Last Thursday we had the opportunity to witness and be a small, (very small) part of a rice harvest that the children and caregivers are raising and selling. They plant and harvest by hand. Very tedious work! They currently have almost 10 acres of rice growing. The typical rice field is about 4 to 5 acres. After the harvest they sell the rice and begin the next crop. They can do this twice a year. This earns them an income and it also helps with their food supply.

The following day Sharon led a sewing class teaching some of the older girls. It was all hands on for this class. They each made a bag that they could use for some of their things. The class was a success! It was very interesting to watch the intensity of these girls working on their projects. High school girls working diligently and not giggling and gossiping was impressive to me. This is the second or third class they have had on sewing and they need more practice but I believe in the future these girls could make items to sale for income!

There are a couple of significant things happening with the rice and the sewing class. First thing of significance is the breaking of the welfare dependency on handouts. That’s no small task to change a group of people’s way of thinking and believing. It also gives these children a new hope for their future!

Surely there is a future, and your hope will not be cut off. Proverbs 23:18

To see more photos of the rice harvest and sewing class visit our FaceBook photo page.

Today in Chiang Mai we meet with Vance and Juanita. Vance walked us through two exercises. The first one was a discussion about our journey. The second was a problem tree.

Our journeys are a path and we need to be moving forward. We heard yesterday at the Not For Sale Asian Pacific Forum on Human Trafficking that at times we stumble but that moves us along our path a little faster. It is good for us to know where we are on our journey and where we are headed. We all talked a little about where we were on our path and we are all in a similar place. That is essentially being the feet and hands of Christ to serve Him walking with poor to begin a process of alleviating poverty.

The second exercise that we walked through was a problem tree. Imagine a picture of a tree above the ground line and the roots below the ground. Write the issue on the trunk then write the effects of the issue on the branches of the tree with the causes that we do not see on the roots of the tree. We went through this exercise with poverty on the trunk and then we worked on the cause and effects of poverty writing them in the branches and the roots. It is a very interesting exercise in helping us think through the cause and effect of poverty. One realization that I think we all came to is there is not one simple answer to rid ourselves of poverty and all the issues are intertwined.

A big part of this, I think, is for us to live and work through Isaiah 1:17 especially the first part. “ learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow’s cause.” (Emphasis are mine.) Learning to do good requires us to read, think, talk, and process. Seeking justice calls us to work against broken systems that keep people in poverty. Of course this brings up many questions and issues that will not be solved by one person, one organization, or one answer that fits all situations.

How are you “learning to do good” and “seeking justice.”

Thank you for all of your support in making this mission trip happen! We leave on October 30th. It will be here before we know it.

We are planning to take the kids shopping, to the zoo, to a farm and maybe a few other things but this all might be in jeopardy due to the flooding. Please be in prayer for Thailand and that flood waters will recede also pray for good travels and flights will be on time.

I am going to post daily events (as long as I have wifi) while we are gone to keep you updated and pictures will be on Facebook.