Back to Basics @ Bow and Boots

The last few days I have been staying at Bow and Boot’s house – the second children’s home on the property. Until now, I have been staying at the larger children’s home – which is a much nicer building and where R-Nhu typically houses guests and short-term interns.  With Nhu gone for a little while, I have had some extra time and it was important to me to spend some quality time with the girls who live at the other home. I have really bonded with the girls I live with, and naturally so – but I wanted to make sure that I really connect with the other girls and get to know them on a deeper level as well. They speak much less English, so I am really being pushed to use my Thai!

Living at the other house has been so fun and though the conditions are much more rough, I am loving spending time over there. Their house is simply big enough for their bunk beds and storage containers. They eat, do homework, and live the rest of the time in an open area under a grass roof. I am brushing my teeth in the mornings using water from the hose and a little cup because they do not have sinks. Showers, like at the other house, are cold and you use a bowl to scoop water out of a giant bucket (imagine garbage can that goes out at the street). It is definitely an adjustment to only be inside when I am sleeping (or working at the other house).

 

The girls literally melted my heart when I heard how excited they were that I was coming to bunk with them for the next week. I think I may need to make it a more regular occurrence during my time here. Despite their living conditions, these girls are happy and fun and smart and silly and I am sure I’m learning more from them than they are from me.  I know I’ve said it before, but what a joy to share my life with these girls and what a privilege it is to be a part of their story.

Another fun little treat has been sharing my evenings with a “toukay” (no idea what the English spelling of this word is). Toukays are lizards who, if they decide to bite you, lock their jaws, and do not let go until they are dead… literally. So…. We are kind of scared of them around here. Doesn’t sound like fun to me trying to kill a lizard whose jaws are locked onto my flesh! Well, we have a toukay living on the roof at the house. It frequently makes its homes in the framing and two nights ago I swear it was inside the pole a foot above my bunk. They make this gurgling sound and then literally say “toukay” – hence their name. Fun lil creatures…

On a more serious note, it has been nice also to separate my work and living spaces. Until now, I have been working in my room for the most part, so it is nice to divide these two parts of my life. I have been so much more focused all around! And now, when I leave my work – I literally am able to just leave it and turn my attention 100% to my family here.  With a lot of teams here for the U.S. summer months, I have needed to be more disciplined in how I am spending my time, and this has made it so much easier!

The World Race team here has also been a major blessing. (World Race = missionary organization that sends teams out to visit 11 countries in 11 months! www.theworldrace.org). I am absolutely loving getting to know this group of people, and they have been awesome enough to let me share in their worship and group devotional times – how I’ve missed that! A seriously transforming time and I am so excited with the way God is transforming my heart and my mind in the last few weeks. “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” (Romans 12:2a)

<3 Blessed <3

The power in a voice... "Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves" - Proverbs 31:8

“The LORD hears the needy and does not despise his captive people… For he will deliver the needy who cry out, the afflicted who have no one to help… I know that the LORD secures justice for the poor and upholds the cause of the needy.”

(Psalm 69:33, Psalm 72:12, Psalm 140:12)

As part of my role here with Remember Nhu, I recently began working with a fundraising consultant from the U.S. who is teaching me a lot about business in an international non-profit environment. We have been talking a lot about different fundraising techniques/ideas, and one of things he told me really struck my heart.

Fundraising for a cause like R-Nhu is ultimately not about the money. It is about giving these children a voice. It is about saying for them what they are unable to say themselves.  If they themselves could tell people their stories and if people would stop for just a moment in their busy lives and listen, oh how we could change the world!

My precious little sisters, and the other children who share similar stories have cried out to the Lord – and HE HAS HEARD THEM. The Bible says that God will hear the cries of the needy and the oppressed. Remember Nhu is one of the ways he is answering their call. The verses from the Psalms that I have at the top of this post are reminders to myself that God loves for these young women more than I can possibly imagine.

I have been encouraged as I get to know my girls to be their voice, to tell their story, and let my life be a bridge to those back home. I love each and every one of these girls as my own sisters and I have a responsibility to them now to let their voice be heard. Their story is now interwoven into my story, and I will do my best to share their hearts, and their stories with the world.

One of my loves – Lidi’s story (*name changed for her protection):

Many of the children at Remember Nhu have stories that will reach into your heart. One of those children is Lidi. When Lidi was three-years old, both of her parents were put in prison to serve life sentences for drug trafficking.
At that time, Lidi was left on her own to be cared for by other members of her village. She was often responsible for herself, and lived “homeless” over the next two years old (aged 3-5). 

When she first came to our children’s home, she was very small (assumedly as a result of malnutrition), but also extremely independent for a five-year old. For the two years she was on her own, my sister had grown accustomed to doing whatever she wanted, whenever she wanted. She is feisty and much too cute for her own good.  In the six months she has been here, I have already seen so much change in her. Under the close watch of her sisters, and houseparents she is quickly maturing and growing into an amazing young woman and I cannot wait to see what God has planned for her! At five years old, this girl is so charismatic, so playful, so amazingly full of life. I cannot imagine what her life would have been like if it weren't for God's intervention in her life through R-Nhu, but thankfully - I don't ever have to. :)

My girlies are all here now, and their lives will be forever changed. But there are others who still need to know they too have been heard. The girls who are already here need to be recognized, and loved, and prayed for – DESPERATELY prayed for.

Prayer Requests:

o   Salvation for the new girls who are learning about the Lord but haven’t decided yet whether or not they want to accept Christ

o   That they would each find their true identity in the Lord, knowing they are deeply loved and found beautiful

o   That they would encourage and keep each other accountable as they grow up amidst hardship

o   Protection and courage for our girls to live as a Christian in a Buddhist society – their families, friends, and schools are all stacked against them

o   That God would already be preparing God-fearing men to someday be their husbands and encourage them to continue to grow in their faith and live their whole life to the glory of God

o   That they would be a light within their own community and a witness to their own country

o   That people all over the world would continue to be changed, and affected by their story to the point that they would be willing to make a difference in their lives