Today was incredible! Sweaty, but incredible. We started off with team devotions reading Acts 4. We did some discussion at the "hotel" and then finished up while we were riding to Breanna's House of Joy (BHJ). It was really neat to just converse about how God worked through the early church & how He works now, realizing he desires us to have the same boldness, humility & generous hearts as the early believers. There's something so special about getting to share with other believers - especially believers I don't know well, since I feel more able to listen without judging or prejudice (something God has been working out of me).
When we got to BHJ some of our guys started working on the patio while the other few plus us girls started playing volleyball & soccer, attempting to engage the young girls. It was a very hot day so not many were too interested. But, a few girls were dancing & listening to music, so I went over, watched a little & asked one of the house-parents to translate for me. Several of the girls were more than willing for me to teach a little ballet!! It was very fun! They even performed a dance for us that they had been working on!! So sweet :)
Lunch was delicious! I am loving Thai food even more than before I came here!! I got to chat with 2 other house parents who are native to the United States. I was so blessed to hear about their travels & where God has been using them the last 20 years.
After lunch we got to work on the patio some more. We got to sit through 20 min of POURING rain, watch & listen to thunder & lightning & thoroughly enjoyed watching some of the very young girls play in the huge puddles & sand. We got a good portion of the patio set, but did not have enough pavers or time to finish it all.
After that, Matt (former young adult pastor of the Woodland Park church where all of my group is from) took us to an amazing coffee shop. I had a Thai iced tea which was delicious & crazy cheap! Super close to the ones I get from Thai Country in McMinnville :) I feel so blessed to be slowly acclimated into this mission trip life - some are far more strenuous & tiring! I'm sure I'll be tired by the end of the week, so I'm thankful for the slow start.
On the way home, I started noticing how almost every home had a "spirit house" somewhere in front, decorated a put on a pedestal. It's sad to find that about 90% of this country is blinded & deceived into thinking that appeasing tiny gods who have no home & can't even open their own foods will gain them eternal happiness. Or actually, in Buddhisim, Nirvana is nothingness - no pain, no joy, just nothing. How does a person live their life serving something completely invisible in hopes of having such mediocrity?
It makes me very grateful to know God & look forward to His promises but also very scared & sad for this country. Satan is doing a terrible work here & he needs to be stopped. Please pray that God would go before us & prepare people, to make them ready to hear the truth & ready to question what they've been told about their powerless gods.
There's so much more I want to share! About my teammates, about Kenneth with SIM who shared about HIV & AIDS, Matt & the trafficking issue... so much to say!!! And DO! Stay tuned & maybe I can update again tomorrow :)
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