After LAX, Taipei, Bangkok and ChiangRai airports, and a two-hour drive by van, we've finally arrived at our ministry location. Praise God. We are in the mountains of ChiangRai, surrounded by the green trees and vegetation. It's hot and humid, and we're treated to the periodic rain.
We've lost track the total hours of travel, but by the looks of everyone, we were wiped out by 9:00pm (local time).
We're staying in the dormitories at the church, with three-four to a room. Some of the rooms have bathrooms, some don't. (Last night, the water for three of the rooms did not work. That had everyone showering and cleaning up in one bathroom. That's missions living. We should be grateful there are bathrooms!)
The church is also an orphanage to about 40 kids. We had some interaction with them but the intense heat and our jet lag limited our fun. Some of our team members led combined children and youth Sunday School today--which began at 6:3oam! It was a good time of interaction. We look forward to spending more time with them.
God is hearing our prayers, even by delivering us to our destination in ChiangRai. Continue to pray for us. We begin on Monday teaching conversational English at the Thai government school and hosting English classes at a Chinese-Thai school and at the church.
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Leftovers. The church's staff made us dinner on Saturday evening. It was a meal of rice, vegetable soup, ground pork with vegetables, and stir-fried chicken. It was a very rustic dinner, a down home meal. One table of five couldn't finish their dinner (we'd been eating all day with the airplane meals), so some orphanage children assigned to clear our tables came to take the leftovers. Before the plates could make their way into the kitchen, the children had eaten all the leftovers. We were informed later that due to very limited resources, both money and food, the children rarely eat meat. The episode reminded me of when I was young and my mom told me to appreciate what I have b/c there are people in the world who don't have what I have. For some on our team, this is their first exposure to poverty. This is their first exposure to 90% of the world.--jchow
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It hurts my soul to not be there with you all. But, I can already tell that magical things are taking place, both in all of your hearts and in the hearts of those you are ministering to. Perspectives are being shifted. Hearts are being stretched. This is what it is all about.
ReplyDeleteGodspeed, my fellow travelers. I will be with you in spirit.