Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you "The Crazy Eight!"

We finally have some pictures of the kids! I'm so excited to introduce them to you all! I am convinced that these are eight of the cutest kids in the whole world! They each have such unique personalities, and each one of them has stolen my heart! It's so much fun to arrive at Agape every morning and have eight sweet faces run to greet us, with hugs and kisses, saying our names in their cute little accents! I wouldn't trade those moments for anything and I am so blessed and grateful to be here in Chiang Mai and be apart of these kids lives...even though it's only for a very brief time. 

So here they are! The crazy eight! 

This sweet girl is quiet and independent and loves to play on the playground! She rarely likes to be held or cuddled and likes to do things on her own. :) She loves to sing and dance and play on the slide all by her self!  

She loves her rice! :) 

This little guy may be small, but he is the leader of the pack! He is ALL BOY and loves to run, yell, and climb! He is also a TALKER! He talks non stop and I would give anything to be able to understand him! He has the sweetest voice! He loves to repeat the few English phrases he does know like: "I FON A BIGGGG ONE" when he finds sticks and rocks on the playground, or "SIT DOWN!" to his little buddies when its time to eat. He also loves to say "AMEN" (he is usually the loudest after the prayer) and "HALLELUJAH!"  

This goofy guy is the sweetest child you will ever meet! He loves to cuddle and be "babied." He is very clever though, and knows how to "work the system"...often earning him extra snacks and treats from the nannies. He is CUTE and he knows it. ;) He loves to hold and play with anything that's small and calls it "baby." He loves to go visit the babies in the play room next door. He blows them kisses and always asks if he can hold them...even though they are just as big as he is. ;) He is fearless (which is not always a good thing!) and is a great climber! He is VERY strong for being so little!   

This little one LOVES to SING! And say "YAY!" "AMEN!" "HO! HO! HO!"(he is a HUGE Santa Clause fan!) and "NO WAY!" He loves receiving encouragement and giving hi-fives. He is also all boy and is a fast runner! He loves going on walks and often runs ahead of everyone else. :) He enjoys to cuddle too and can always be found sitting in someone's lap. He is such a sweetie pie!  

This little man's smile will melt your heart every time! As you can see, he has the longest  eye lashes ever...watch out ladies! ;) He has a very tender heart and is very protective over the younger kids in our group...even though he is only a few months older than they are. He always wants to push the little girls in the wagon when we go for walks and looks for flowers to put in their hair. He loves to jump on the trampoline and run like the wind.     

This precious little girl is the youngest in our age group. She loves to count her fingers and toes and when we sing "If you're happy and you know it." Her favorite thing to do on the play ground is swing! She even fell asleep on the swing once! It's her favorite place to be and is where she is the happiest! She does a great job at keeping up with the older kids and makes sure she is noticed...at all times. :)        

This may not seem like the greatest picture to you, but it really captures every single part of her! 

This little Angel is so sweet and is the definition of Miss I-N-D-E-P-E-N-D-E-N-T! She loves to play with baby dolls and is great at keeping the boys in line. The slide is her favorite place in the world! She is always so sad when we have to come in from the playground. She loves having her hair fixed, and likes to look at herself in the mirror. :) She enjoys pulling things (flowers, grass, weeds) from the ground and giving them to the nannies or her friends. She is always smiling and has the cutest laugh!

This girl is a FIRECRACKER! She is the oldest in our  age group and is our "crazy girl." She LOVES to sing, dance, and jump along to music and is always moving. She is very girly and enjoys wearing dresses and having her hair fixed. She will often take out her hair several times a day and ask one of us to do something different with it.  She is really silly and laughs all the time...She has so much joy! As you can see, she also loves having her picture taken. :) 

  

Well, there you have it! Our Crazy Eight! :) 

I'll be posting more pictures from our time at Agape soon!  

Thoughts on our first Monday

*Blog post from June 4th*
 
Our first Monday was loads of fun and excitement as we got to know the kids a little bit better and were able to meet some of the other nannies.
 
 
When we first get to Agape in the mornings we wake the kids up, given them baths and breakfast, wash dishes, and then usually take them on a walk or play outside. Since the rainy season is well underway now, we usually play inside, do crafts, watch a movie, or dance/sing to music before we get them ready for their devotion and worship time (8:30am-9am). After their devo, if there isn't any cleaning to do, we head back to our home for the afternoon while our kids go to their Preschool/Kindergarten and nap. In the evenings we give the kids dinner, have play time, and then its bath time before we put them to bed. I'm really looking forward to going back tomorrow! Each day just gets better and better and I fall more and more in love with our sweet kids!  
 
