All of the churches here in Chiang Mai get together and have one big service project every month or so. This past Sunday we all went to an orphanage here in Chiang Mai. As much as I love the college ministry here, my heart is truly with children. I love playing silly games acting completely goofy and I LOVE singing all the fun kids songs! Needless to say I was very excited about going to the orphanage. It reminded me a lot of the orphanage we visited in Cambodia. All the children we so sweet, respectful but just so desperately wanting attention and love. When we first got there we all went around and introduced ourselves in Thai and then the college students led all the silly kids songs in Thai. Some of the songs we had learned but most of the time we would just follow along with the motions we knew. We then divided up into several small groups where the Thai college kids read bible stories to all the children. I was able to have some conversation with the very little Thai language I know, but it was till fun just interacting and playing with them. The ACU girls were in charge of games so we taught them how to play "Catch Her Eye" that we learned in Cambodia. It was a BIG hit once again! We also taught them this game similar to duck, duck, goose but you run with a partner that we learned in Cambodia. They loved that game too!! We had craft time for awhile and this one precious infant girl crawled into my lap. She was so precious and loved watching my camera flash when taking pictures. She sat in my lap over 20 minutes just pressing the button on my camera and taking pictures. She was just SO cute! At the end we gave all the children gift bags and then said good bye. It is always so hard to leave children after such a wonderful day. I don't think that would ever get easy! They stood on the front porch waving their little hands as we drove away. They just touch my heart in a powerful way.
That night after our usual Sunday night trip to Walking Street; Melanie, Leah and I had a sleep over with the youth group girls. I just love spending time with these girls. Sometimes I think I am better suited for working with teens and children than I am the college students, so I'm glad I get to spend time with the youth group too! We baked brownies, had ice cream, watched and sang along to the Lion King (maybe my favorite Disney movie of all time) and then watched the Wedding Date. These girls are just full of energy and so sweet to us. It was definitely a great night!
This week has been pretty laid back as usual. We have had incredible training and equipping time with Chris and David. God is continually to transform me daily and opening my mind up to new and powerful things. Our bible study of John keeps us daily in the Word, and the more I read about Jesus the more questions I seem to have. We have great discussions about His perfect timing, why He does certain things and how He always seems to do the opposite of what you might think. I have grown up hearing all of these Bible stories and about the life of Jesus but I have never studied his life so in depth. All though the study does bring up many questions, I feel the power that the Word has in my own personal life and how God is speaking to me in his own way. The training here is truly incredible and I am sad that I will have to leave soon and not have these same daily experiences.
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