So this past Tuesday was our first day starting ministry. Everyday we pile into a songthaew (type of car) and head to a orphanage which is about an hour outside of town. Arriving at the orphanage super excited to work with kids to soon find out we only get to hang out with the kids on Saturday was a bit disappointing but God has a different plan for our group right now. We have spent the past few days getting down and dirty in the garden and shaping up the area. We have been doing manual labor like mowing the grass with an old heavy mower, pulling weeds and cutting limbs off with machetes has definitely been hard but I have been able to see God working all around in the beautiful pineapple plants, giant banana trees and in the people i’m working with.
Our ministry host’s name is Bud and he is currently taking care of all the groundwork by himself. Bud is 77 years old but he moves around and has the attitude of 30 year old. He has lived in Thailand working at this orphanage for 6 years now. I feel so honored to be able to take some of the work off Bud and serve him in anyway that I can. Bud loves every single kid like his own and will do just about anything for them. He grows most of the food that the kids eat. In his garden he has banana trees, dragonfruit, coconut, pineapple, and corn. Some of the most beautiful plants I have ever seen.
On the first day Bud put me in charge of the mower which I thought would be very easy since it was part of my job this past school year. It was physically very tough because it’s not like mowers we have in the states. This one is very hard to push, its very heavy, it shoots dirt in my face and I just don’t think it likes me very much ha. Bud pointed to this one area for me to mow and so I did. I ended up mowing 6 of his pineapple plants down. I felt soooooo bad, all I could think about is the kids and how I just took away some of their food.
I was worried Bud was going to be upset but he wasn’t. Bud showed me SO MUCH grace and immediately I saw God in that. He reassured me that it was okay and we could definitely plant more. He told me I wasn’t the first person to do that and I would not be the last. Im super excited to see what work we continue to do. This week (as long as the weather cooperates) we will be mixing cement and creating slabs.
Thank you to everyone who is keeping up with my blog and continues to support me on this journey. Your support and comments mean a lot to me and put a smile on my face when I see your encouragement.
