After returning from Hawaii in April, Lori-Ann and I are back in the saddle! Here are our highlights for the month of May:
Thai lessons continue twice-a-week with our gifted and very patient tutor. She now has us telling time in Thai (which is much more complicated than one might think), and praying in the Thai language.
A new endeavor for me: this month I had the pleasure of teaching English regularly with three members of my department. “Teaching” is actually too strong a word, it’s more like letting these guys practice their English speaking and reading skills with me. They certainly are not short on enthusiasm, and I really enjoy my time with them.
We got to celebrate the 25th wedding anniversary for our missionary co-workers and dear friends, Ron and Cissy Boyer. They are also from Hawaii, and were the ones who introduced us to ZOE International.
It was a special evening, and the room was filled with many of the Thai that they’ve gotten to know and love over their nine years of being on the field. The Boyers even renewed their vows that night with all of us as their witnesses!
Once or twice a week our ZOE investigation team supports the Royal Thai Police in doing late night surveillance operations in an effort to locate child victims and their traffickers. We’ve begun visiting new areas as some of our usual haunts have started to become fruitless. We could use your prayers in finding children who need rescuing.
This is a photo of ZOE collaborating with the Royal Thai Police in a recent operation in the early hours of the morning. A foreign national was arrested for allegedly possessing child pornography. While it was quite a fuss for an individual, the evidence collected could assist the police in rescuing child victims, and in locating the traffickers and the distributors of the illegal material.
One event this month that touched my heart in particular was a prevention outreach we did at a village in Northern Thailand. The purpose of our prevention outreaches is to teach children about the current methods of human traffickers, and to share God’s love with them. The location of this particular outreach was a humble church at the outskirts of town. It was away from the village proper for a reason–the majority of the villagers didn’t take too kindly towards practitioners of Christianity. We found ourselves among about 50 children of various ages who were basically outcasts of their village. It was such an alien concept for me coming from a culture where, generally, people are free to express their faith as they wished without any fear of retaliation. I was humbled by the inner strength of the leader of this church and of the children who regularly attended. Their joy was evident and genuine despite being shunned by most everyone they knew, including their loved ones.
Photos from the outreach. The last one is of our team during their human trafficking presentation.
*** ZOE protects the identity and dignity of children and does not show our children’s faces. Any faces shown in photos are of children outside of ZOE. ***
Molly, our fur child, is doing great. She turned four earlier this year but she still thinks she is a puppy. She is quite the communicator (toy poodles are just too smart for their own good). There has been many a time when we are getting ready to head out the door and she will let us know that she really wants to come with us. Her routine is to mosey up to her travel crate, nonchalantly stand up with her two front paws pressed up on the crate, then eventually jump into the crate with a look that says, “PUUH-LEEEASE take me with you!” We didn’t pose her for this picture…honest! As heartbreaking as this is, it’s pretty funny at the same time. I’m sure those of you who are dog owners have seen your own version of this routine.
I couldn’t resist adding this photo. A few weeks ago a couple of my team members asked me if I was hungry. I thought they were being considerate…until they slyly brought out what they wanted to share with me: lightly seasoned and fried bugs with legs and wings and all still attached. I don’t remember what kind of bugs they were, they weren’t crickets, and apparently they are a delicacy. But little did my peeps know, I happen to enjoy eating six-legged critters! Just remember to strip off the legs and wings otherwise they will catch in your throat. These bugs tasted yummy, something like peppered dried shrimp. Of course my…ahem…“friends” were disappointed that I wasn’t freaking out by what they were offering me.
That’s it for this month. Thank you so much for your regular financial gifts and prayer support, we are uplifted by your generosity and care. Here’s how you can be praying for us:
- Provision in finding and hiring additional staff at ZOE. We have been experiencing an influx of newly rescued children now that we are a licensed shelter in Northern Thailand.
- Wisdom for our investigation team in locating children who need rescuing…God knows where they are!
- Our expanding work in Los Angeles, Mexico, Japan and Australia.
- Lori-Ann and I were hit with physical and emotional difficulties not long after our return to Thailand, please pray for us.
