Thailand Recap 1

Good Morning! (sa wat dee krahp/KAH)

Well, since you all are waking up, I am heading to bed. With a 12 hour time change, sleep is difficult to adjust to! haha I arrived here on Saturday night very late, and have been going non stop ever since! I came in thinking I would be helping these kids, or changing them, but oh as you know, they have completely changed me.

I am overwhelmed as there are 75 of them, and 1 me. Every name is difficult to pronounce and every child is unique and has a story. Every child though is so loving, so curious and so respectful. I started to type, its been an amazing couple of days already in grace, and I realized that it is EXACTLY THAT! Grace: simple elegance or refinement of movement: the condition or fact of being favored by someone: a divinely given talent or blessing.

Learning these kids stories from Yao is heartbreaking as I watch them laugh and play like the most joyful children you've ever seen! Stories of abandonment, sexual abuse and rape, parents attempting to sell their kids for money (because the family is so poor) to having no parents and orphaned. You would never know this was the case, because their eyes of excitement and love overtake any doubt you may have about them. 

When asking Yao to explain the process, she explained to me that they see how many children they can add to "The Family" at the beginning of the year, and goto the villages because they have received word or have had children brought to them. Yao said it is very sad because there are lines out the door of children who want or need to be taken in from these villages, and they have to decide very carefully and only take what they can! Guys, there are so many children on the waiting list! (girls) Who will only end up in sex trafficking, marrying a very old man, or end of putting themselves into prostitution. 

Grace used to be just a home for girls, until Charles and his wife decided that the men of this country need to rise up and be leaders as well. So in this home that I am in right now there is a girls home, a boys home and a little kids home. All with set schedules, chores and responsibilities. I have become a part of the family. Today I walked the little ones over a mile to school, helped with chores, and have eaten all their meals with them. (local, real, authentic thai food) haha! With all 85 of us on the floor eating! 

Writing this recap, there is so much to tell you and so much to say, yet not enough words to explain the awe, the pain, the humility, and overall love I feel for these children. But the feeling I have for the wonderful staff however, can be explained in one word: Admiration. They are incredible and have all been through very difficult life situations and hardships themselves, in fact two of them graduated from Grace, went to college and came back to get a job! So while I am here I have the honor and privilege to teach them English and they are so eager to learn! 

Thank you for your thoughts and prayers for me + these wonderful people