16 September 2009
I’m so glad to be back in Chiang Mai. Going to Chiang Khong was a humbling, yet enriching experience for me. I got to see old friends, make new ones, and rediscovered what having a heart for the Hmong people was about. I arrived there on a Saturday afternoon around 3pm. When I got there, everyone was getting ready to go clean a church that Phii Somboon is going to open up next week. I wasn’t really tired from my 8-hr. trip (yes! It was 8 hours but I couldn’t sleep) so I decided to go with them and help out a bit. The place, in my opinion, was extremely dirty! The floors as well as all the windows were covered in a film of dust. Nonetheless, the kids rolled up their sleeves and leggings and went to work immediately—sweeping and mopping the floors as well as wiping all the windows.
“I wonder how long ago this place was occupied?” I asked Phii Susan. “It just seems so dirty.”
“Oh, it’s always like this,” she replied. “When the people move out, they don’t clean it. The next person who comes in cleans it.”
Ugh! What a burden! I thought to myself. Nevertheless, it was a great way for me to get to know the kids that attended the hostels for the foundation. We often struck up conversation while doing our work. These kids are very hard-working…and they had so many questions about the Hmong people in the States! I was glad to be able to share with them the little that I knew.
The next day was Sunday. They held their own church service in the boys’ hostel around 9:30 in the morning. Songs of praise and worship were sung, thanksgiving was made, and special testimonies were given. Phii Somboon led the sermon, more praise and worship followed afterwards along with an opportunity for prayer requests. And finally, after the closing prayer, everyone went off to lunch.
After lunch was over, I joined the girls on their trip to witness and evangelize to a Hmong village about 30 minutes away. We left around 1pm and came back around four. The time spent there was truly an encouraging one for me. It was a time filled with games, Bible story-telling, and verse memorization. At the end, all the kids were given qho nohm (snacks) for participating. Even after all the girls rounded up in the van to leave, the kids gathered around the van and wouldn’t return to their homes until the van left. I saw at least one girl with what seemed like white powder in her hair. I thought it was just baby powder but was told that she had lice. All the small children had extremely dirty clothes and almost no shoes. It had been raining that day also so there was a lot of mud everywhere—it didn’t seem like they cared though! It must be something they are used to.
Coming back, I had a meeting with Phii Somboon, then afterwards, dinner at a Mexican restaurant with Phii Susan while the guys played sports. It was so nice to have something different from Thai food for a change! At the hostels that night, the guys and girls would have their own Bible readings for 30 minutes. Then, it’s off to bed.
The next morning is followed by devotions at 5:45 and breakfast at 6:30. They then get ready for school, come back, do their homework, learn English from Phii Susan if it’s not finals’ week, have a little time for worship and Bible reading, and off to bed to repeat the same routine for the next day (according to my knowledge).
It was wonderful to see all that was going on as well as to hear about how the lives of these kids were being transformed through the love of Christ. They are accepted into the hostels because of their desire to know Christ and grow in their relationship with Him. I am greatly encouraged to see them sing whole-heartedly unto the Lord.
As for now, the Bible Training Center has been closed due to a lack of funding. I was also greatly encouraged by what they were doing last year when I visited and, if it is pleasing to God, I would like to help get that started up again. It is astonishing how much need there is for bold leaders who are willing to do God’s work in the surrounding countries of Thailand. Because they do not have the opportunity to learn about God’s Word and going about His work in their own communist countries, they can be given the opportunity to come to Thailand to do so. After my recent trip to Laos (and even now going through the book, The Heavenly Man, which speaks about China), God is burdening my heart more and more for the lost and unsaved who have no hope in this life-time or the next and are desperate for His Word. There is much need for divine healing and intercession on our part. Let us be faithful to the calling the Lord has given us to be His hands and feet in being “a father to the fatherless, a champion of widows,” and “voice to those who have none” (Bible verse?).
I’m so glad to be back in Chiang Mai. Going to Chiang Khong was a humbling, yet enriching experience for me. I got to see old friends, make new ones, and rediscovered what having a heart for the Hmong people was about. I arrived there on a Saturday afternoon around 3pm. When I got there, everyone was getting ready to go clean a church that Phii Somboon is going to open up next week. I wasn’t really tired from my 8-hr. trip (yes! It was 8 hours but I couldn’t sleep) so I decided to go with them and help out a bit. The place, in my opinion, was extremely dirty! The floors as well as all the windows were covered in a film of dust. Nonetheless, the kids rolled up their sleeves and leggings and went to work immediately—sweeping and mopping the floors as well as wiping all the windows.
“I wonder how long ago this place was occupied?” I asked Phii Susan. “It just seems so dirty.”
“Oh, it’s always like this,” she replied. “When the people move out, they don’t clean it. The next person who comes in cleans it.”
Ugh! What a burden! I thought to myself. Nevertheless, it was a great way for me to get to know the kids that attended the hostels for the foundation. We often struck up conversation while doing our work. These kids are very hard-working…and they had so many questions about the Hmong people in the States! I was glad to be able to share with them the little that I knew.
The next day was Sunday. They held their own church service in the boys’ hostel around 9:30 in the morning. Songs of praise and worship were sung, thanksgiving was made, and special testimonies were given. Phii Somboon led the sermon, more praise and worship followed afterwards along with an opportunity for prayer requests. And finally, after the closing prayer, everyone went off to lunch.
After lunch was over, I joined the girls on their trip to witness and evangelize to a Hmong village about 30 minutes away. We left around 1pm and came back around four. The time spent there was truly an encouraging one for me. It was a time filled with games, Bible story-telling, and verse memorization. At the end, all the kids were given qho nohm (snacks) for participating. Even after all the girls rounded up in the van to leave, the kids gathered around the van and wouldn’t return to their homes until the van left. I saw at least one girl with what seemed like white powder in her hair. I thought it was just baby powder but was told that she had lice. All the small children had extremely dirty clothes and almost no shoes. It had been raining that day also so there was a lot of mud everywhere—it didn’t seem like they cared though! It must be something they are used to.
Coming back, I had a meeting with Phii Somboon, then afterwards, dinner at a Mexican restaurant with Phii Susan while the guys played sports. It was so nice to have something different from Thai food for a change! At the hostels that night, the guys and girls would have their own Bible readings for 30 minutes. Then, it’s off to bed.
The next morning is followed by devotions at 5:45 and breakfast at 6:30. They then get ready for school, come back, do their homework, learn English from Phii Susan if it’s not finals’ week, have a little time for worship and Bible reading, and off to bed to repeat the same routine for the next day (according to my knowledge).
It was wonderful to see all that was going on as well as to hear about how the lives of these kids were being transformed through the love of Christ. They are accepted into the hostels because of their desire to know Christ and grow in their relationship with Him. I am greatly encouraged to see them sing whole-heartedly unto the Lord.
As for now, the Bible Training Center has been closed due to a lack of funding. I was also greatly encouraged by what they were doing last year when I visited and, if it is pleasing to God, I would like to help get that started up again. It is astonishing how much need there is for bold leaders who are willing to do God’s work in the surrounding countries of Thailand. Because they do not have the opportunity to learn about God’s Word and going about His work in their own communist countries, they can be given the opportunity to come to Thailand to do so. After my recent trip to Laos (and even now going through the book, The Heavenly Man, which speaks about China), God is burdening my heart more and more for the lost and unsaved who have no hope in this life-time or the next and are desperate for His Word. There is much need for divine healing and intercession on our part. Let us be faithful to the calling the Lord has given us to be His hands and feet in being “a father to the fatherless, a champion of widows,” and “voice to those who have none” (Bible verse?).
