This past week has been a full one to say the least!
Every year, the ministry we are partnered with (Sending Hope International) hosts a camp called “Trail to Life”. Kids from the hill tribes are invited to come stay here for a week to play games, learn survival skills, and learn about Jesus Christ. As someone who was saved at summer camp myself, I was beyond excited for this. Camp ministry is so incredibly powerful, and seeing kids coming to know Christ at camp always brings me so much joy because it reminds me of my seventh grade self. I got to be in charge of points and sports for the week, which was an awesome way to get to know the kids that came from the hill tribes. I also got to witness one of our girls here accept Jesus as her savior as well as one of the older boys from the tribes, which was absolutely amazing! On top of that, worship during the week was like nothing I’ve experienced before. There is no way to explain the emotions I experienced listening to all the children worship in a different language other than how powerful the Holy Spirit is. It fills and floods us no matter the time, place, or language, and that never ceases to amaze me.
After camp, a lot of our girls left to go home. They are on school break, so most of them go see some sort of family for two weeks. Seeing them leave was hard. My team, the kids, and myself were all bawling when it came time to say goodbyes. While it was hard, it’s a wonderful feeling to know Jesus has given me the power to love and invest in these girls enough to make saying goodbye so hard. The connections I made with them are ones that I could never ever forget. My heart aches to know that they don’t all have safe home situations to return to, but I’ve been comforted in the fact that our Lord doesn’t make mistakes, and He doesn’t forsake us. He knew all of them would go see family, and He knows just how to keep them safe.
With them gone, our ministry for the next two weeks looks different than it did for the last 1.5 months we’ve been in Thailand. We are still staying at the orphanage and spending time with the staff and a few of the girls who didn’t go home, but we are seeking other opportunities as well. We are going to do outreach in local villages as well as paint the girls’ rooms for when they get back. It’s going to be difficult to not be greeted with 50 good morning hugs, but I’m excited for what this last leg holds!
Finally, this past weekend, we got to celebrate Songkran! Songkran is the Thai New Year’s celebration, and it is now year 2563 here! We went into Chiang Rai to celebrate with the locals, which was one of the coolest things I’ve ever experienced. To celebrate, the whole city turns into a big water fight. People line the streets with water guns, buckets of water, and hoses. Everyone throws it onto passing cars or anyone walking by. My team and I were completely DRENCHED by the end of it. A few locals let us take over their water station for a while, so we had a lot of fun with it. When we got home SEVEN hours later, my clothes were still wet. It’s safe to say I have a new favorite holiday.
Prayers Requests:
– safety for the girls as they are back seeing family for a couple weeks
– the ability to finish strong and not grow weary of doing good while on the last leg of this trip
I cannot believe in just two weeks I’ll be back in my own bed! Time here has gone faster than I ever thought possible, and I refuse to take even a second for granted.
