We left Baan Kharm on Thursday morning, with many tears as we left our new found friends behind.
Our final week in the village was amazing. On Sunday, Sean was sick in the morning and by the time I got home from church, I was not feeling well myself. Then Timothy and Joshua came down with fevers in the middle of the night. There was an amazing storm that night, and many of us were up praying and marveling at the show that was unfolding before us in the heavens. Continuous thunder and flashes of lightning that just rolled into each other. The rain poured down in sheets – it was so heavy I wondered if we would have a flood.
Monday morning all was well, but we spent extra time praying for the village, worshiping and inviting God’s presence to dwell there. We decided to visit some surrounding villages, too, in order to pray for the sick and needy. Over the next 3 days, while we wrapped up the English Camp, we also spent extra time in prayer for the village and our hosts, Tdai and Jumnong.
On Wednesday our team and the village kids gave presentation of all that they had done in the 7 day English camp. I was looking forward to being a part of this, but Timothy was still sick and grumpy, so home we went… but I heard that the Thai dance that the girls had learned was a hit.
We got up extra early on Thursday morning so that we could pack up and get to the train by 11am. Our truck was heavy laden, and I wondered if it would make it over the mountains – there’s a pretty narly hairpin turn on the road between Baan Kharm and Lampang. But thankfully we made it without any trouble. With time to spare, we decided to take the kids for a ride on the famous Lampang horse drawn carriages. The 4 kids were so excited. I love to watch the sheer delight on my kids faces. Samantha has been very excited about her upcoming birthday, and so it was perfect timing to give her a birthday treat. I also got to cross something off my bucket list!!! LOL.
The train ride was pretty uneventful. But we arrived about 90 minutes late. I’m so used to these trains being late, it never occurred to me that I should warn the team. It’s just something I assume these days. But as 3pm rolled around, I heard a Thai saying we were one hour late. Then Blake said, “We’re almost there right?” Uh oh! I don’t mind being late, but having to endure 90 minutes of “Are we there yet?” got really old! I guess it’s just training for my near future.
So, now we are in Phitsunalok, and here’s an updated map so you can see where that is. The families are staying in a hotel, and the rest of the single students are staying at Khun Taa’s house, which is also the YWAM base. Personally, I find living in an air conditioned hotel harder than living in a village house. The kids agree with me. They need space to play and run. Samantha didn’t flinch when we arrived in Baan Kharm – she kept commenting on how cool it all was. But since arriving here she’s been very unsettled. It’s been really hard to get her to sleep at night. Being contained in a hotel room drives her & Timmy crazy, and chasing them around the hotel car port (as she chases the dogs) drives me crazy. Hopefully we’ll be able to find some cool playgrounds for the kids to let off some steam each day.
So, ministry here in Phitsanulok is very different to village ministry. We’re still working with a church planter, and we’ll still be teaching English to the kids in Khun Taa’s neighbourhood. But we’ll also be spending time with skateboarders and break dancers in the evenings, and doing some workshops with the church this weekend.
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