunity to be with the students!
Pull out a camera & everyone becomes a model!! These kids were such good listeners even thought it was hot & humid outside.
“Be a teacher,” they said. “It will be hard,” they said. One of the afternoons the kids took us to a waterfall in their backyard. We had to hike almost a mile straight up a rushing river. I may have been wearing a dress, and I may have slipped more than once, but the view was so worth it.
At the end of the camp, the students all gave us gifts as a ‘thank you’. As you can see, some of them gave us their stuffed animals, others gave us picture frames with our photos inside. By far the best gift we received was some fresh fruits from the student’s home gardens. Seeing these sweet kids carrying fruit up to us will always be such a fond memory!
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