I want to begin by apologizing for how late this is. I wrote this after we left for Malaysia and did’t have a great opportunity to post it until now. I would like to start with a little background on who we worked with. The ministry we had the privilege of doing in Thailand was centered around children that were at risk for or actually had been trafficked in sex tourism. The ministry we worked with was called Abba House. Abba house was home to about 20 girls ranging from age 6-18, who were at risk for being trafficked due to extreme poverty and/or an unstable home life. The ministry also works with 4 boys who were at one time working the streets and trafficked. Those boys are 15-25 years old. Abba House has plans to take in 6 more boys who are all under 10 years old who were in the same situation. All the girls live on the Abba House campus. They go to school, are well fed, and live in a healthy community with one another. The boys also live together off site on a farm about 10 minutes away.
We did several different things with the girls and boys of Abba House. We taught English classes 5 days a week, did a daily bible study, taught music classes with the boys, and invested into personal relationships with them. The daily schedule was quite busy, especially with the girls that lived there, and since there was so many compared to our team of 6, we split up to teach different classes and different levels. We had the mornings to plan our lessons and held the classes in the afternoon and evening.
The classes that I taught were boys music, boys conversational English, and upper level girls English. I worked with my teammate Kevin for boys music. It consisted in us helping out the Music Director, Francis, where ever we were needed. Most days it was us actually singing the worship songs, while he helped to boys with there instruments, but some days we actually got to teach the boys new songs and then practice with them. That was a great experience for me personally and I gained some confidence in singing on stage and in front of people.
For boys conversational English, I worked with a guy named Bon. He was 25 and spoke English very well. We had a workbook to go through, but we also spent a lot of time just having conversation so that he could practice. The only thing he really needed to work on was pronunciation and as the weeks went on he improved greatly. I really enjoyed the one on one time I got to have with him. He shared a lot with me about himself and his story, as well as asked me numerous questions about myself and my home. He wanted to know all about me, my friends, my family, and how God was working in my life. I truly cherished the time I had with him.
The last part of ministry that I was personally involved with was teaching upper level English to 5 of the high school girls that lived at Abba House. Their names were all impressively long so each one went by a nickname. They were Bee1, Bee2, Ya, Ney, and Katie. I did ask what their real names were a few times and I couldn’t pronounce even one of them without getting a roar of laughter after I tried. All of these girls were very smart and pretty good at English. We also worked through a workbook and they were not only quick to go through it but also quick to help each other when someone was having trouble. I initiated Fun Friday’s into our class, which consisted of us just talking or playing games on Friday. They really seemed to enjoy it and I got to know each one a little better because of it.
All and all the ministry in Thailand was great. I hold the relationships that were built close to my heart and I know that I will miss them dearly. I hope that you enjoyed reading a little bit about the boy’s and girls of Abba House and ask that you keep them in your prayers. They are special young men and woman that love the Lord and have so much to offer. Be blessed, Friends.
