Avin's story

I have come to Thailand with open hands and I have fallen in love with this country in a matter of months. In February, I landed on the solid ground of Bangkok, Thailand after following a intense call from God to move my life here. I left my job, home, family and security to see what would lie on this side of the world.

I had no idea what I would find here, but what I did has made it impossible to leave. The smiles of the Thai people, the hearts of those serving God through out the country, the university students craving answers to the questions of their hearts, and the people in poverty here...all touch something deep inside that have never known before.

They have left impressions that I am not able to forget. That is why I am still here.

I have taken the opportunity to work with Imagine Thailand and serve Thailand. I am developing the internal human resource department for Imagine Thailand, as we are growing quickly, I am co-teaching Leadership at Chulalongkorn University with Peter Dove and mentoring the young Chula women. I am leading mission teams to the relief and development projects we administer around Thailand (Thai-Burmese border towns, water filtration projects for migrant schools, Post-Tsunami recovery work, ChildCare Plus monitoring, income-generation project for widows in the deep south), and I am also developing the CSR arm of Imagine Thailand. Oh, and I am enrolled full-time in Thai language courses!

Why am I doing this?

I believe that God is moving in new ways in Thailand and I am so blessed to be a part of what He is doing. I can see this in the faces of our Thai staff as they connect with those who have not understood the hope God offers and I see this in the faces of the people I am blessed to interact with on a daily basis. Whether it be the sixty-three year old grandmother I met while working in her slum or the Chula female students I get to "do life" with, they are all searching for something. They are asking questions about life, hope and the purpose behind it all...I can not tell you the amount of times I get asked why I am here, and everytime my story means something different to the person I am with.

I invite you to explore more about the issues that make Thailand unique and be a part of what we are doing here.

- Avin Houghland