To those who have not been here yet
God is good all the time.....
Please understand that we do not have a telephone service where we are, so email is a once a week luxury.... not every week.
Thailand price comparisions: $100 is 3800 baht. I can feed a child for 100 baht per week. A resturant would feed you for 100 baht per meal. KFC would charge 100 baht for a "meal"..... food is cheap. Your donations go a long way here.
Some things we take for granted are unobtainable here... especially in the medical field. Other things like pineapples are incredibly cheap.... we just brought 10 pineapples for 40 baht!
Shoes and clothing are also cheap. We can buy dress shoes (elegant ones) for ladies at 120 baht; plastic flip-flop shoes are 19 baht; tee shirts are about 80 baht; jeans are 200 baht for designer brand names.
Electronic goods are also reasonable priced: I bought our computer system (desk top) for 19,000 baht. Our DVD player cost 2100 baht.
Our school/ clinic and orphanage is set up in the mountains near the border of Thailand and Burma. I have in residence as at this morning 24 girls, and 44 boys, the youngest being 8 months. We also take care of two elderly ladies and one young widow with two kids.... she actually takes care of me!! I have two USA teachers now, two thai teachers, one puppy, and myself. Off campus, supported by us we have one student Muwai at Chiang Mai Academy; we have two students in training at Bangkok Hospital; and I have a further 5 students at Mission College/Rajapat University.
We have the only car in this village so we act as the ambulance/ hearse and transporter of goods. My car is old, a donation from USA, but reliable.
I am the local midwife, and love it when medical teams come to help us. We run mobile medical assessment clinics, transporting serious cases to the Sai Yok hospital (25 kms away). We are supported by this hospital by free treatments and free medical supplies.... God is so good to us. The first year I paid more than 10,000 baht per month for supplies, but now it is free!
We run a language school, teaching our uneducated kids to read, write and speak both Thai and English. Before only 14 kids from the village went to school as no one could speak Thai in the homes.... they only had the mountain dialect of Karen to speak. Now more than 200 kids go to school at the local government school, this month 8 students were selected to represent the area in speech competitions.... all are from our school!
Because of the fighting and unrest in Burma against the hill tribes, we get sent many abondoned, injured, or orphaned kids.... hence the need for a boarding/ orphanage set up. I have two deaf kids, one blind boy, 7 kids bearing scars from guns or emergency bush surgery, and many with emotional scars of being left behind when parents have ran for life.
We try to run our place as an enlarged family home. Everyone works together to cook, feed, cloth and educate the kids. Our buildings are a testiment to their construction skills, the gardens are show of their beauty; their singing comes from within. My older ones teach Thai and Karen to the young ones. My legless pastoring kid, Bilay, leads bible study and worship. God surely blesses his ministry. Now he gets invited all around the district to teach Bible. So he has to have a driver.... so now my 18 year old, Lukai, is preparing for his driver licence.
So what do I do? I get free massages every morning, I get my food prepared, my washing done, my hair washed and enjoy my life as a taxi driver, teacher, and nurse. Its the best retirement plan a person could wish for.
Come experience the difference. God is in control, we are along for the ride.
Please understand that we do not have a telephone service where we are, so email is a once a week luxury.... not every week.
Thailand price comparisions: $100 is 3800 baht. I can feed a child for 100 baht per week. A resturant would feed you for 100 baht per meal. KFC would charge 100 baht for a "meal"..... food is cheap. Your donations go a long way here.
Some things we take for granted are unobtainable here... especially in the medical field. Other things like pineapples are incredibly cheap.... we just brought 10 pineapples for 40 baht!
Shoes and clothing are also cheap. We can buy dress shoes (elegant ones) for ladies at 120 baht; plastic flip-flop shoes are 19 baht; tee shirts are about 80 baht; jeans are 200 baht for designer brand names.
Electronic goods are also reasonable priced: I bought our computer system (desk top) for 19,000 baht. Our DVD player cost 2100 baht.
Our school/ clinic and orphanage is set up in the mountains near the border of Thailand and Burma. I have in residence as at this morning 24 girls, and 44 boys, the youngest being 8 months. We also take care of two elderly ladies and one young widow with two kids.... she actually takes care of me!! I have two USA teachers now, two thai teachers, one puppy, and myself. Off campus, supported by us we have one student Muwai at Chiang Mai Academy; we have two students in training at Bangkok Hospital; and I have a further 5 students at Mission College/Rajapat University.
We have the only car in this village so we act as the ambulance/ hearse and transporter of goods. My car is old, a donation from USA, but reliable.
I am the local midwife, and love it when medical teams come to help us. We run mobile medical assessment clinics, transporting serious cases to the Sai Yok hospital (25 kms away). We are supported by this hospital by free treatments and free medical supplies.... God is so good to us. The first year I paid more than 10,000 baht per month for supplies, but now it is free!
We run a language school, teaching our uneducated kids to read, write and speak both Thai and English. Before only 14 kids from the village went to school as no one could speak Thai in the homes.... they only had the mountain dialect of Karen to speak. Now more than 200 kids go to school at the local government school, this month 8 students were selected to represent the area in speech competitions.... all are from our school!
Because of the fighting and unrest in Burma against the hill tribes, we get sent many abondoned, injured, or orphaned kids.... hence the need for a boarding/ orphanage set up. I have two deaf kids, one blind boy, 7 kids bearing scars from guns or emergency bush surgery, and many with emotional scars of being left behind when parents have ran for life.
We try to run our place as an enlarged family home. Everyone works together to cook, feed, cloth and educate the kids. Our buildings are a testiment to their construction skills, the gardens are show of their beauty; their singing comes from within. My older ones teach Thai and Karen to the young ones. My legless pastoring kid, Bilay, leads bible study and worship. God surely blesses his ministry. Now he gets invited all around the district to teach Bible. So he has to have a driver.... so now my 18 year old, Lukai, is preparing for his driver licence.
So what do I do? I get free massages every morning, I get my food prepared, my washing done, my hair washed and enjoy my life as a taxi driver, teacher, and nurse. Its the best retirement plan a person could wish for.
Come experience the difference. God is in control, we are along for the ride.
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home