Less then a week left here in Thailand! It breaks my heart just thinking about it. The last week has been absolutely beautiful. The girls had a five day weekend (because of a Buddhist holiday) and our team had a great time loving on and developing relationships with the girls the entire time.
Friday was the start of the five day weekend. I taught english to the girls that morning, then went into town with Peace to get medicine for my eye. We also did a little window shopping and got some fried chicken at the food market. We got home in time to have dinner and then the nightly worship service with the girls. After worship, we had everybody over to the guesthouse for movie night! We watched two episodes of Mr. Bean and I gave the girls some smarties that I brought from the USA. After the movie, the younger girls went home to bed, but the six older girls got to stay and spend the night with Anna and I as a reward for everything they do for the orphanage. The older girls are very good about keeping up with their chores, helping out whenever there's a need, taking care of the younger kids, doing laundry and helping with meals. Anna and I really enjoyed having a girls night with them, saying thank you for everything they do here. We played UNO, Twister and Fruit Ninja (yes, that's a game on my cell phone.... but they loved it! Haha!)
On Saturday, we taught english again to the girls and played UNO after class. Who knew UNO would be such a hit? We played it all morning until I had to take the cards away so they would eat lunch! After lunch, the girls had a nap and our team had some time to journal and dig into the word. When the girls got up, Anna and I played a game with them (Steal The Bacon.) Once we wrapped up game time, it was already dusk and Pastor Dave decided that we'd have another campfire! I gave them all glowsticks, which they loved waving in the air and wearing as bracelets. We had a worship time around the campfire and the girls performed a few dances to worship songs that they rehearsed. At the end of the night, we gave hugs and kisses, then the girls headed off to bed.
On Sunday, the girls wore their tribal dresses to church! They were absolutely beautiful! Anna and I played a couple songs, then I gave my testimony to the girls. I was a bit nervous before hand, but I wasn't nervous at all while giving it. In fact, I really felt a peace about it and the girls really enjoyed hearing about how I came to know Christ. That afternoon, some family friends of ours who are missionaries in India came to visit me here at the orphanage. They happened to be visiting Thailand the same time as me. We had a great time of fellowship together for a few hours before they had to head back up into Chiang Mai. Later in the afternoon I gave the girls spinning tops, which they had a lot of fun with! That evening the girls did scripture sword drills before worship. After worship I gave thirty more sweaty kisses and hugs before everyone went to bed for the night.
On Monday morning, Anna and I decided to combine our english classes and play some english games with the girls instead. We played Steal the Bacon, but used english fruit titles instead of numbers. We also taught our classes how to play Red Light Green Light, which was by far the favorite game of the month so far! After dismissing our classes, we ate lunch and then the girls settled down for nap time. Once the girls were up and awake, we surprised them by taking them out swimming again! They were thrilled. It ended up raining while we were swimming (but no thunder,) which was actually really fun! I taught two of the girls (Nonylee and Lee) how to back flip. After swimming, our team went into town with Peace for an authentic Thai dinner, which was delicious! Later that day Anna and I brushed up on our kickball skills and taught the girls how to play. We ended the day with the nightly worship service and then team bible study.
On Tuesday, we taught english to the girls, then made Faith Necklaces that were donated to the orphanage from a family that goes to my church. Faith Necklaces are necklaces that explain the process of salvation based off of the color of the beads in the necklace (example: the red bead stands for Jesus' blood when he died for our sins and the white bead stands for our purity in Christ when we accept his gift of forgiveness.) While making the necklaces, I had the opportunity to share the gospel with all of the girls. They all were wide-eyed and listening to me with enthusiasm. I told them that they could use the necklaces as conversation starters to share the gospel with their friends and they were all very excited about the idea. After making the necklaces, we all gathered together and dedicated one of the buildings here to Dave Atkins' mentors. After a busy morning, we drove to Chiang Rai to get groceries at Big C (the Thai version of Walmart.) We ate dinner at Big C before rushing home to get back in time for the nightly worship service! Little did we know that they would be spending most of their time that night studying new songs, so we didn't miss out on much. However, we got back just in time to sing the last song with them and end the night with a game. The game was a lot like Hot Potato, but with baby powder. Whoever was holding the baby powder when the music stopped got to put baby powder on someone else's face. Of course, one of the first girls to get the powder pied me in the face! When I got the baby powder, I took the opportunity to get some good Christian revenge and pied that girl back in the face. ;) At the end of the game, Peace turned out all the lights and we all had to pie each other in the face. In one moment of utter chaos, the lights went out and all thirty of the girls attacked Anna and I with baby powder. I reached out and smeared my baby powder onto the closest victim I could find! We ended the night with powdery hugs and kisses before washing up and heading off to bed.
