Manistry month is upon us this month. Its finally here. Month Seven. Manistry month is a month where all the guys on the squad come together and do ministry, life, without any of the girls of the squad around. This is a month to connect as man and do manly things. Like eat meat and watch action movies. (Okay we really didn’t do much of that but we still got to do life without the women)
Thailand, a place where there is 7 Elevens, McDonalds, and a lot of western influence all around you. By the way 7 Elevens are so much better in Thailand than in the states. We were in the north part of Thailand in a city called Chaing Mia. Thailand still has a king in power. The people of the country love their king. The country is mostly Buddhist. It is a place where you will find temples, tigers (you can pet), and elephants (you can ride). I didn’t get to see them however; I did go to a cat café! That was pretty awesome!!
Are ministry for the month was at a home for HIV/AIDs effected children called Nikki’s Place Agape Home. There were about 100 children there either, effected physically by HIV/AIDs or have been given up because their parents had the disease and had passed away. There were children from babies/inflates to children that were in their last years of high school. A lot of the younger children were not affected physically by the disease though, and can be adopted. The home started in May of 1996 and has grown to an extraordinary place for children to find a home.
While there we got to help out with various things. We moved so building materials and trash to a different location so that they could use the area. We helped make a stone boarder so that dirt wouldn’t get tracked into the building as much, then ripped it back up to pour cement.
Oh I forgot to tell you a little bit about our host for the month. Her name was Avis. This lady was by far the most energetic, passionate, driven, extraordinary, crazy (I mean that with the upmost respect) lady I have ever met in my life. She came to Thailand many years back to help aid in the after math of a war and fell in love with the people here. Especially a small child affected by HIV/AIDs; her name is Nikki. Hence the name of the home. She went through so much to adopt her now daughter. You can read about her and the story of the home here Nikki’s Place. If you get a chance to go here and meet her do it. God will provide you with an incredible woman that you can call a friend and learn so much from.
Okay back to what we got to be a part of for the month. So we helped our concrete. We are by no means concrete layers however we helped out as much as we could. We also helped move their sewing room that was held in their main building to a new multi-purpose building where they train the girls and boys how to sew, cook, and other various things so that when they move out they will have a skill that they can use to provide for themselves. We did a lot of other manly things like sew and tread string through bags. Most of us learned how to sort of use a sewing machine, but don’t ask me to sew because I only know how to push the foot pedal down and cut the string. These were pencil bags made for Samaritans Purse in Australia. We also got to spend some time hanging out with the little children and some of the workers there.
While on our off days we explore the city along with some of the adventurous things Chaing Mia could offer. Okay we did not do much however I got to climb up a waterfall that was made of limestone. It was incredible. The things that we got to see and do there I would never take back. Defiantly one of my favorite places to go.
At the end of the month we were scheduled to have another debrief in Phuket. So we left a day before to go explore Bangkok. What an awesome city. Than we headed down to Phuket. They have some of the most beautiful beaches in the world. We got to explore by boat Phi Phi Islands. Wow!! God is an amazing artist. I also got to go snorkeling for the first time ever. I will be doing that again hopefully in my life. This was the last debrief we had till our final debrief right before we go home.
Thailand was a very interesting time to relate with the guys of the squad however; I would say we all missed the girls a little bit. We grew, laughed, sweated, and had a great time in Thailand. Here’s to Manistry month.
Here’s a video about Agape Home. Its sort of long, but its a really good picture of what God is doing there!!