 
One of the most amazing things that I experienced our first Monday was the worship service. Everyday all the kids six and under (the older kids have their own at a different time) and the nannies come into our room for a devotional and time of worship in the morning from 8:30-9am. Monday was a little different because it was a Buddhist holiday (Buddha’s birthday) so all the older kids had the day off from school. They normally won’t join us for the devotional but today they did. One of the nannies played the guitar for the worship time and one of the other nannies led the devotional. It was simply amazing! It was such a sweet, beautiful time of worship I wish so badly that each of you could experience. Each and every one of the children sat so still and was so focused the entire time...even the babies remained quiet and still! It was so incredible to see the children's (and the nannies!) love for the Lord! Some of the children were blind and able to see the ones around them, or weak and had bandages all over their body. A few were struggling to sit up straight on the floor, and unable to sing. However, each of the children had their hands raised or their eyes closed; so focused on worshiping their Heavenly Father. It made me ashamed to think of the times that I have found it "hard" to worship because I was hungry, distracted, or had a headache, when here these children have struggles far greater than my own and are able to give all they have to the Lord in pure, selfless worship. They were not aware of anything else besides worshiping in the presents of their Father. It was so beautiful that it brought tears to my eyes. It was also so sweet to see how the younger ones would look at the older ones and try to mimic the way they were worshiping. It was a very sweet time that I will look forward to everyday! 
 
 
Thank you very much for your prayers! Our team is settled into our home and loving every minute God gives us here in Chiang Mai!  

Welcome To The Ant Farm!

One evening after it rained and flooded our kitchen (filling our oven and stove with water), we found a large population of ants in our kitchen. Emily has appropriately  named our house “The Ant Farm” because there are ants everywhere! We see them in the bathrooms, coming in and out of outlets, and even in our pantry (we have to triple bag our food). A lady who works at Agape told us that she believes that ants are the foundation of her home, and if it weren’t for them, her house wouldn’t be standing. ;)

So just in case you haven’t seen the ants we found in our kitchen a while back…Enjoy. :) 

~Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Exodus 20:3~

One of the first things I noticed about Thailand is that idol worship is everywhere. At the front of every little shop, business, or store front, you will see a Spirit house. Spirit Houses are everywhere in Thailand. Because of the belief in Animism and fear of the spirits, many Buddhist believers attempt to appease the spirits by lighting incense, placing flowers, and giving an offering of food at the shrine. We live in a neighborhood full of Buddhist believers. There are spirit houses and spirit catchers all over our neighborhood. The picture to the right is of the spirit houses at the entrance of our Muban (neighboorhood). Satan has a strong hold over those who live around us and people live in constant fear of these spirits.  

Spirit houses in front of our favorite market. 

Another spirit house at the entrance of our Muban.

Food offerings in front of the spirit house

In America, we tend to not believe in spirits, so Satan won’t use "spirits" with us. But here, spirits are very much real and present because people believe in them…and they are very afraid. Laura told us about one of our neighbors who will not walk from her car (in her driveway) to her house at night because she is afraid of the spirits that lurk in her yard. One of our first nights here, our team got together and prayed Psalm 91 over the house. We prayed a blessing over each room and in every corner of the house. We asked for protection over us and our home, and prayed that the Lord would reign and dwell within us and use us and our home for His glory alone. We asked that the Holy Spirit will enter our home and be present with us. It was an awesome time of prayer and a great reminder of what an awesome God we serve and that there is no greater power than the name of Jesus!

Our trip to Doi Suthep Temple with King and her family really opened my eyes to the extent of idol worship here in Thailand. As we scaled the misty steps that took us up the mountain to the temple, I looked around at the people that were making the lofty trek with us. Old and young alike were holding flowers, food, and prize possessions, all things to offer before Buddha. We finally reached the top and took off our shoes to enter the temple. It was an incredible sight. Because of our altitude, there was a thin mist hovering around the temple. The smell of incense was strong and the collective murmur of prayers and chants filled the air. The bright gold architecture of the buildings and statues reflected the low sunlight and pierced through the cloudy afternoon sky, making the temple shine brightly. Every so often, the tolling of a bell could be heard as those who were done with their time of worship “sent” their prayers up to Buddha by ringing a bell. It really brought the Old Testament bible stories to life as we walked around the temple watching people bow low before gold statues of Buddha and burn incense in worship to this false god.