On Wednesday morning, I walked the girls to school. Later that morning once the rest of our team and the staff were awake, we took a rode trip to one of the Karen hill tribe villages. This was the same village that Hy (one of the staff members) was raised in. At the village, we were invited into Hy's home for corn and tea. The home was just a shack made of wood and sticks. I was afraid that I would fall through the floor (the house was elevated about five feet in the air and the floor was made of sticks.) We ended up playing some worship songs for Hy's close family and friends, which was a very powerful experience. One of the staff members, Peace, also played a couple songs for everybody. After music and tea, we went and walked around the village. A couple of the highlights were praying for an ill elderly lady, eating suspicious ice cream, meeting Hy's family and getting licked by water buffalo's. After exploring the village, we went back to Hy's home and were invited in for lunch. The lunch was an authentic Karen tribal dish that consisted of fried rice, spicy chicken, corn and eggs. After lunch, we thanked our hosts and prepared for the road trip back home. Anna and I sat in the back of the truck and had a great time of worship and prayer, reflecting on our first hill tribe experience.
Once home, Anna and I painted Za-za, Lee and Esther's toenails. We then ate dinner and played Red Light Green Light and Steal The Bacon with the girls. After games, we had our nightly worship service. This night, the worship was especially powerful. Everybody was especially energetic, doing all of the hand motions, praising God and giggling the whole way through. The girls sang so loud that our ears were throbbing! We all ended up in tears as the Holy Spirit moved through the room. It was the most intense worship experience of my life! At one point, I held Gang and Mii's hands while Earn hugged me, all of us worshiping and praising God. I leaned forward and kissed Earn's head, soaking her hair with tears. Suddenly an intense peace filled my heart. There was so much love in that room. I had to stop singing for a moment, just to breathe and soak it all in. There was no way to soak up all of the love without giving some back in return. I reached down and kissed Earn's cheeks while holding the hands beside me just a little tighter. I have absolutely no words to describe how beautiful the worship was that night. There was just so much love!
On Thursday, we started the day off by teaching english to the staff. After having some time to journal and eat lunch, Anna and I worked together to finish all of our painting jobs around the house. After two weeks of painting the guesthouse walls (and floor cement,) we finally finished! That afternoon after the girls got back from school, we taught them how to play Capture the Flag and had fun painting a few more sets of toenails. We ended the day with worship and then team bible study.
On Friday morning I got up early to walk the girls to school. This morning, I decided to let ten year old May use my camera on the way to school. She had a lot of fun taking random pictures... especially silly pictures of herself, like always. I walked to school holding Bebe's hand. She kept laughing and asking me questions like, "Hannah eat Banana?" I'd smile and say yes before she proceeded by asking, "Hannah eat Thailand?" I'd laugh and tickle her. "No, Bebe! I don't eat Thailand!" Then we both would giggle as she continued asking me silly questions all the way to school.
After walking the girls to school, Anna and I taught english to the staff. I focused on teaching them different parts of the body and different types of illnesses. After english, Joyce taught the staff how to sew again. While Joyce was teaching sewing, Anna and I started making our cards for the girls. At the end of our trip, we want to give each girl a card from each of us. We had fun starting that project yesterday and each of us finished making ten cards. After making cards and eating lunch, Anna and I washed the windows and started cleaning the grout on the front porch. Before cleaning it, the grout was a deep shade of red from all of the clay that gets tracked in from outside. It has been fun doing a job that gives instant gratification! Once the girls got home from school, we played outside with them on the swing set. After about an hour of playing outside, we headed back inside for worship.
