We left our hotel at 8:30 to drive together in a large van to Concordia Day Care about an hour away. We went in through tall locked gates into a court yard and then were escorted into a classroom with 66 shining smiling faces staring at us. They greeted us with shouts of excitement and counted us off in English as we entered the room and our day began. There was no air conditioning, but that didn't matter since we spent our entire day outside! Sandy had been waiting for her chance to present and present she did. She had a wonderful day planned for the children and the five from our group that remained were her assistants - and assist we did! We started out with some songs being sung. Of course, Tak, from Journey Into Light, was there with his Ukulele to accompany as we sang "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes" faster and faster. Then, we sang our new favorite Thai song in English, "This Is My Hand, Not Your Hand!" Any one of us would be willing to teach you when we get home because we look for chances to sing it. And good times continued. Sandy's assistants had the best job because we got to play with the children. As always, there are several children that tug on your heart. The funny thing was that we all had different children tugging. God was definitely at work in our hearts. I keep saying that, just like the Grinch, our hearts continue to grow. After singing and the story of the first Christmas, told in English and translated into Thai, we were on our way with games.
We had stations of bubble blowing, parachute toss, play doh station, hot potato station, ball toss, chalk and a variety of crafts. The crafts included painting, sticke\rs, markers, and putting crosses together. The children had so much fun and so did we. We can't explain how we felt: that we were involved with these children and that they seemed to love us as much as we loved them.
As our time together ran down, the children were prepared for a meal and a nap and we were given the opportunity to tour the area of foot with our leader from Concordia. She quietly took us into homes in the slums where people lived with almost nothing. The first man, who lie on the floor of his one room home, was paralyzed and was on their regular visitation list because he lived alone. He allowed us to pray with him and we went to the next home. We also visited the home of a woman with diabetes who has had her leg amputated and is being helped with medical care. She has an old wheelchair outside in case she has to be transported, but basically lives on the floor of her "house". As we walked through this village we wondered how they managed to live here. We walked past an outdoor area where several people were together eating lunch, it looked like the 4 women from one family. They had a baby inside a primitive cradle of cloth which was tied to two posts. It was very clever actually and allowed the baby to sleep. I stopped every time we passed them, did a "Y" and a sa-wad-dee kah (a humble pose with a Thai greeting) and told them their baby was beautiful. By the second time past them, they asked me if I could join them for lunch. This is the part that is so hard for us to explain. The Thai people are the most generous, humble and kind people we have ever met. We are also humbled by what we saw and felt.
Our evening was one of fun and laughter as we invited the staff of Journey Into Light and Concordia to join us for bowling at a local establishment. A good time was had by all - lots of laughter and absolutely no bowling skills! We have begun to view our new Thai friends as extended family.
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