Thai Military Boot Camp?

So another month of wonderful and crazy things has flown by again here in Thailand.

I have gone through a personal down time over the last few weeks after finding out that my Grandmother has passed and gone to wait for us in heaven. My heart has been with my family through it all and I am now even more excited to return in November to spend a month with them, grieving and celebrating life together.

Here in Thailand there have been some truly amazing connections, opportunities and open doors for all of us with Imagine Thailand...and we are excited to see where these doors will lead. Thai language has been a STRUGGLE these first few weeks back...but after spending time in the south again I remembered how important it is for me to learn the language...so this week has actually been refreshingly wonderful again!!!

We took our CARAVAN OF LOVE down south for 5 days to bless the communities we work with in Phangna Province (hardest hit area of the Tsunami). Through our Passport Cafe we gathered 25 Chulalongkorn University students of all different faculties, teamed them with our Imagine Thailand leadership staff, our acoustic music team and 2 foriegners, and we all headed out together. We spent our days living at the Thai Navy Base, a great location with cabins to sleep in, a turtle sanctuary to see with hundreds of turtles, and a beautiful beach for us to start planning the children's camp around. The first day our team was put through the Thai Navy Boot Camp! So much fun, and we all were able to bond over the pain for the next few days! The Chula students who had joined us before were put in charge of planning this 2 day"summer camp" for the children from our supported schools in the area. All these children have lost one or both parents in the Tsunami, typically do not have time for fun, are not usually allowed to go to the beach because their parents are too afraid to return to the sea (even for a swim) and are children who need to know they can be children again. Their ages ranged between 5 and 17 years old (we did not expect the older one to want to come- but they had the most fun!) So we then began two phenomenal days ofteaching English, teaching music, doing arts and crafts, playing crazy games on the beach, and spending time with the children one on one...which climaxed on our last night when we held a music/ game concert for their entire community and then we showed a video of the 2 days for everyone to watch!...the children loved seeing themselves on screen and the families loved seeing what their children had been up to! The camp was both a blessing to them and to us! I was inspired by the leadership the Chula students took and also by how much they opened their hearts, minds and eyes to this world they had never seen before - it touched them all deeply.

My favorite memory was of one 10 year old girl...we were on break from activities and she was showing me around the turtle tanks and just chatting away like any excited young girl...but then she began to speak of the friends and family she lost in the Tsunami, how this beach used to be a place she would come to for fun but since that day it has really been nothing of the sort for her. But with a big smile and open eyes she looked up at me and said "But now it is a fun place again!"...she swam again, played volleyball, sang with her whole heart and when she hugged you she almost would not let go...nothing can break a heart like true happiness returning to the innocent. This is why I love being a part of Imagine Thailand - why I am so excited to help the next generation of Thailand open their eyes to what they can do in their own country, with their own people.

I will be returning to Vancouver for the month of November and I am in need of raising funds to continue my work here in Thailand...if you are interested in how you can be a part of this please let me know. I would love to spend time and share more stories (of which I have many!) if you would like to.

Blessings and thank you - to everyone and to God who makes all things possible for those who believe...