We have had an exciting 10 days serving together with the
mission team of 6 members from Camp Ground UMC of Bonnieville, KY. Camp Ground UMC has supported Blessing Home
faithfully for several years, and they worked hard to raise the funds to send
this team. All six were hard workers and
also a great blessing to us and the Thai people.
WOW! Did this
Campground team really accomplished a lot in a few days.
1. They built a new
large storage room on the third floor and built new shelves as well.
2. They moved
everything from our old 2nd floor storage room and old 3rd
floor storage room into the new storage room.
This freed up the 2nd floor storage room to be used as a new
classroom for the Blessing Home ministry.
They gave funds to install an AC unit in this new classroom. We really needed the new classroom because we
now have 71 children in the nursery (a total of 101 children are now served by
Blessing Home). We desperately needed an
extra classroom to cope with the large increase of children being served
here. Now that the old storage room on
the third floor is empty, it is available to serve as a room for Pioneer
Pastors to stay when they come for training.
Now we have two rooms available for Pioneer Pastors rather than just
one.
3. The team painted
the cabinets on the second floor, the ones that the team from Petrie Memorial
built. The cabinets look fantastic.
4. They bought the
equipment (TV, Blueray, and computer) for a new teaching station on the second
floor. We are now able to use new
resources for teaching both Thai and English to the children as well as
Christian education.
5. Our kitchen had
some awful plumbing problems, which caused the sewers to back up and make a
horrible mess. Pastor Banya made a
temporary fix, but unfortunately it did not meet code. This team bought a new grease trap and pump
system that allows our kitchen to function once again and meet code.
6. Andrea and Kelly,
two sisters who were members of the team and are both teachers, lectured at a special
seminar at Burupha University (a workshop on connecting with students to
develop critical thinking skills, and also a workshop on teaching special needs
children with an emphasis on autism).
They were so well received that they received invitations to come back
to teach at the University. Kelly also
led a workshop with some of the guardians of the Blessing Home children on
nutrition. We were very pleased at the
questions that the guardians had. Kelly
really connected with them.
7. The team also did
repairs on the apartment of Khao Haum, a young girl with severe mental and
physical disabilities. The cramped
ghetto apartment was unsafe for this young girl. The stair railing was broken. The safety rail on the balcony was broken
(they must leave the balcony door open to get air circulation in the steaming
hot city, so this was a dangerous situation).
Also the door did not have a proper handle or lock. The team fixed up the apartment and made it
much safer. They also bought some of the
jewelry that Khao Haum’s mother sells to make a living. They greatly blessed this poor family.
8. The team also
helped missionaries Carol Fare and Vicki Brown to teach English to the older
students at Blessing Home on Saturday morning, enhancing their education.
9. They also brought
and made many teaching aids for Carol and Vicki to design special learning
stations for the children. The children
loved the blocks and other educational toys and manipulatives that they made
and brought to Blessing Home.
10. Last, but not
least, they were a great encouragement to the Blessing Home Staff and the
United Methodists here in Pattaya.
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| Zack, the youngest member of the Camp Ground Mission Team, was a tireless worker for the Lord. |
Thank you for everything, Camp Ground UMC.
If you are interested in coming next year to serve on a mission team
in Thailand, see our TEAM THAILAND website at http://thailandmethodist.blogspot.com/
