Taking the kids home to Phayam Island

Last weekend while we were in southern Thailand, one of our stops was to Phayam Island to visit some of the families of the children in the Ranong Kids Home.  As I was looking through the photos tonight- I decided it was time for another blog post.  Even though, I can't keep up with posting about our life anymore- I feel like it's a good way to share just how different life over here is for some of the people that we work with.

You may notice that we go to Elephant Island to visit those families a lot more often, mainly because it is so much closer.  This island (Phayam) usually takes three hours on the long tail boat (6 hours for a one day trip)- but this time we took the speed boat and got there in 30 minutes.  I am spoiled for life now. The islanders were very happy to see their kids.

This is Sarena with her mother. They were so sweet to watch together. 

I love this mother-daughter photo of them.

Her little brothers were happy to see her too.

Their interaction with each other was precious to watch and as we left, as all good Thai children do, she stuck a little cash in her mama's hand to help her with finances. 

Their simple village kitchen.

We took six of the children from the home with us and at each home after the visit, they all prayed for that family. 

Sarena was fervent in her prayers for her parents. 

Our next stop was to the home of Chalay and Phet but his father was out to sea and they were not able to see him.  Their mother died many years ago and the father is rarely home.

They usually find an empty house when they come home to visit.

We visited  the parents of Ariya (Pop) and her home.  Her father used to be the village chief.

The kids and dorm parents prayed for their family.

The children in the home are really like one big family and care for each other.

Thong Dii does not have a mom, but this is his grandma.

Later on, his father came by- but is not very involved in his life.

Kew, is a very diligent guy.. The love between him and his family is obvious, and they are so proud of him for getting an education. 

Praying for Kew's family.

Some swings and climbing tires have been added to the village with some help from a foreigner.  The children love it and were constantly on the swings. 

Most of the  women are always working on the nets, getting them ready for the men to take back out on their boats. 

And when the nets don't work for fishing anymore- they can be recycled into a chair, I guess. 

This village has two communities, so we took the path over to the other group of huts. 

This guy makes it hard for us not to have favorites.  Gang is one of the kindest and most helpful kids in the home. I learned more about his background on this trip. He has no father and does not know where his mother is.  This is his grandma.

She has many health issues and is blind.  Gang is so tender with her, it's the only family he has. When I asked him which home he lived  in before he came to the Kids Home, he answered, "none, I  lived on a boat with my mom."   So now he literally has no home, other than the kids home. 

When his grandpa heard that Gang was back to visit, he came over right away.

His grandpa carves boats and sells them in town, but he wanted us to know this one was not finished yet. 

Gang praying for his grandparents. 

The kids praying team, walking back through the village. 

Phillip, who lives in the village has started a chicken project that has been very successful in providing eggs for them.

Before we left, we gathered the villagers together in the church to have a time of encouragement with them and prayed for them all together.

Life is hard in the village and yet in some other ways, it is so simple.  It's honestly such a whole different world. It's a life that sometimes, I think is appealing but usually it makes me so thankful for how much I have been given.

The dorm parents, kids, and us- all rented little motorbikes to get back and forth across the island. Some bikes held 3, the rest of us- just 2. It was a great visit with some of the families that we had not seen in a long time. The children feel privileged to get an education and be in the Ranong Kids Home and we feel privileged to be a part and help them on days like this to visit and pray for their families. 

Farewell to 21 great years of memories in this home!

Sometimes, I wish that I was not so sentimental.  Two weeks ago tomorrow, we handed over the keys to our home for the past 21 years.  It was the culmination of  several months of hard work, sorting, tossing, reliving memories, negotiations, and ending a chapter in our lives.

Even the decision to buy this house was a huge deal in our marriage.  For 20 years, we'd been paying rent to Buddhist and Muslim landlords.  Mike felt "why not invest that rent money in our own place, that can be our home?" That decision is not always as easy for foreigners in Thailand, because logistically and legally, it was challenging at times to buy and sell a home. But it was a good decision because we were able to make the home "ours" and fix it up the way we wanted and to make it "our own" place of refuge.

This was the day we got the keys to the home in 1997.

When we got the home it was one of those repossessed by the bank, so considering the size- it was a good price and just down the street from the girls little NTM school.  They were ages Marisa-16. Lori-14, Bethany-12 and Jenny-9 when we moved in.  It will always be remembered as their last childhood home. The last day in the home, we had Jon and Marisa and family there for one last meal of GaiYang  and KhaoNeeyao.  We all shared favorite memories of the house. There are too many to ever count, but here are a few that are more for me and the family than anyone else.

