Learning Thai

Last week Claire and I went with the REACHers and Raul back to the Dtaak province in northwestern Thailand. We'd been invited to come put on an English camp at a local church and to spend some time visiting surrounding villages with Manat and Blue, two men who are working to start churches in that area. It was a very full and tiring week, but it was also exciting and fulfilling. The REACH team did a great job - both with the camp and with the other less structured times of interacting with children in various settings. Claire also did a good job and it was fun to have her along. I think that it was eye-opening for her and she is still talking about her impressions of what she saw. We visited a refugee camp and also saw a lot of kids living in very poor conditions in the villages we visited. I'm grateful that she has opportunities like this to broaden her horizons and shape her perceptions of what is "normal."

As a team, we are still trying to figure out how we can or should be involved in an ongoing basis with Manat and Blue. Our goal is still to live and work in Samut Prakan, but we also cannot ignore the fact that close to two million Burmese are in Thailand - including many in this province. We want to be aware of their presence as well as their unique challenges and struggles. You can pray for wisdom as we continue discussing what our response should be.

There is a lot more that I could say about the week - and maybe I'll do some more blogging later on. But, for now, here are some pictures and captions that will hopefully give you at least a glimpse into the trip.

Around 50 kids participated in the three-day camp. The REACH'ers did all of the organization and teaching. I helped out here and there and did some translation.

We played a lot of games in several different villages. Some of the kids didn't speak Thai, so we picked up a few Burmese/Karian phrases and did a lot of miming and gesturing.

Claire spent a lot of time playing with the kids. She enjoyed all of the games and interacting with the younger kids but got a little tired of the attention from the older girls. On one of the last days she told me "I wish that I wasn't so new to them. Then maybe they wouldn't try to smell me."

And here are a few more random pictures of some of the cute kids and my cute kid at the edge of the Moei River.

-Tom