As we further explored the temple, we passed a frail, elderly woman, with tears in her eyes, who was kneeling before a miniature gold Buddha at what looked like a little “worshiping station” (these were placed within and around the grounds of the temple… in case the other temples were full) as she lit incense and placed her offering of fresh fruit before the idol, she began to pray. I could not help but notice the sincere urgency and longing in her face as she bowed lower and continued praying. My heart could not help but break for her. At that moment, I wished so badly that I could understand Thai to know what she was saying. I wanted to kneel down next to her, wrap my arms around her, and tell her how much Jesus loves her and how much He wants her to know Him. He alone is the Way the Truth and the Life and does not require offerings of fruit and incense. All He asks is that she accepts His FREE gift of salvation. He died for HER and wants to have a personal relationship with her.  Although I may never see that woman again, and be able to tell her that person, I pray that God will place someone in her path to share His great message of salvation with her. The image of that woman will be burned in my memory forever and I pray that it always will be. It has further fueled my desire to share the good news of salvation to those who continue to walk in darkness here. Although there is a language gap and a time limit, I long to be the mouth piece of God while I am here, living in this Buddhist country. My heart burns with love for these people and I long for them to know the one TRUE God.

  Please join me in prayer for the country of Thailand and the city of Chiang Mai. Pray that God’s light will break the darkness and the hold that the enemy has over this place. Also be in prayer for my teammates and I; that although we are only here for a short time, that we will make a lasting impact in this community and that those who live her will see Jesus in us. Pray that God will give us boldness and the opportunity to continue to share His love with those around us.

Thank you!! I hope y’all are doing well!           

     

Adventures on my first day off!

*Bear with me! These next two blog post are from Sunday, June 3^rd. I’m still trying to catch up on my past blog posts as time and internet allows.*

On Sunday, Emily and I had our first day off!  Emily’s dad has a friend who lives here in Chiang Mai and she offered to take us out for the day. King came to pick us up at 8am on Sunday morning along with her husband and their two precious little girls, Pai and Fai. They were so kind and generous to us! Although they did not speak English very well, they told us little bits of information and facts about each place we went. They were so sweet and truly “wined and dined us” the entire day (It is extremely offensive and rude if you turn down any food or drink in Thai culture…I have never consumed as much food in my entire life as I did that day! :) ).  Emily and I had a wonderful time and we got to visit so many amazing places in Chiang Mai and see more of this beautiful city. 

King and her family took us to:


·         The Doi Suthep Temple: The temple where they believe Buddha’s bones are buried. It turns out that the day we visited was the day before Buddha’s birthday. (June 4^th) On our drive up the mountain to Doi Suthep, we noticed large groups of people dressed in all white, walking up the mountain. King told us that they were Buddhists making a pilgrimage up the mountain out of respect to Buddha on his birthday. When we got to the top of the mountain, before ascending up the high stair case to the temple, we saw the many festivals going on and vendors selling their “Buddha themed” goods. King’s husband bought us fresh orange juice and some snacks before our climb. On our way up to the temple, we had people stop us and ask Emily and I to take a pictures with them, since we were “faraong.” :) I wasn’t able to get any pictures of the temple, so if you haven't seen/heard of this temple, PLEASE Google image this place! It was truly spectacular and unlike anything I have ever seen in my life (Look out for another blog post on my thoughts of the temple).  

·         Hmong Village, a Hill Tribe village with a museum and a small market filled with lots of goods that the village people make by hand. It was a beautiful village with a great view of the mountains surrounding Chiang Mai. They also had gorgeous flower gardens that went straight up the side of the mountain.

·         Bhubing Palace, the king of Thailand’s winter palace. There were some AMAZING flower gardens filled with the most beautiful flowers I have ever seen!! (But your rose bushes are better than the ones they had Dad! ;) )

·         Giraffe Café, an amazing buffet style restaurant with lots of delicious Thai food to try and beautiful fruit. The walls of the restaurant were all glass and we got to watch giraffe’s and lions (not in the same enclosure) while we ate. King followed me around to make sure I tried (and ate!) everything they had. Thai people take great pride in their food! 


·         U-Mong temple, one of the oldest temples in Chiang Mai.

·          A café called “Dailycious”, where we had coffee and cheesecake.


·        Rimping Market, a grocery store with a lot of imported western goods. King told us it had lots of “foreign” food and was really excited to take us there. Forgetting where I was, I was thinking food that was foreign to me. However it was a store much like the ones we have at home…it was very similar to an HEB. :)


·        B2S Bookstore, Emily and I spent most of our time looking at Thai cook books. Again in the foreign (English) section.


