What a great way to spend Father’s Day, with my family in Thailand! We are in Mae Sot, Thailand and have been able to spend the day at church with the children at our orphanage. Now we are at a soccer game between our soccer team and a Chinese church.
Had another great day in Panama. Worked on more inning and leaking tanks, more ceilings and tile was done by the group too. We got to visit one of the villages where we have a feeding center too. Here are some pics of the day.
Got to see several places in Bangkok today that I have never seen. It amazes me how Bangkok is a city of extremes. Extreme poverty and extreme wealth. Extremes in religion and in many other areas. These photos were all taken in relative close proximity to each other, yet are worlds apart.
The airplane I was flying back from Nepal on had a camera mounted that allowed me to watch what we were flying over from the screen on the seat back in front of me. As we flew over small villages and individual homes in remote areas the Lord showed me the great need. The people in those homes have children just like I do. They love them just like I love mine. They are just as important as I am. Why am I blessed and fortunate enough to have had the gospel shared with me? Who will help them? When their father dies who will hold their hand and pray with them? I am so thankful there are people like Rob and Grace Robideau and Kevin and Cynthia Weldon for giving up everything and coming to Nepal to love them as I have been loved. Our time was short, but impactful. Thank you to FliteTest for investing in lives half way around the world and for Lee Kachner for taking the time, and physical challenge, to travel half way around the world to make a difference in the lives of people you don’t even know. Here are pictures of the land and the need:
Wow! What amazing things can happen in 24 hours. As you know, we flew down to Cambodia for a day because we were stranded in Bangkok and had an open door. It was amazing. We got to meet with a lot of kids and adults. Cory shared with them what we do at MANNA and why we do it. This allowed him to share the gospel with the group. Thank you FliteTest for allowing your planes to help impact the Kingdom.
Then Mara got up and shared with the group what it was like growing up as an orphan in our orphanage in Kampong Thom and what MANNA has meant to her. Then Bimol shared with the group about her experience working at our projects and now going to nursing school with Kim and Mara. It was hard to even keep my composure as they shared. So cool to see what God is doing and how He is using them. Then Lee took the plane to the air and the kids got to see it in action. They really thought it was amazing. After Lee landed the plane, we took them and helped them make their own planes that they could glide. The kids loved every minute of it and ran around playing with their planes. It was so worth trip and investing time in the work there. Here are some pictures of the day.
We made it back from Vietnam and are in Bangkok waiting to head to Nepal tomorrow. Here is a gallery of pictures from Vietnam. Cory took some of these pictures. It was great to see Vietnam and the various projects we have there. 48 hours in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) is quite a whirlwind tour. We were running from the time we hit the ground until the time we flew out. It is awesome to see all of the fruits of the labor there and to see the vision and potential ahead. There is a great opportunity in Vietnam and I’m so excited to see what is in store. I love the people and am so grateful for our friends there.
We had an amazing trip to Cambodia, the people are so wonderful. It was humbling to visit the genocide museum to see what Pol Pot did to the people here. It was a blessing to see several of our MANNA kids now in nursing school. It was an honor to be a part of all of the great things going on here in Cambodia and to meet many new friends. We visited our nutrition centers in Phnom Penh and Kampong Thom Village. We also got to spend the evening at our orphanage in Kampong Thom as they put on a special program for us.
We made it to Cambodia successfully. 12 flights thus far and counting. 🙂 My body doesn’t know where I am at. LOL. I thought everyone would like to have a review of India. Here are a collection of pictures that we took in India. Thank you for you prayers. There is a great work to be done and I am grateful to be able to play even a very small part.
I just got back from Nicaragua and got to see the work there for the first time. I appreciate everyone’s prayers and support during our trip. I have included some pictures in this email from the trip. As with any trip, there is more to share than the space or time possible. So, I want to give a testimony about how the Lord used obstacles in Nicaragua to further the ministry.
One of our projects is in a town with no electricity or other services. People are spread out along the countryside. Most of the kids have to walk 2 km, in some cases up to 4 km, to the feeding center. What we see as an obstacle, the Lord uses greatly. The parents did not want their kids walking that far by themselves. So, the parents started going with the kids. Now, this project that started with 5 kids and 1 adult has grown to have 60 kids and 25 adults on the day we were there. The missionary we work with down there has now planted 5 churches and trained up 5 national pastors to lead them.
It was a great reminder to me how we can look at obstacles and inefficiencies, but the Lord sees opportunities. We can look from our Americanized perspectives, but the Lord sees the heart of the people and how to reach them. I’m sure glad He is in control and not me.
Here are some pictures from our trip.
Jones Family - MANNA Missionaries 