~ Live Updates ~

July 17 / 8am:
Greetings from Mae Sot!
In the typical whirlwind level of hurry up and wait, let's go now.... We made the long drive to Mae Sot yesterday.

Did I mention its rainy season? When we pulled into the Partners office there wasn't a chance for a normal hello it was more of a mad dash to help get items out of the rain. Then inside for the hugs and rush back out.

July 17 is a major Thai holiday and we needed to spend $1500 US dollars to sustain life for 100 people who survived the Cyclone for the next 30 days. So it comes down to 50 cents per person per day to eat.

I had to do the math 3 times because even after all these years of doing this my brain just couldn't wrap around TWO quarters. Especially in a country where regular gas is now over $6.00 dollars per gallon.

In addition to the initial $1500, with your donations we will be able to sponsor these folks for another 3 months.

We are off to make the trek to the cyclone survivors and begin our intimate time with these people.

Pray for us to be directed by God in order to bring comfort and hopefully some laughter to the 100 children and adults.

THANK YOU for allowing us to be face to face even with the people you will hear stories about even if its rainy season and things may appear difficult for us.

Grace & Mercy

July 17 / 4pm:
The team visited the survivors and brought a partial shipment of rice, oil, chilies and other necessities. There are so very many refugees it really is innumerable; the faces, the children, the mothers and so many others.

We shared words of encouragement as the Lord would lead. We sang worship songs and the children sang with us also.

The surrounding jungle is very beautiful but also very dangerous. There were stories of people being bit by snakes as there were fleeing for safety, one man drew a picture of his experience. He was hanging on a coconut tree for eight hours while the cyclone went through, and today we saw the marks on his body - scars and bruises still evident two months later.

Others drew pictures of dead bodies floating in the river. One very little boy drew stick figures, flowers and crosses, and his caretaker pointed to one stick figure and asked him who it was, and he replied "my father is lost." This goes to show their little thoughts.

The simplest gesture gift of a balloon made two very small boys smile and play. These two boys were playing so happily that a couple watching them that weren't smiling when we arrived, began to smile and laugh. It was good to see this. We will return to this camp on Saturday with more supplies that are desperately needed after seeing the high school kids tomorrow.

Blessings

July 18:
Today we got to teach 6 classes to 120 high school students. They were very attentive and excited to learn new things.