·         Walking Street, which is a huge night market open on Sundays. They have a lot of handmade goods here too! We also tried our first Mango Salad (at King’s request. ;) ) If anyone wants anything special from Thailand, please let me know! We will definitely be going there again. ;)

After Walking Street, King brought us home around 11pm. It was a full day, but we had a blast with King and her family! 

Entering the Bhubing Palace   

A foggy view of Chiang Mai from Doi Suthep   

Palace grounds

More palace grounds

Hmong Village

A bell they believe that "sends" prayers up to Buddha 

U-Mong temple, over 700 years old. It was very beautiful inside and was full of  intricate tunnels. 

Orientation and Our First Day At Agape

*A LONG blog post from June 2^nd (still catching up!)*

Thursday (May 31^st) was our orientation at Agape with Laura. We spent several hours talking and learning about how Agape operates, the kids at Agape, the group of kids we will be working with, and different rules and regulations. We also spent a lot of time discussing HIV/AIDS, ways to prevent receiving the disease, and just getting more educated about the disease in general. Laura reminded us that HIV can be spread three major ways: sexually, blood and mother-to-child. There have been no reported cases of spread HIV through normal social contact including cuddling, kissing, sharing utensils that are washed in the normal manner, bathing, or changing diapers. It was also very encouraging to hear how, because of new medical and technological advances, people are now just living with HIV/AIDS as oppose to dying from it. It was amazing to see how hard the Agape staff works to keep their facility safe and clean for the children who call it home. We learned about hand-washing and disinfecting procedures, and how we can protect our selves from unwanted germs. We had a great afternoon learning about Agape and how everything operates. 

Our First day at Agape

Humbled. Blessed. Honored. Amazed. In awe.

 

Those are just a few words that only begin to describe my first day at Agape; one of the best days of my life. 

June 2nd was a much anticipated and prayed over day that I had been looking forward to for many months. Emily, Rachel and I woke up at 7am that morning and after our quiet time, we hopped on our bikes for the 15 minute bike ride to Agape. As we rode up the long Agape Home driveway at 7:45am for the 8am-5pm weekend shift, I could barely contain my excitement. We parked our bikes and walked into our play room where eight 1-3 year olds greeted us. When I say greeted us, I mean they dropped everything they were doing and rushed us, all at the same time. The were hugging us, touching our hair, and wanting to sit in our laps and hold our hands. It was the sweetest, most heart warming moment I have ever experienced. I immediately fell in love with each and everyone of them and knew from that moment on, I would never want to leave.


The rest of the day was filled with joy and challenges as we tried to learn the children's schedules. Only one of the nannies speaks a little English, and she was only with us for the first few minutes in the morning, so we had to learn what was going on by closely observing and taking mental notes. Laura told us that in the past, there has always been an overlap between the old volunteers and the incoming ones, so that the new volunteers had someone to show them the kids schedule and how the different nannies operated. That didn't happen this summer, so we got to hit the ground running; but I would not have it any other way! The nannies were all very sweet and patience with us, and even though we couldn't communicate with words, I would say that we have all improved our Charade skills, with all of our pointing and hand signals. :) The kids have been a huge help too! Even though they are so young, they know their schedule! They would show us were things were or take our hands and pull us to where we were going next...It was amazing! 

Our work schedule is five days on two days off. During the weekends we work 8am-5pm and  during the week, we work the "split shift" from 6am-9am and then 4pm-8pm. We have a large break in the middle of the day because after the devotion and worship service (from 8-8:30am), the children go to a little preschool/Kindergarten for a few hours (on Agape's campus) and then they take a nap. Young children with HIV/AIDS require a lot of sleep, so our kids can take up to a three hour nap. They are pretty much allowed to sleep until they wake up. They also take long naps because they are woken up about four times in the middle of the night to get their diapers changed, so many of the children do not get a full nights rest. The orphanage only uses cloth diapers and children with HIV/AIDS have very sensitive skin. A minor diaper rash could be very harmful and painful.

The children that we look after, "The Crazy 8" as Becca has dubbed them, are the main group of kids that we have the privilege of caring for this summer. We have four boys and four girls. The boys are Pon-Pon, Suradech (Sur-a-deck), Aduwat (Ah-doo-wat) and Tom (Tome). The girls are Julie, Naomi, Pichamon (Peach-a-mon), and Prontip. I love each of these children so much and cannot wait to spend more time with them. They have truly stolen my heart and I can't wait till I get to see them again! We are allowed to post pictures of the kids, however we are not allowed to put their names with their photos. We also decided that we will not be bringing our cameras for the next few weeks because we want the kids and nannies to get to know us and gain more trust in us before we rush in with cameras. :) Until then here are a few photos Becca took on her phone. 

