Christmas and Ya's Birthday

Christmas in Thailand is always an experience. I always get really homesick around the holidays, I miss my family and long to spend Christmas day with them. Unfortunately finances make that impossible so over the past few years, I've created my own Christmas traditions.

Every year on Christmas Eve a group from church goes caroling. Caroling is a very different experience in Thailand and consists of lots of plans and lots of food. People from church sign up to host the carolers and the group goes from house to house. After they sing, they are invited in and fed a lot of food, spending 30 minutes to 2 hours at each house. This year I got the last slot of the night and the carolers were supposed to show up at midnight. Aon, Ya and myself prepared food and drinks and sat down to watch movies while waiting. Midnight came and went. 1am, 2am, finally at 2:30am the carolers showed up. They sang, ate, hung out and finally went home before 4am. I decided that I am way too old for middle of the night parties! But over all, it was great fun!


After the carolers left, Aon, Ya and myself decided to go ahead and open our gifts to each other so that we could sleep late in the morning. Guess what? I bought Aon a new watch, Aon bought Ya a new watch and Ya bought me a new watch. It was pretty funny!


This was Isaac when we finally went to bed after 4am. Isn't he cute?!


One of the best parts about Christmas day is that it is also Ya's birthday. This year we celebrated with a group of friends at Paul and Donna's house. We had Christmas dinner and a birthday cake for Ya. But the best part was just hanging out with my Thailand family and enjoying the holiday. Here's a few photos from the evening:
Ya with her birthday cake.

Me with Gary and Evelyn, a very inspiring missionary couple in their 90s.

The PMI Gang: Donna, me, Ya, Aon, Paul.

My Thai family: Dakhota, me, Ya and Aon.

Mae Toh Outreach

On December 18th we headed out to Mae Toh for our annual outreach at the kid's home/church there. It was a great day of ministry and fun and I'm already looking forward to next year! We gave away 500 pairs of shoes and lots of snacks. Rather than write more, I think I'll just share some of my favorite photos of the day. :)

Faith Village Outeach

Faith Village was started about 20 years ago by a Christian couple, David and Paula. Paula is American and David is half Thai, half Burmese. David comes from a Burmese people group called the Shan and he had a heart and a calling to save more Shan people. Unfortunately the Shan people have been in a desperate situation for a long time and many of them were fleeing to Thailand to escape persecution. Thousands of children were being captured in Burma and forced to become child soldiers and David aimed to rescue them. It started with seven boys and has since grown into what we now call Faith Village, a home and church in Thaton, Thailand.

As a ministry we visit Faith Village (FV) every three weeks to spend time with the kids, teach the adults and pour ourselves into the people there. It has become something that I look forward to and every time I go, it feels a little more like home.

On December 10-11, the PMI team (myself, Aon, Ya, Paul and Donna) drove the 3 hours to Faith Village for our annual Christmas outreach, bringing with us an American team of 9 people. We also brought 500 pairs of Crocs and snacks to hand out to the children.

Our first outreach was to a brick village near FV. Years ago some Shan people escaped into Thailand but were not able to get jobs because they are illegal. So they started their own brick factory which has since grown and now provides jobs and housing for many refugees. We sang songs with the kids, shared the gospel and gave away the shoes and snacks to the kids. It was a lot of fun and I loved seeing how they made the bricks. I took some great photos but unfortunately all my photos were deleted when my computer crashed a few weeks ago. :(

Our second outreach was to a village in the midst of hundreds of orange groves. Most of the people had never heard about Jesus before and they had definitely never had any foreigners visit. There was a little building where we set up to share the gospel and give away the gifts. As soon as we showed up, we were mobbed by hundreds of people who were so excited that we were there. They filled the building, there were people hanging in the windows and there were tons sitting outside. It was crazy and chaotic but I couldn't stop smiling the whole time. It is so amazing to share the gospel with people for the very first time!

Our last outreach was back at FV where one more time we shared the gospel and gave out gifts. Overall it was a great weekend and God was moving! Here is a video of the weekend that the team took followed by a couple photos that Aon took:

Shoe drop from Sarah Dale Simpkins on Vimeo.

Happy Father's Day/Birthday

Today is the King of Thailand's 83rd birthday. In honor of His Majesty, I give you the king's anthem.

Interesting fact: Father's Day and Mother's Day in Thailand always fall on the reigning King and Queen's birthdays.

Happy Father's Day to all the dad's out there!

And Happy Birthday to HM the King! :)