Last Full Day Here

Tuesday...5:00pm - Last night we had the birthday party for the children. They could hardly contain themselves while they were waiting for us to finish blowing up balloons and hang streamers. They came streaming into the room with glee ready to celebrate. We sang happy birthday for them all and then two of the youngest children blew out candles. Each child got a cupcake - a treat for them! We sang songs - and Chipper taught them a new song. It was called He Knows My Name - and was especially appropriate for them after our Father's Day service the day before. It is about how we have a Father and a Maker who created us, will never leave us, and always loves us.

I (Jen) felt especially drawn to the older girls last night. I tend to play a lot with the little ones who are constantly coming up to us and asking for attention. But I felt last night like I needed to just be with the older girls. They also just love to be hugged and held - and have missed out on that in their lives. The girls who I interacted with held on to me for a long time, and only left my side when I needed to go out into the cooler air. I will miss them when we leave tomorrow.

We are winding down our time here. This morning we went back to the Christian school to teach more English to the children. You'll be happy to know that they are very good at the Hokey Pokey and Chipper says. We went with numbers and ages today as well as more songs. Everyone on the team enjoyed the time with them.

Some of us also went to a couple of shops - an umbrella factory and a pottery factory. The process for making paper umbrellas was very interesting. They make each part and then hand paint each umbrella and fan.

This evening we are again hanging out with the orphans. We have been told that they make bags and shirts in their traditional colors and patterns for us to purchase. The children get the money to spend. Many of us have been saving spending money to buy their items.

We are also going out to an authentic Thai restaurant tonight. We will be sitting on the floor to try differnt types of Thai food.

The team begins leaving tomorrow. We (Chipper and Jen) fly to Bangkok tomorrow (Wednesday) at 7:30 and begin the long trek home early Thursday morning at 1:15am. We should arrive in Columbus on the morning of the 29th at 6:15am. Blogs will be scarce between here and there, but if we have time, we will keep you up to date on our travel. When we get back to the states, we will also post more pictures of our time here, so keep checking. See you all soon!