Thank you for reading and thank you for your prayers! 

Salad Concept and Tiger Adventures!

The week leading up to starting work at Agape was a week full of firsts and adventures as we adjusted to the time change, got our bearings, and explored Chiang Mai. One of the first things we did in the city was try out a restaurant called Salad Concept that had been highly recommended by several of our friends. So on Thursday night (May 31) we called the number of the taxi driver that the girls from last year left us. They loved this guy and said that we MUST call him if we ever needed to go anywhere. Pudit, the taxi driver, is probably the nicest person you will ever meet, and his English is excellent as well! Pudit has lived in Chiang Mai his entire life and is a wealth of information about Chiang Mai! We learned so much about the city and what it has to offer just by driving around with him. He was so sweet and got us to our detestation safely, and even waited for us to finish eating and took us home at the end of the evening. We will definitely be calling Pudit again! 

Salad Concept was amazing! When you go, you order a huge bowl of assorted lettuce and then you get to pick five free toppings out of a long list of choices. You can also choose what kind of dressing you would like. Anything out side of the five free toppings you have to pay a little bit more for, but it's not much! The portions were huge and all the veggies were clean and fresh! They also have a great selection of drinks ranging from real fruit smoothies, to teas, to every kind of fruit soda you can imagine! It was so great to finally get a large amount of veggies in our systems after eating so much delicious Thai food! I forgot how much I love salad and other fresh, green plants! ;) I ordered a salad with eggs, carrots, bell peppers, onions and olives with an Apple Joy smoothie. It was glorious and we are all looking forward to going back in a few months and trying new things! Salad Concept is going to be one of the many things I miss when I have to go back home! If there are any entrepreneurs looking for an excellent, classy, delicious restaurant that I will come to every day, check out Salad Concept! :)               

Becca was excited for her salad

The menu 

Brittney and her detox drink that "tasted like the earth" 

Emily and her salad

Rachel and her salad

My Apple Joy smoothie...heaven on earth! ;) 

Cute coasters!

To celebrate our last day off together before starting work at Agape, we decided as a team to go do something fun and memorable together. Pudit told us that we we had to go to Tiger Kingdom while we were here, so on Friday (June 1st) we called him to come pick us up, and take us to this Kingdom filled with tigers that would make all of our dreams come true. Tigers are one of my favorite animals and I never dreamed that I would have the opportunity to do something like this! We had been looking forward to going to Tiger Kingdom ever since Pudit told us about it, so to say that we were excited would be a gross understatement. :) 

When we arrived we got to pick which age group of tigers we wanted to play with: "baby, medium, or big." We decided on the smallest they had, (the baby tigers, which turned out to not be the babies we had in mind!) and paid for 45 minutes with them. Our guild led us through Tiger Kingdom (which was like a zoo just full of tigers) and brought us to the baby tiger enclosure where we washed our hands, took off our shoes, and entered the tigers home with the trainer. From there we proceed to PET, PLAY WITH, AND CUDDLE BABY TIGERS!! :D It was one of the coolest things I have ever done in my entire life. The tigers were super cute and very friendly. A few times they got a little "too playful" with each other, but our trainer just made a loud clicking sound and they backed down. Our guide told us that since baby tigers are mostly nocturnal, they are pretty docile and sleepy during the day. He also told us that no one except the trainers are allowed in the cages after 5pm because they start to "wake up and get in there hunting mode" which makes them a little more hyper than they are during the day. We were the only ones in the enclosure so we got to spend more time with them than we paid for!          

We had a BLAST! After our time with the tigers, we walked back through the zoo and ate at the Tiger Kingdom buffet! It had an amazing assortment of different kinds of Thai food including, curry and chicken curry, noodle soup, mushroom soup, papaya salad, different Thai desserts and all different kinds of fruit. They even had french fries!! :D The fruit was probably the best part of the meal! It was the sweetest dragon fruit, pineapple and watermelon I have ever had! We took an abundance of pictures that day! Here are several to help you get an idea of all the fun we had with those precious baby tigers!

Our fearless trainer 

Cute Becca!

Sleepy Baby

Go Wildcats! 

Papaya Salad

Tiger Kingdom Buffet