February 14th
We started the day with worship and prayer with the Mighty Oaks Staff at the ministry centre. Gan and David brought a little gift of chocolate for each team member and a blossom from their tree. It was a lovely beginning to the day! Then we organized gifts to bring to one of the hill tribe villages where some of our sponsor children are from. At my the Celebration of Life for my Dad, we had donations given to honour his life. It was that money we used to bless seniors in Thailand. We presented some food gifts to the seniors in the village along with the donation. We shared t-shirts with the villagers and gave dolls to the children that were home because they are too young to go to school. The dolls have exquisite dresses made by some of our sponsors.
Pastor Sirachi and his wife have been active in caring for this village community for many years. The people spend much of their time outside under an awning they erected to enjoy time together. Steve was instructed to be seated there.
Most of the people in the village speak Burmese. So when Steve and Mom spoke, Gan translated to Pastor Sirachi in Thai and then he translated it into Burmese.
The pastor and his wife live simply with bedrolls on the floor with a mosquito net over them since the ceilings are left open to allow airflow. There is an outdoor toilet shared between a few families.
The two pigs that were donated to help with food insecurity have become a successful enterprise. Two pens grew to eleven with 5 large sows and several pens of 1-3 month old piglets. The piglets can be sold to bring income into the village.
We visited the home of Bo, one of the Agape girls who moved into Fang to go to the State school which offers a much higher standard of education than the village area. Bo helps with the younger girls in Agape home driving them to school and helping them with whatever is needed until the house mother, Pree returns home from teaching. In the village, Bo's Mom proudly displayed her three room home with one bedroom for Bo's siblings and one for her parents next to the cooking room with a small cooking area on the floor. Bo's Mom is wearing one of the t-shirts we brought to share! 
The water filtration system has been upgraded and the gardens have grown over a larger area and look healthy and prosperous.
They fed us lunch in a communal eating area. My husband would be proud of me for branching out into new vegetables and flavours! I don't ask too many questions. Everything was delicious or 'aroy' in Thai. 
The community reflects a deep love and concern for one another, a generous hospitality for guests and a deep abiding faith and trust in God to meet their needs and make them a blessing to those whose lives they touch. They offered to pray for us before we left. They pray all at once with their voices mingling with ours in three languages. 
They gifted us each with a hand crafted bag with their unique tribal influence made by the pastor's wife. 
And then of course we had to gather all of us into the photo!
We formed a great bond with these loving friends. We are pleased that they are finding ways to thrive as refugees living on the mountainside without the benefits of Thai citizenship. They have shown a beautiful resilience and reflect God's love in the way they live.
As we drove away, I snapped a few photos of the houses that are still reed matting and tin. I hope they hold up well in the rainy season that is coming soon.
I also enjoyed seeing how bamboo grows in the area!
The orange groves are beautiful as we drive along.
After lunch, Sylvia's sponsor child's mother came over to meet with us. It was an emotional meeting. Sylvia sponsored Meow all the way through to a post secondary education. But she started to show signs of ill health in her last few years of school. She graduated and gained a position working in Bangkok in the government. Her mother was so proud. But just a month after starting her job, she was admitted to hospital for a long fight with liver cancer. Meow's mom shared her memories of that time and the photo's of Meow as she declined. She was the first of the Mighty Oak's children to pass away. It has been a year and a few months, but Meow's mom has been heart broken and unable to work. She asked us to pray with her and before we knew it, Gan was helping her to ask Jesus to be her guide and help as she chooses life again. 
We had some down time before our plan to meet the Agape girls and MOGI staff for a Valentine's dinner. Our team wrote an encouragement on Valentine cards for each staff and presented them each with a box of chocolates that survived the trip in our checked baggage. Sylvia brought a large box of chocolates that went to the Agape girls.
The girls dragged IQ into a Thai dance they prepared to share with us. Then they brought heart stickers to put on all our shirts as a sign of care. The staff led us outside to launch rice paper lanterns into the dark night sky.
Our team felt like we had really captured the spirit of loving one another on this unique Valentine's Day!
I ended the day with a call to Lance and enjoyed a chance to hear how things are going at home. We celebrated Valentine's with a dinner out before I left on this amazing adventure. I felt badly for not being home while Lance recovers from a gum graft surgery and Andrew is not feeling well. I passed along my best treatment ideas and explained where to find them. I asked our team to pray for them both this morning. I'd love it if you would pray for them on the home front!
I hope you had a wonderful Valentine's day!
February 13:
This morning was focused on relaxing with the staff and getting to know them better while Mom and Steve shared some special locations around Fang. We enjoyed a hike around Fang's hot springs where Gan demonstrated that it was hot enough to boil eggs! The geyser was impressive to watch but I was most impressed by the kindness of the staff as they looked out for Mom on the uneven paths, helped her up steps and wanted to share the beauty of Creation with us. They are also really fun! They are quick to laugh and it is a joy to see the fondness and camaraderie that has developed between them. We are so blessed to have such a talented, pure-hearted group to mentor and lead the children and family ministry in Fang!
Steve and David went straight to the hot tubs for men. It is great to see how they care for each other and dream about the future of Mighty Oaks. I'm proud of Steve for his willingness to take on leadership as CEO of MOGI. He has transitioned the ministry into the digital age while still keeping Mom closely involved at the heart of every decision as he learns from her about the connections she and Dad built over the last twenty-two years.
