Jerng came skipping out of the shoreline jungle using a vine as a jump rope. A couple students disappeared into the same opening, looking for eatable plants to cook up for dinner. Three frogs and two fish had already been caught for the same purpose. Our time on the house raft was spent building unity between our family of students and staff at BJD. It looked like this...
Watching in amazement as that little boat pulled our two house rafts, holding 40 people, up the river to the place where they tied us off.
In groups, we took turns cooking on board. Then washing the dishes in the river.
Eating, playing games, and everything else by lantern, candle, or flashlight after dark.
Enjoying God's creation in the beautiful, cool mornings.
Face washing, teeth brushing, and bathing, all happened in the water around us.
Small group quiet times.
Floating down the river together. Even those who couldn't swim well enjoyed this adventure as we floated with the current, got rained on by a waterfall, and dodged boats passing by.
Water games!
We had two rules on the boat:
1. Listen to staff
2. No showing off
(I'm not sure if this counts as showing off or not)
Time to talk, relax, connect with the girls I live with.
Time to build relationships and go deeper than the quick "How are you?"
Praying together and listening to our speaker remind us of the meaning behind the name of our house, House of One Heart = unity. Unity is what people on the outside should see when they look at us and our relationships.
Part 2 of our outreach was to a couple of the student's families and a ministry in Kanchanaburi...
At Nid's house we visited with her parents, at tiny sour oranges, and met some of her neighbors.
At Faa's house, we sang karaoke with her dad and younger sister, prayed with her family, visited a neighbor, and talked with Mom.
Tom climbed up a coconut tree to get us a snack, and a herd of goats wandered by the house in the midday sun.
This is the church at the Kanchanaburi ministry we visited. It is surrounded by tapioca fields, mountains, and beautiful scenery. The staff here, a Thai couple, have been ministering to the community since 2003. His parents have become believers through seeing their son's faith, and soon they would like to begin working in her family's village by the Myanmar border.
We are all flexible when it comes to getting around here...this truck usually holds vegetables but also transports water jug, animal, and a bunch of us!
With weather up to 101*F, the ice cream man did good business when he drove his motorcycle ice cream cart into the driveway.
More Pictures!
Worship time in the morning and evening, led by different students each time. It's awesome to see students discovering and growing the gifts God has given them.
Two things about Thai culture that go really well together:
1. Bring snacks everywhere you go
2. Always share
English games.
Team building games... Each team had 6 pieces of string and had to make something that could hold this soccer ball. Then they had to use their contraption to carry the ball around the boat, over the railings, and back to the starting point. Great teamwork!
Throughout the day, long wooden boats like this would come up to our raft to sell fruit, noodle soup, bags of chips, and anything else they could fit in their boat.