The worship that night was great, but not nearly as powerful as the activity that proceeded it. After the worship service, the girls sat down and Pastor Dave stood up to speak. He decided to speak on John 13 from the passage where Jesus washes the disciples feet. He explained to the girls that we were about to wash their feet, just like Jesus washed the disciple's feet. After reading and discussing the passage, the girls divided into four rows, one row for each team member. The people in my row were staff member Peace, staff member Hy, then May, Natnaree, Za-za, Earn, Lee, Mimi, Samo and Natigan. The first feet I washed were Peace's feet. Peace is the leader of most activities here at the orphanage, so for her, this was an especially touching act of love and service. While washing her feet, all I could think about was just how much I had learned from Peace on this trip. The way she loves on, leads, and disciples the girls here at the orphanage is extremely inspiring. On top of her love for the kids, Peace lead me and the girls into a few of the most intimate and inspiring worship services I'd ever experienced this month. I dried her feet and hugged her before she returned back to her seat.
The next feet I washed were staff member Hy's. She was the first staff member I connected with here, being twenty years old and the closest to my age. I taught english to her everyday and got to visit her village just a few days prior. Even though I'd only known her for three weeks, we already had inside jokes and a tight friendship between us. I choked up, realizing just how much I was going to miss her.
After Peace and Hy, I began washing the girls feet. The first feet I washed were little Natigan's, followed by Lee, then Mimi, then Earn. Earn was one of the newer girls here at the orphanage, being adopted only two months ago. I looked into her innocent, smiling face and whispered, "I love you." She bowed her head, trying to hide the tears.
The next feet I washed were Za-za's. She was the first girl I connected with here at the orphanage. She'd follow me wherever I went, asking me questions and begging to use my camera at any given opportunity. We learned to use hand gestures and smiles to communicate instead of words. After Za-za, I washed Samo's feet. She is one of the most knowledgeable girls here at the orphanage. She can whiz through the alphabet faster than I can! After Samo, I washed eleven year old Natnaree's feet.
Natnaree is like a little Asian version of me. She is one of the six older girls and they all look to her for advice, though she isn't the oldest. She is very good with the children and very smart as well. When trying to speak to the girls, I've learned to get Natnaree to translate for me. She is also quite the little worship leader with a powerful little voice and very skilled on the guitar. Plus, her smile is the sweetest thing ever! Anyway, I put her feet in the bucket after she sat down and began washing. It was all I could do not to break down in tears, realizing how much I loved this little girl and how little time I had left with her. After drying her feet, I hugged her and told her that I loved her before she sat down.
The last feet I washed where May's. For the last week and a half, May and I have become especially close. She reminds me a lot of my eleven year old brother, Joshua. She's has an adorable sense of humor and the gives the sweetest hugs. During worship, I've learned to watch her to learn the hand motions. Whenever we sing a new song, she's already turned to me, giggling, with the hand motions ready. As I washed her feet, I looked up at her and she smiled bashfully, hiding back tears. It took everything in me not to cry. After drying her feet, we hugged and cried together before Pastor Dave gathered everyone together to pray and close the service. After prayer, we each gave thirty more sweaty, teary eyed kisses and said goodnight.. Peace approached me afterwards and thanked me. I immediately started crying and thanked her for being such a great role model for me on this trip. We both hugged and cried together before saying goodnight. After saying goodnight to the girls, we had team bible study and reflected on the service together. before finally heading off to bed.
The last month has been a time of tremendous spiritual growth for me. With only five days remaining, I find myself getting choked up every time I kiss a cheek and every time I hug one of them in my arms. Please pray for me, that I will be able to enjoy the remaining five days here without too many tears! I am looking forward to seeing my friends and family again, but not looking forward to leaving all of the relationships I've made here in Thailand. Please pray for safe travels, in case I don't get to update you guys again before I leave. I am hoping to send out one more update before leaving, but I am not sure if I will get to use the computer again before then! I have an eight hour layover in South Korea, so please pray that I stay safe and don't go crazy waiting in that airport! Also, thank you for all of the prayers you all have sent my way from the last updates. After getting medicine (a five day dosage) for my eye, it was completely healed within three days! Thank you guys so much!
I look forward to keeping you guys updated as the trip continues.
In His Service,
Hannah Boyd
Philippians 1:21
