After an eight-hour bus ride and a thirteen-hour train ride, we arrived safely at our temporary home in the lively city of Chiangmai. After settling in and exploring the city we helped clean and paint at a local ministry that provides temporary housing for women.

At the onset of our first full week of ministry, our squad was split into two groups of five people. One group has been working at a women's ministry doing things like painting, making journals, and spending time building relationships.

The group I'm part of has been serving at an after-school program called Tawsaeng which translates to the very first light of dawn. When the students arrive at Tawsaeng we usually play games for a while, worship together, and then it's lesson time. The students are respectful, receptive, and generous. We've enjoyed getting to know them as we’ve played soccer together each week, eaten weird foods, danced, baked, listened to the word, etc. We also had the special privilege of watching two of the students be baptized.
The teachers we’ve worked alongside truly care for their students and are showing them how to use what they are learning to help others. One way they involve their students is by going into the surrounding villages and giving out food, teaching, and sharing the good news of the gospel.
It has been a great blessing to be a part of what God is doing through this ministry and to watch these students as they are being transformed by the love of God. May His name continue to be glorified here in Thailand.