BURIRAM

I was excited to get to Buriram and visit the church that is there. Going there and being able to see the church again for a visit and talk with P Charlee and his family was after all most of the reason we were in Thailand. It took most of a days travel to get there, leaving the guest house at 6:30 in the morning and getting to Buriram at around 5 at night. We did get a chance to visit the child Vallerie sponsors with world vision along the way, which did take up a bit of the time and definitely more than worth it.

That evening we were able to visit the family a bit and even walk down to the end of the road to visit the market that is there on Friday evenings. Vallerie opted out of buying the pigs head that was sitting on the table and instead bought some oranges to eat on during the weekend. P Charlee was out on the rice fields trying to finish up his work there so he didn’t come home till later. I was able to sit down and talk with P Bam about helping some of the kids in the area with their schooling. This was good because it’s very easy talking with her since she remembers to talk to me like I’m a kid. (I hope she does this because she realizes it’s easier for me to understand her and not because she thinks that my maturity level warrants that type of talk, though I’m sure some here might disagree.)

The church was excited about the opportunity to help the kids in the area. Right now P Bam told me there was about 10 or 12 kids she can think of that could really use the help. We were able to raise $1500 to help with the costs of school for the kids which should be a great start. They took us over to one of the families house that we are able to help with the program to be. An elderly lady named Yai Mo lives there and is raising her two grandchildren, 14 and 11 years old. This is a real common thing around this area for the children growing up to be raised by relatives while their parents have either left or have gone to work in the city looking for money. The strain it puts on the family members left to raise the kids can be pretty large.

Yai Mo weaves grass thatching together, used to make roofs on small houses or huts. She was weaving them when we got there, I would say it takes about 30 minutes to make one of them and she can hopefully sell them for around $0.40 a piece. P Bam told me how she used to sit around and drink all day before coming to the church. Yai Mo came to the church there and became a Christian. The house she lived in with her grandchildren was very small and made out of grass. It was still standing when we went to visit her. After coming to the church, she stopped drinking all together and the small church wanted to help them. They pooled some money together so they could build a proper house for her, complete with everything but a bathroom, they still shower outside next to the house (not uncommon) and go into the woods for the bathroom (probably also not uncommon). It was great to see how the church comes together to help its own out, even when this is by no means a church with money. Most of the people in the church are struggling to make it themselves, spending long hours at a time farming rice.

It was good to visit Yai Mo and meet some of the people we are able to help (I mean all of us when I say we). I was really encouraged by the church there and also seeing the dedication and sacrifices of P Charlee and his family to stay there spearheading the church. I’m excited to see this new program take shape and I look forward to next year when we plan to go back and see how things have been going. I’m also hoping to spend a lot more effort increasing my Thai here in the States to help with our phone conversations.

Thank you guys for also making sacrifices to help the broken families like Yai Mo’s. The people in the church wanted me to tell you that they are grateful for your guys’ support of them!

P Charlee holding Gaga and his family, Cherry, Peach, and P Bam.













P Bam teaching the kids at one of the cell groups. P Charlee and P Bam travel about 4 nights a week to teach cell groups in villiages nearby. It's difficult for the people there to make church on Sunday morning, most of them have no way to get there. P Charlee teaches the adults and P Bam takes the kids.








Inside P Charlee's house. This is the dining/storage/my bedroom/sancutary/lounge room.












Getting ready for church. Peach plays drums, Cherry sings and is on keys, P Bam sings. Me and Vallerie were in the next room with P Charlee who had bible study with us on what he was going to be preaching and praying together.










The congregation on Sunday morning.














Childrens church in the next room.


















P Charlee drove us to the bus station that afternoon, as well as his younger sister who was heading back to Bangkok to find work. His sister left her son with the family to take care of while she was gone. That is common around this area, not because of cultural reasons so much, but out of need to earn money to raise the child.








Right before getting on the bus for the 4 hour trip back to Bangkok.