The rest of the day can be best summed up as eating, eating and more eating. After church, which Zac and I got to share in, Dune, one of our staff and dear friend, made me coffee from the coffee beans at her house and sticky rice with mango. Oh yummy! Before I even finished though, Philip came to tell me lunch was ready. So I took my sticky rice and headed over for lunch. Lunch was a feast, oh my. It looked like we hardly touched the food, but we ate as much as we possibly could. Then the girls took me back to their house and fed me candy and fruits. It kept coming and coming!!! SO by the time we ate dinner with Faa, we were already still stuffed. But we found room!
A highlight of the day, well there are so many, was a trip to Duen's house. Her husband and mother in law live within walking distance. Several of us donned with umbrellas due to the sun, walked over with her. I met her family. She should me the coffee bean plants, the jackfruit trees, the mango trees and so much more they have in their "garden". She also gave me raw coffee beans with instructions on how to roast them. Can't wait to try it when I get home.
Monday was spent with the GROW staff in their weekly staff meeting, then off to lunch all together. After lunch, Faa and met to discuss board items. Zac then got a lesson on driving the motorbike. He then rode around the property and easily got the hang of it.
Dinner was amazing. Fresh fish cooked on the fire and barbeque, stick rice with mango and coke. We cooked and ate outside with the awesome mountain view surrounding us. What a beautiful place this is.
We had to say our goodbyes to the GROW kids. Once again, one of the girls cried as she hugged me goodbye. I asked Ning to translate for me as I told her what a special young lady she was and how God had a big plan for her life. She is so soft-hearted and sweet. She knows exactly what she has been rescued from and is so grateful. I cannot be more thankful to God that we were able to rescue her!!!
This was a double night of goodbyes because after we left the GROW farm, we stopped at GP to spend a little time and say goodbye. Oh how I was blessed to sit with Toradorn and Rachonikorn bad sing "As the Dear Pants" with them as they played the keyboard and the guitar. SO many of the kids were sitting ion small groups playing together their instruments. Another highlight from this trip is the time Joy, our new staff, spent with us translating with the kids. They asked many questions and had many things to share with us. They all wanted to take turns telling us things. Of course all the girls were amazed at how talk Zac was and only a year older than him. They took turns standing next to him to see where they came to him. SO much fun. We had a chance to ask the kids who traveled to Korea about their trip. All of them said the best thing was seeing the people worship. Toradorn did say he was afraid flying. I guess they had some turbulence on their flights. He said he loved the city and didn't want to come back.
Of course the goodbyes are always bittersweet. They all really want their sponsors to come like we do. I tried to explain that we can come so many times because God has given us a different situation so it is possible. I explained that most people in the US cannot travel like we get to. I didn't realize how our coming so often made the kids feel about why their own sponsors don't come. I did my best top explain, but I am not sure if they really understand or not.
Today, Tuesday, we head back to CM and then fly off to Cambodia tomorrow.
No comments:
Post a Comment