Markets, Hilltribes, and Stolen Ornaments.
I absolutely love Thailand. I love the people, the food, the markets, and I love the ministry. Living here at Abba House is incredible! There are about 20 girls that live here and 9 guys and each day we teach them bible, english, and music.
All afternoon we teach the boys, and it's far from easy. Some of these guys came here as early as 4 months ago from prostituting themselves so that they could eat, or prison because of gang violence, or drug rehab centers. They aren't well behaved, and so many days when we are teaching I'm wondering how much of it is actually getting through. But I love them all so dearly! They are all so different and getting to see them each day and talk to them and love on them is seriously my favorite thing about Thailand so far.
This past weekend we had an incredible opportunity to spend 3 days with a village in the mountains of Thailand that predominately practices Buddhism and which-craft. Getting to share the gospel of Jesus with people who have never heard is something I am extremely passionate for…so as heart breaking as it was, I loved every minute of it. I loved getting to tell people about how loved they are who otherwise might not know. I loved praying over children who have never been prayed over before. I loved speaking the name of Jesus in places where it has never been spoken before. I loved bringing the Kingdom to that village! All of the kids from Abba House came with us, and I absolutely loved seeing them be the hands and feet of Jesus.
One of the 9 guys, Boy, doesn't talk very much. During class he leans back in his chair in the back, or sleeps. Even when we call on him to answer he never really responds. But seeing him with this tribe and play with the kids seriously made my life! On the first day we were there I saw him sitting in a chair off to the side of where we all were, and up runs a little kid eager for attention. Boy gets the biggest smile on his face and pulls a Santa Clause ornament out of his pocket, that he stole off of the Christmas tree back at Abba House before we left, and hands it to this kid who runs off laughing and then shows it off to all his friends. Boy just watches the kid play with his new toy with a big smile on his face knowing he did that. It was probably one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen!
We talked with the guys about how the weekend went in class the day we got back and all of them had stories to share (extremely rare) about how God used them and were amazed to see themselves as the body of Christ! Not just students or young Christians, but as the living body. They were so excited that they themselves were the missionaries. And Jesus really did use each and every one of them. After they shared how they thought God used them, we shared what we saw in each of them and they were all smiling so big. I am seriously overjoyed when I think about it! I can see changes in them already. I can see such greatness ahead of them. And I see so much of Jesus in each of them!
This is the whole group and some members of the village in front of the church we worked with in the hilltribe.
One of my teammates is getting really into photography and started a photoblog, it has lots of really awesome pictures from the weekend and from other days in thailand so far!
http://www.photoblog.com/Angelasue
