Painting and a Visit to the Slums

We spent the morning in two different locations doing different activities. Half our team went to a children's centre run by a christian couple. They had the opportunity to serve in a very practical way. They painted the main children's activity room and the outside exterior walls. The students worked hard to do a good job laughing and smiling the entire time. Their joy was evident to all who passed by the doors and outside the centre as the work was being done. Even the buddhist bus driver commented on how happy they were. The students found it very satisfying to see the before and after shots of the rooms and what a difference a coat of paint made to the appearance of the centre. The centre directors were very grateful for the quick make-over, as it would have been a project that may have been put off based on priority. Before leaving, the students lay hands on the husband and wife and prayed that God would bless their ministry and that many Thai children would come to know Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Saviour through this children's centre. The team also experienced eating rice and roasted chicken by hand and thoroughly enjoyed a popular Thai dessert – mango and sticky rice covered in coconut milk!!



The other half of the team traveled down to one of the “slums” in Chiang Mai. We went anticipating that a crowd of 10-15 village children would come out to sing songs and listen to us tell stories. God surprised us by bringing two! A five year old girl called Chang Chang and a twelve year old boy called Tai Wan. Regardless of the numbers, our students enthusiastically sang Jesus Loves Me and Father Abraham, Renee and Jon S. told the parable of the lost sheep, Victoria performed Peter Walks on Water and the kids completed a craft – all on a dirt road beside a tree. Chang Chang was very shy but warmed up to us by the end and it was Tai Wan that captured all of our hearts. He was very affectionate right from the start and smiled and laughed at everything. On our journey back through the village, we got to visit Tai Wan's home and it was then that we realized that God had much to teach us through Tai Wan. We entered his “house” that consisted of a medium sized room with an attached smaller room which was the kitchen. The only furnishing in larger room was a twin mattress and as we gazed around the room, the walls were bare. This is where Tai Wan lived with his parents, his 4 sibling and grandparents. Tai Wan's father had an amputated left leg and his mother had an amputated arm. Tai Wan and his family often had to walk the streets to beg for money in order to pay for rent and have food to eat. It was an incredibly humbling experience. This family had so, so little but Tai Wan was probably happier than many of the other boys his age back in Canada. We were grateful that the family allowed us to pray for them in their home. It is our hope that the gospel seeds planted in Tai Wan's heart will grow in the years to come. We walked away knowing that this will definitely be a memory we will keep and learn from over a lifetime.