Badminton Tournament

Our English Classes have been preparing for this Badminton Tournament for a few months now. On Sunday evenings, we would meet together at the courts to practice our badminton skills. This was the perfect event to have because it opened up more relationship building time with the students. Each person was given a t-shirt for the tournament. On the actual day of the tournament they were given a partner to play with. The tournament went from 1:00pm to 5:30pm.

My Advanced English class felt they were too old to play badminton, so together they decided that we would be the cheerleaders for the tournament. The Tuesday before the tournament they looked to me for the cheers (I may be bubbly and “whoo whoo” often…but cheerleader—I have no clue how to be…lol). I was taken off guard and had no idea how to even make up cheers or a cheerleader dance. But on the spot, we had fun making up a cheer for the winners, a cheer for the losers, and three motivation cheers. On the day of the tournament, we wore our badminton shirts, with the traditional Thai cheerleader skirt and pom-poms. I laughed throughout the entire tournament because we looked like a comedy show. =) The children also got into the cheers and they took our pom-poms and ran around saying their own cheers (super cute!). After each game was over-we would do a “loser” cheer around the losers and then a “winner” cheer around the winners. See above for pictures of the top three teams.

After the tournament was over, we all went home and showered. Then we met back at the church for food, awards, games, songs, a testimony about our English school (one of the students that attend), a testimony from Chantelle (a leader with the WI team-who has a powerful testimony about how the Lord has worked miracles in her life), and fellowship with one another.

Mahatthai Work

While the team was here, half of them worked hard at Mahatthai. They helped in so many ways. One was being a light to the residents in the neighborhood. Another was their physical acts of service. And another still was the time they spent working on VBS' in two of the Mahatthai neighborhoods.

Stepping back I saw the hearts of high school team open for specific children and watching these children comfortably attach themselves to the students was absolutely wonderful.

Physically this team worked extremely hard. Not to mention they are practically doing hard labor in a sauna (it is just that hot over here)! Here is a list of what was done:
--They built two homes
--Re-painted one home
--Dug out the area in front of the Sala and put in concrete
--Sprayed for termites (that were eating away our Sala)
--Painted artistic things inside the Sala (very kid friendly...we love it!)
--Built a cabinet
--Built a sign for the neighborhood (a sign that contains government information about the neighborhood on it...the men of Mahatthai were very grateful for this assistance)
--Moved dirt to make the road more level (we have a flooding problem)
--And Cut the grass and cleaned around the this neighborhood.

The VBS' were also wonderful! The children came and enjoyed hearing about the Lord in such perfect, broken down ways; ways that these children could understand. An earlier post goes into more detail about one of these VBS'.

This team went to great lengths to be a blessing to this community. And WE just thank them for their hearts and the over and beyond work/time they put in. The lives that they have invested in have been touched. The work of Christ's hands are evident. Thank you Wisconsin Team for letting God use you as you made an God given impact here. =)

Badminton/Campus Outreach/Mahatthai Service/VBS

The team from Wisconsin has split up into two teams. One for Campus ministries and one for Mercy ministries. I started the afternoon with the campus ministry. We went and played badminton with the students. Then Julie, Jane, and I went around and built relationships with the students on campus. While we were building relationships, I we invited them to our English Fair this friday. One group, had a guitar and some bongos. So, they played some songs for us. It seemed like we had good responses from the students and many seemed eager to come to the fair. After we were on campus. We went to Mahatthai and saw the service work that the team did so far. As shown in the pictures above, they re-painted the "Sala" (our place in Mahatthai), sprayed for termites (which we are so grateful for because there are eating away at the "sala" that in a few years there would be nothing left of it if they did not spray), and painted the rest of the inside (making it kid friendly). Also, the men, worked hard at a family's home. They cleared out the piles of garbage in a corner area, leveled the dirt, and started on making a roof to add to the house. Today they finished this project (I look forward to going over there and seeing it). Then I joined in the VBS. The team had the children in four groups that rotated. Each group learned about God's love for them. God created, God loves, God forgives, and God saves where the groups. They each were told a story. On the paper plates, they drew creation...including themselves. On another they made butterflies-showing how God transforms lives. At another station they had crowns with stickers-showing them that God is King and he values them so much! And the fourth station they made binoculars that are to remind them to look to God in all circumstances (and to look to the Bible for His answers). I loved watching the children draw and write so creatively on their crafts. IT was also neat to hear them repeat what they learned in the other groups. Dave said, one child said "I am created in God's image" and it was encouraging to hear them take and remember what they were told even as they were rotating. So, together we can pray that what these children learned about the Lord, sticks in their brains and in their hearts.

Today the teams were busy at work again with many service projects and another VBS in Mahatthai 1. I spent the day in preparation mode for the rest of the week. Today, I soaked in John 15:1-17 and thought of a craft for Joy Kids on Saturday. I have half of the craft prepared and will have to finish the second half these next two days. I also spent time on my teaching English Testimony...which I will be giving tomorrow. So please pray that God's work is revealed in this testimony. I also prepared for my English Class tonight. Then I taught my English Class. IT was a good, productive day!

Tomorrow I will give my testimony, prepare for my class and work on the crafts. We will also be going on campus to hand out fliers for Friday's English Fair and invite people to come to our coffee house this evening. I will not be in attendance at the coffee house because I teach a class at the same time. Then on Thursday, we will be at Mahatthai working on Service Projects for the afternoon and then having the English Fair Friday Evening. So, please pray for the people to desire to come to the coffee house and English Fair. Pray for relationships to be built too. Also pray for the service project. That we will stay hydrated in the heat and be a light to all of the residence in Mahatthai as we serve them with love. I will post in a couple days! God Bless You and thank you for being a prayer warrior for the team. WE can feel your prayers!

Block Party

Today started out as a normal Sunday. We had Sunday School (which I missed because I was talking to my Dad on Skype for Father's Day. Happy Father's Day to all you Father's. I pray you know what an impact you have as a father =) ). Then we had Church and a church luncheon. After the Church Luncheon, the team from Wisconsin gave a presentation. They have been raising support to come out here for the past two years. So we heard about their different fundraisers. One was each person who raised a certain amount of money had to jump into Lake Michigan. Basically, people paid to see them jump in. Looking at the pictures, it had to be freezing. The people were standing on snow with shorts and tank tops on. The onlookers were in beanies, winter coats, and blankets. As I was watching the pictures and hearing the story, there was a fan blowing right above me. With this combination, my body was literally shivering (weird huh? =) ). A highlight of their presentation was a fifteen year old's testimony of God and family. She was a foster child and she was adopted by her parents. I cried in her testimony...my heart is so passionate about advocating for the children in the foster care system and the influence that Christians can have in these children's lives. Her adoption testimony was very powerful. The afternoon was spent preparing for the Block Party. We invited our neighbors over for free food and many games/crafts/face painting for the children. The goal of the evening was to be able to get to know our neighbors and break down any fears of us as a church/christians. We want to build relationships with them all! To give you a little insight, I have some pics above that show some preparation work, kids playing games, and people shots.

Today was a delight, and I met a few more of our neighbors! Tomorrow we will be doing a service project in Mahatthai 3 and then a VBS =) The Lord answered our prayers for meeting new people and breaking down barriers. Thank you Jesus! Now lets pray for safety with the service project; that we will be a light to the men, women, and children at Mahatthai; and that the children leave VBS with a deeper understanding of who Jesus is (and hopefully on a personal/relational basis they may come to know Jesus!).