• All four girls graduated from high school in this house and the memories of all those senior year shenanigans.
• We planned all four girls wedding in this house with countless trips to markets and local handicraft factories to buy wedding paraphernalia. .
• Youth group parties, sport team parties, girlfriend sleepovers.
• A controlling Thai policeman neighbor who called the squad cars on us with lights flashing several times for loud parties.
• A giant ice cream sundae for 50+ kids on our patio, served in a PVC pipe that Mike cut in half.  Trying to serve it and eat it before it melted in the tropical heat was the big challenge.
• Labrador pets; Toby, Annie, Samson. More bunnies that I can count, hamsters, etc.
• Thai CCC staff meetings, parties, women seminars, and the big annual Christmas party.
• The girls asking Mike to add "just one more string" of icicle lights each Christmas to the outside of the house until it glowed from far away, and the neighbors on 3 sides joining us to make our neighborhood amazing in a  country that does not celebrate Christmas. 
• Sadness every single morning as our neighborhood monk from the temple in his orange robe stopped at the homes chanting and blessing them for his daily alms.
• 8 green mango trees, 3 macam trees, and 'picking the fruit' parties with our Thai staff each summer.
• Mike's work room, crammed with so many tools and his escape from female conversations of 5 women as he built, made, and fixed things for friends.
• The girls first dates, prom pictures, and co-ed parties.
• Planning and anticipating the girls "coming home" from college in the USA, for holiday visits.
• Womens' Bible Studies, neighborhood prayer times, and English classes around the dining room table.
• Christmas, Thanksgiving, Easter holiday meals when we usually invited singles who were away from their families. 
• Laying on the trampoline to watch movies shown on the side of the house.
• Fostering babies from the Agape Home orphanage.
• Our own homemade slip 'n slide on the tiled patio.
• STINT (short term international) Team's from Bangkok and Chiang Mai parties and retreats at the house
• Firework shows (put on by Mike) on the back street for holidays.
• A large kitchen to cook 3 meals/day- 7 days/week for a family of 6.
• My cave (tiny office)  in recent years where I spent most of my time because it was the only room with AC during the day.
• Our guesthouse outside that hosted friends and strangers from all around the world for short and long stays is one of the biggest features we loved about the house. 
• Badminton, basketball, and 4-square tournaments in the driveway.
• Pretty sure that I killed at least 10 snakes in the house and yard over the years. 
• Painting, decorating, and redecorating every room at least twice. 

We are so thankful for these 21 years of wonderful memories. Here's a few photos of the home from this past year.  I'd really love to reminisce the ones from years past- but there's no time now to look through those. 

Although it was a Thai home, we westernized it quite a bit. 

The front patio, where lots of parties were held. 

It had a great yard for swings and lots of outside play.

The guest room outside, that hosted so many friends.

Backside of the house, where the girls bedrooms were. 

Kitchen's are always the best gathering place, creating memories that last forever. 

So now what?  Many have asked what is next for us.  Mike calculated that the new house that we are renting is about 1/6th the size.  We went from around 3600 sq ft. to about 665 sq. ft.  It has been huge to get rid of that much stuff.  And we did it without having a garage sale. YAY!!! We sold the big stuff on line and gave the small stuff away.  That is one great thing about living here... there's always villagers who can use our old stuff. 

Our new neighborhood are all Thai's and we look forward to getting to know them and building new friendships. The location is good- 15 minutes to our TCCC offices and 15 minutes the other direction to our grand-kids (and their parents).

The more we packed and tossed and purged and simplified, we realized that it is all just stuff.  The house and building is just the shell where the memories were made and life took place.  We look forward to using this next house, however God leads us.

Thanks for letting this sentimental lady, go down memory lane with our family. Here's to creating new memories at our new home, and cherishing a great house that God gave us to enjoy for 21 years. Pictures will be shared of our new tiny home someday, when the boxes are unpacked. 

JBF to Thailand "Work-Hard,Play-Hard"

Mike and I believe in a "work-hard, play-hard" philosophy when teams come over.  There is so much to learn from the Thai people and culture and we aim to expose as much as we can to them.

Breakfasts were either at the hotel or at a quick 7-11 stop, lunches were at the work-site, and then after stopping work for the day we'd go out for dinner. Of course that was after showers at the hotel because- believe me- you did not want a whiff of 12 sweaty bodies after working in the heat all day. They were very adventuresome when it came to trying new Thai dishes (most of the time).

After work the last day, we visited a Thai museum and enjoyed this 360 look out tower all around the area of Songkhla, which is a big fishing area of Thailand.

Chloe and Hannah were two of the sweetest, hard working, lovers of Jesus,  high-schooler's I've ever met. They both came with their dad's who were also on the team.  I love these father/daughter bonding mission trips.

We took them to the Songkhla Mermaid, which is the symbol of Songkhla. The girls got a short horseback ride on the beach.

And I was thrilled to see this beautiful rainbow on the beach. 

We made one last stop to look for the monkeys near the temple.

We didn't have to look very hard, as once we stopped the van and they saw Mike buy some food- they quickly found their way to us. 

Some of the monkeys were quite aggressive, which was not a fun time for some of us. 

We've heard that the team is back to Jesup enjoying their own beds again- but changed for the better as a result of spending their vacation time here.  Thanks again JBF!  We are so thankful for each of you and your continued prayers for Thailand.  We miss you already!