Neverending Love

SAFEHOUSE

Another ministry we had was taking care of 2 3-year olds during the day. Sia, the head of compasio, had adopted 6 children off of the streets. Their parents forced them to beg so that they could bring home money. When they failed to bring home enough money, they would not be allowed to sleep at home and slept under the 7-11. Sia took them in, is giving them food and clothing, a safe place to stay, as well as an education. The 4 older ones went to school during the days, and we took care of the two youngest, Ali and Jamiyla. Our team absolutely fell in love with them, but it was heartbreaking knowing that they had been sleeping on the streets only a few weeks before. However, it was so encouraging knowing that we were making a difference in Thailand. We were loving children that had previously not recieved love.

STREET MINISTRY

My favorite ministry was one that we didn't start until the close of our stay in Mae Sot. At the end of our trip, once we had adapted to the culture and food and were ready for more projects, we began to do street ministry. During the afternoons, we went to the marketplace, found beggar children and played with them and fed them. I absolutely fell in love with three siblings: Kimboye, Nissau, and Teddi. They connected so well with our whole group. It was so obvious that they were starved for love, and were desperate for attention. But at the same time, they excuded such joy in everything they did; if it was playing hide and go seek behind cars, or giving us a back massage, they were giggling and loving us being there with them. They are very close to my heart, and I miss them dearly.

BAMBOO CLASSROOM

After we were finished with the tire playground, we began what we originally thought we would be doing: building a classroom! It was extremely hard building a classroom without modern tools and equipment. We nailed eucalyptis together, and we tied on a thatch roof on by hand, while balancing about 10 feet above the ground. We also mixed the cement by hand, which definitely made me appreciate cement mixers back in the United States! Several times during the building process, the supplies would be dumped about 200 feet from the construction sight, so we would have to carry sand and gravel by hand in buckets...a very time consuming and tiring process. Some of the kids at the school would pick up the buckets and started to help us...it was the cutest thing!

We finished building it, and we were so excited to see the blessing that we knew it would bring to the overcrowed classes and stressed teachers.