Buriram (North-East Thailand). It’s a small little place, but it’s making a
huge difference in their community. Roger and Phong Walker started the Tree of
Life orphanage over a decade ago and have joyfully become the parents to over
60 kids over the years. There are currently 14 children living at their home
and each and every one of them has stolen my heart. It has been a blessing to
meet a family so dedicated to loving orphans. I honestly can’t tell you which
kids are actually their biological sons and daughters. My heart melted when I
read that there are over 163 million kids without parents within our world, but
my hearts rejoices when I come to place like this where the children are deeply
loved and cared for. I can easily say that God has revealed to me another part
of His heart for His humanity, His love and passion for the orphaned children of
the world. And all it took for me to realize this was the warm embrace and a
kiss on the cheek from a little orphan girl… Rather I should say she was an orphan before she came here, praise God.
arrived at Tree
of Life when she was only 4 weeks old, weighing a mere 5 pounds.
Eileen’s mother was involved with a man (not Eileen’s father) when she
was born. He was not willing to care for her, so the mother called the
hospital and said that if they did not take her she would throw her in a
trashcan. Shortly thereafter, her mother contracted HIV from her new
husband after Eileen’s birth and is now dying of AIDS. Roger and Phong received a
phone call fro
m the hospital and arrived shortly thereafter to discover
that she was wrapped in a towel and had never even been bathed. Roger states that “She is the most certainly the center of attention! It
truly was love at first sight!”
their parents died of AIDS. Along with his sister Fil has been with us
nearly 8 years at this time. He is a 5th grader at the local elementary
school (Anubol Buriram). From the words of His dad (Roger), “He is photogenic, a fantastic dancer, a prime entertainer, a perfect
gentleman and a junior philosopher in the making. He is probably one of
the most considerate children you will meet anywhere.”
I’m learning to serve God passionately in the small things
and to try my best at everything He places before me. This month is definitely
one of serving. My team and I have been working around the orphanage by fixing,
cleaning, and simply spending time with the kids. We cut the grass, pulled weeds,
trimmed trees, painted, fixed a toilet and a shower, and there’s many more
projects to come. Living and serving has been simply amazing. We had the
opportunity to lead worship as a team at church this past Sunday and I was
grateful to have had the opportunity to share with them as well. For the past
week we’ve been working at a school, moving playground equipment, painting,
laying down tiles, installing doors, and heading to work on anything our hands
can get on. But, interacting with the kids trumps all! Seeing their smiles,
holding them, playing with them, and simply loving them has been the best experience
so far. I actually have one of the kids from the orphanage clinging to me right
now… We will be doing building projects and teaching English and other
schools in next week and the week after and I’m rapidly becoming a jack of all
trades.
It has been an honour to be part of the Lord’s work in
Thailand and I want to thank you all for making this possible. I’m praying for
you all.
P.S. For comical relief,
I will be writing to you in the next few days about some of my Thailand
adventures. Hint, they may involve bats, scorpions, and even elephants. I’m
constantly on critter patrol and I love it.
