the children

What do I miss most about Thailand?
Yes, the kids. My dad says kids are cute everywhere..I mostly agree..

But let me tell you about some very special children that God graciously blessed me through/with in Thailand.

One of the best decisions I ever made in Thailand was to walk home from work down the lovely trail through the rice paddie... Each day children would meet me on the trail to play and walk home with me. Everyday was different. Some days they chased, some days they hid and popped up, some days they just wanted to hold my hand and match my strides...every day they melted my heart and showed me love so beautifully.

Language barriers? What are those! If you can smile, laugh, jump, or high five..you're in. If you have a camera or are down to play freeze games..you have new best friends!

I was happy to have all of those experiences and let the hill-tribe children rub off on me. Some days even very literally, that is most certainly where I caught my cold and it was most certainly worth it...

Aren't they beautiful??

On New Year's Eve, we got to celebrate Christmas with the Karen people..It was a school festivity and outreach geared for all my favorite little people. and in the meeting no matter how hard I tried not to make eye contact with Steve...He called me out to share.I wasn't initially excited...microphones, translation, mis-speaking, fear...But then I thought, will I ever have such an opportunity to present the Gospel with all these kids ever again? Not that I could be guarenteed..It is one thing to play regardless of language barriers but another to present saving faith with a language barrier..

I ended up being very very blessed to share about "the greatest present I've ever gotten" and was also blessed to be reminded of God's deep love and faithfulness to His people.

But above and beyond that, I continued to learn from the night.

Each kid in the school received a pink fleece hoodie.. they adored them. Literally.

I saw kids in the act of cherishing! They cuddled their hoodies, stared at them in awe, had smiles from ear to ear and were even more excited to put them on and brave the cold in their new fleece ( and for some..only fleece,ever)I am almost certain they loved their fleece more than I've ever loved anything or maybe even anyone.

It still didn't stop. As children in pink hoodies flooded me to cuddle and play, I found myself surround by some very familir faces of kids from my village that had been meeting me on the road each day and teaching me all sorts of fun games. Two little girls in particular. They sat on my lap, another leaned against me, another playing with my filthy hair.

It was basically like heaven for me. Here I was thinking that I was gonna come love on some kids and be an example of Christ and I am sitting there with this precious little Karen girl looking into my eyes and singing a soft song while she gently, and with more care than I've known, stroked my hair and held my hand.

I pray God never lets me forget these faces, but more importantly their urgent need for the Gospel.

For information on how to sponosor a village child and ensure that every kid has an opportunity to be educated visit here!