Off to the Farm

Today we went to a city (Wiang Pa Pao) up north where Asia's Hope has a farm. It was a long and winding trip up the mountain! At the farm, Asia's Hope is planning to be a place of refuge for widows who are from the hill tribes and surrounding areas. They are also working on developing a farm for growing fruits and vegetables to feed to children at the orphanages. The farm was sold to Asia's Hope from a Christian Lawyer here in Thailand who was unable to pay the mortgage on the land and the house. By the work of God, the money for the farm came in on the same day the bank was planning to repossess the land. What perfect timing! As you can see, the house is beautiful and the land is perfect for what the current plan is for this area. We spent the day painting and cleaning up the house. We went through two large tubs of paint on the inside and almost the same amount on the outside in about 2.5 hours - the house is HUGE! They need about 30 more large tubs of paint to finish the whole thing. 

Here's a photo of Jen - she's painting! :) And Sherrod explaining some of the medical supplies we were able to give to this home. There are six people currently living in the house - a young married couple who are expecting a baby, Tutu's (the orphanage director) parents, and two widows, so the supplies will be put to good use. Vista's gift has gone a long ways - to four different places here in Thailand and will extend to Cambodia next week. Wow! Thank you! 

After this small undertaking we drove back down the mountain at like 80 miles an hour in a van - thank heavens Jen and I did NOT sit up front. But we made it back safely. :) And we went back to the guest house and cleaned up for dinner. We had dinner at a "mall" food court with a McDonald's and a KFC. The French Fries in Thailand taste just like the American ones and they were delicious! Mmmmmmm...delicious.

Then we went back to Doi Saket 1 to lead worship with the children. Some of the High School students had made sock puppets before leaving on the trip and they put on a puppet show with Sherrod for the children. They loved it! AND - the girls weave bags to sell for spending money. A few of us bought quite a few of them for $10 each and the girls are able to use that money for their own personal things - kind of like an allowance. They're great handbags and made beautifully by weaving them in a loom. 

We spent a bit a time playing with the children and then we came back to the guest house to prepare for tomorrow. More teaching for me (Cristen) and some nursery time for Jen - hooray!

Here are two photos of Jen and I with children at the Doi Saket 1 orphanage during the puppet show. It was great to see them again tonight and we're hoping to be able to see them one last time tomorrow before heading to Cambodia.