We had a great team to Thailand. It was a long trip and a hot one. Officially it was the hottest weather they had seen since the 1950’s, and I’d believe it. Several of us started in Singapore. I spoke at the missions conference for a church in Singapore and we got to visit a missionary family that we love dearly. From there, we hopped over to Thailand and began building a playground.

With the help of Kids Around The World, the playground was disassembled in the States and shipped over to Thailand. We got to put the puzzle back together. As far as we know, it is the largest playground in the province, definitely in the village. As we were building it, many families would stop by to check on the progress in anticipation. It is going to be a great tool to help engage the community and bring families to the church. As we were trying to not die of a heat stroke, the other half of the team was leading a VBS and engaging the kids directly. It was great to watch the impact they had on these kids and see them teaching the Bible.

We had a fun surprise as part of the trip, we got to help distribute Operation Christmas Child boxes to Thai children on the Saturday after the kids club. They loved it. We had a huge dedication for the playground and it was immediately swarmed with kids. They show up before the sun comes up and don’t leave until it is dark, even now.

Next we traveled to northern Thailand to work with the Lahu tribe in one of their villages. MANNA is working to start a project in that village to help tutor the kids and give them a chance to break the cycle of poverty. We put on a VBS in the village and had time to fellowship with the church with a large cookout. They taught us a traditional dance and we made a lot of great friends. The really wonderful part came a week later when we found out 4 people accepted Christ as their savior after we left and 6 were baptized last weekend. If you ever wonder whether or not short term missions have an eternal impact, they do!

Thank you so much for your support for our family. We head out next week for 75 days as we work to minister in Romania, Greece, Thailand, Japan and Vietnam. We appreciate your prayers and look forward to updating you on our travels.