Thanks to an Awesome Tennessee Team!

Visiting and playing games with new students in the BJD coffee shop.

"The team was a great encouragement to us.  We could really see God's love through them." (Shared staff from one of the ministries the team helped.)

On Tuesday, the team divided into three groups to help with three different ministries in my area of town.  I love how God knew just where each person should go and directed them to that ministry.  One group went to ThaiSong, a ministry that works with ladies in the slums who make jewelry and purses out of recycled materials to support their families.  After learning about the ministry and meeting some of the women, the team went to the recycle plant to collect materials for the ladies.  One of the ThaiSong staff shared, "It was a big help to have the team come.  We were really running low on supplies for the women to make their products, and many hands made the job a lot easier."

Another group helped at Baan Chu Jai, a child sponsorship program that helps kids go to school who wouldn't otherwise have the opportunity or resources.   The team helped with some cleaning then visited with the kids once they got home from school.  One staff shared that the food budget has been low recently, and they haven't been able to buy after-school snacks for the kids.  Judy, one of the short-term team members, went to the small store next door and bought snacks to share with all the children.  "God broke my heart at the children's home.  I'm hoping to be able to continue helping them when I return to Tennessee."

The last group helped out at BJD with painting, cooking, and campus evangelism.   When I proposed we wanted a large picture of the world painted on the wall, but all we had was a map to look at Morgan responded with, "I would love to take on the challenge!  I was hoping to get to use my artistic skills while on the trip.  God knew just what ministry I should help out with." 
We had many new students join us for worship and others plan on coming to English class because we were able to get the word out through the team's willingness to go out on campus, start conversations, and invite students. 



After the team left that evening, one of the students came up to me and said, "Your team is so nice, everyone smiled a lot and was very friendly.  Are they coming back tomorrow?"  Unfortunately the team was off to serve in an orphanage the following day.  We were sure glad to have them around for a time though!

 Trying out the desks in the university across from the dorm.