We were met by P La and P Charan at the Chiang Rai Airport and arrived at Khaodee around 9pm. It was great to see our friends from Khaodee. Brian and I settled into the guest team house. We got a good night’s sleep and were ready for our time at Khaodee.
Day 1:
We decided that even though we had some work to do at Khaodee, that we would take the 1st day there to just relax and spend time with the kids and staff. We took 2 college kids and some of the staff to eat Pizza Co. and go watch X men first class. I have a habit of falling asleep during movies I watch in Thailand, and this one was no exception…haha…. I guess I was more tired than I thought….
Day 2:
Today was exciting as P Charan and P La took us to the village of some of the kids. It’s not really that far, but it took a long time as there were no paved roads up the mountain. Who needs Disneyland when this ride was even more fun. We arrived at the village where we were greeted by the family of one of the kids, Siriporn. Sirporn also came along so she could see her family. They gave us a tour of some of the houses of the kids at Khaodee. The main source of income for the families is tomato and coffee farming. There were coffee trees everywhere we looked. We ended the tour back at Sirporn’s house were they cooked a traditional Akha meal. Akha is the name of the Hilltribe that most of the Khaodee kids are from. The food was Aroy mak mak! (very very good)
Day 3:
We met up with Khun Rose. Khun Rose is the founder of MMF (Mercy Ministries Foundation). She is the one who started the ministry that we visited in Poi Pet, Cambodia. We took her to Sizzler, her favorite, where we chatted for about an hour about her ministry and the vision that God gave her. She is American and has been living in Thailand for 30 years, and now also working in Cambodia for the last 10 years. We were blessed to be able to meet with her and hear how God has blessed her ministry over the years.
Day 4:
Saturday is work day for the kids and so we rolled up our sleeves to work alongside our brothers and sisters. This day we worked on farming a rice field. I never could imagine that being knee deep in muddy water in the hot sun could be soooo fun. Everytime I got mud in my eye, the kids would bring water over for me to wash it out. I think they knew we weren’t that good at the work, but they appreciated us just trying and being there. Before lunch, we cleaned ourselves off by going swimming in the river. They had their own mini little water slide, except there were rocks at the bottom. Me and Bo both have some pretty decent cuts and sore bodies from the river. But, boy was it a lot of fun!
After lunch, P Charan took us to Doi Chang, his favorite Coffee Shop in Chiang Rai. We played Skip Bo while sipping on coffee. Green Tea Frap for me as I don’t drink coffee. Good times. Good times.
We ended the day by going back to Khaodee and having worship. Every Saturday night the kids all come together and sing and pray for about 1 hour. It was an awesome time praising our God!
Day 5:
Our last full day here. *sigh* After breakfast Bo helped take individual photos of each kid for Khaodee. After that the kids went off to Sunday school and Worship. The sermon by Pastor Simoon was about how God is Awesome (Prajao Prasert)! And after lunch, the staff passed our cleats to most of the boys which was donated by Sports Basement. Yay Sports Basement! The kids were so excited. I think even some of the little ones were walking around in them even though they don’t play soccer. We went to the local school where the boys got to break the shoes in and play soccer. And since we Americans are really bad at it, we just watched and took pictures. But we did get a chance to play some volleyball with the girls and got some exercise.
We ended our night by treating the kids to some ice cream and bread while showing them the pictures from our travels and sharing what we learned from the trip. The kids blessed us by praying over us and Pastor Simoon prayed for us for our safe travel home.
CJ
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