Goodbye are never easy and they don’t get easier, especially when your not the one saying it. This last month and a half has been one for the books. My team and I have been staying at Sending Hope International Thailand an all girl orphanage. I can confidently say that this place has changed my life.
Love is something I don’t always struggle with but loving others deeply is. I’ve always felt that I’ve been able to love people where they were but only surface level. I never allowed myself to love deeply because I feared getting hurt, until I met the one person I traveled 12,000 miles for. Her name is May but her real name is Pawanrat Pabue. May is a 15 year old girl that lives here at the orphanage. She is the most energetic, loving, entertaining person I have ever met. Every morning I would be greeted from across the field “good morning P- Juli” and a beautiful and contagious laugh to go with it. 95% of the time we had no idea what we were trying to communicate. However, it was filled with warm hugs, belly laughs and a lot of hand signals.
A typical conversation…
May “Easter Day”
Me “yesterday?”
May “NO Easter Day”
Me “WHAT?”
May “you know Easter Day, Christmas”
Me “OoooH Easter Sunday!”
May “Yes Easter Day”
Me “ok what about it?”
May “I don’t know, I forgot.”
Me ***crying of laughter***
May was able to love me just the way I am! She taught me to worship as if there was no tomorrow. She taught me how to study the word intentionally. She knows 125 verses by heart which is very impressive compared to my 5. She motivated me to pursue the Lord with out end. Our friendships is one I will never forget.
Last week we had Trail to Life Camp. Which was the most amazing camp I’ve ever been too! We had survival classes, sports, crafts, competitions, group devotionals and night time service. On the first night of camp we had a salvation call to except Jesus in their hearts. We had two students go up John and my beautiful May.
May accepted the Lord and that filled my heart with so much joy! She told me that she knew all about the Lord but never committed her life to Him. The Lord showed me that it’s not all about head knowledge or heart knowledge. It’s both merging together and intertwining as one. I had a lot of heart knowledge and May had a lot of head knowledge. So When we came together we were able to lifted each other higher.
Without a doubt in my mind, the Lord called me to travel 12,000 miles across the world simply to met May! The Lord is good! Everyday He would show me more of Himself in those around me and within myself. Because of the sweet community He has placed me in, my team has been able to call me out and call me higher. I pray that the Lord will send me back and that I will be able to be reunited with my dear friend May.