Mom and I had a soak in the mineral hot spring tub for women. We were the only ones there and loved the feel of the water on our skin as the warmth soothed some sore muscles. It felt like an awesome Epsom Salt bath that never grows cold!
Mom wants to share with Sylvia and me all the places that she has enjoyed with Dad over the years. This bridge and waterfall are a perfect stop for a picnic and some photos. We also changed to meet one of the parents of a sponsored child working there on the grounds. Mom enjoyed talking with him through Gan's translation.
We drove through one of the first villages where education sponsorships began. As we were passing by the school, Gan tapped the side of the truck from the back where she sat with the rest of the staff to alert David to stop. A dear friend who teaches at that school was on her lunch break and Gan knew she would want to see Mom.
Pam was teaching at the school in 2004 and chose from the students those most in need of support. Fourteen children were selected and seated on the floor of the Principal's office as Mom and Dad met with the principal. All fourteen were sponsored within a very short time of that meeting by churches in Peterborough and Brantford. Pam and Mom displayed obvious affection for one another as Mom recounted how Pam and her husband had hosted my parents in their home during the early years of discerning how they could be a blessing to Thailand in their retirement years.
While Mom and Pam were talking, a group of girls started to call "hello" to us in English. We began to talk to them but my limited Thai and their limited English made for a short conversation. I asked if they wanted their picture taken. They got excited and posed for me and then I showed the picture to them. Uniforms are standard for teachers and students in Thailand. This is one of the fees that is important to be able to assist with to help children stay in school.
At the gate of the school, one of the trees had an orchid wired onto the side to allow it to grow. I had never seen this before coming to Thailand, but the orchids here are lush and have so many blooms on them!
Often during their trips to Thailand, Mom has assisted teams in creating English lessons to bring into the classroom to share some Canadian culture. This allowed the children to hear Canadian English pronunciation. Teams have been to this school where the sponsorships began many times.
After the school visit, we had lunch together with the staff before heading over to the Thai version of Costco to pick up supplies for food gift baskets for vulnerable seniors in the church and gift bags for the children's camp on Saturday. We filled four shopping carts with food, toothbrushes and pens to give. The staff still managed to fit in the back of the truck with the supplies!
We got right to work filling the bags for the children. What an efficient team! Gan also added Christian education materials to each bag before they were stapled and ready to give away! We made more than 180 bags!
Mom and Sylvia worked on the gift baskets for the seniors and then sorted the dolls, t-shirts and other items that had been donated in Brantford and brought to Thailand to bless the children here. We will go to one of the Hill tribe villages tomorrow where many of our sponsor children live.
This is for the seniors. There are about 20 that will be grateful for a care package!
Tonight we ordered pizza that tasted more like home! Fang has many more options than when my parents first began travelling here! We played a card game with David, Gan and Tum after dinner. It was fun to laugh and have fun together.
I'm heading to bed tired but so grateful!
February 12, 2023:
Our team finished today with a grateful kind of tiredness.
We started the morning at Good News Church where our Mighty Oaks Staff brings a lot of leadership and many of our sponsored families attend. 
I was asked to prepare an activity, game or craft to do with the children before the church service.
I led a learning activity where someone is blindfolded and led by verbal instructions through a maze of children to reach the speaker at the other end. The children were enthusiastic as we took turns with different variations of distraction and leadership through the maze. We talked about the benefit of having someone walk us through the maze instead of shouting instructions over the crazy noise of life. Having the Holy Spirit to lead and guide is such a gift. David is so great with the group and added jokes and fun commentary to my instructions as he interpreted them. It was a fun way to begin!
I led a learning activity where someone is blindfolded and led by verbal instructions through a maze of children to reach the speaker at the other end. The children were enthusiastic as we took turns with different variations of distraction and leadership through the maze. We talked about the benefit of having someone walk us through the maze instead of shouting instructions over the crazy noise of life. Having the Holy Spirit to lead and guide is such a gift. David is so great with the group and added jokes and fun commentary to my instructions as he interpreted them. It was a fun way to begin!Gan opened the morning in prayer and invited our team up to introduce ourselves. They surprised us with a gift of orchids that are grown on the sides of trees here. They all know how much my Mom loves them!
Steve spoke about what kind of legacy we want to leave in life. He did a great job of tying in the morning learning activity so the children could connect to his message. Gan is a wonderful translator. It is exhausting work to listen hard to what is said and then switch languages to capture the thoughts. I am amazed by Gan and David as they demonstrate their love for people in their serving. It is clear that the people love and respect them! Mighty Oaks is in good hands with the staff here. They are awesome people who invest deeply in others.
At the end of the service, Gan invited our team to pray for anyone who wanted prayer. The front of the church was full of people kneeling on the rugs to pray with us. It was a special time of connecting in spirit that transcends words.
After church lunch is shared by everyone. There is a group who serve selflessly in the kitchen to make sure the physical needs of the community are cared for.
Throughout the morning, Mom would reconnect with people who rejoiced in seeing her again.
I captured photos for Mom and after each encounter, I would ask about the story behind their connection. My parents gave one woman a hearing aid they upgraded from, and she could now hear! A blind elderly woman used to crawl around on the bamboo floor of her hut to avoid a hole in the middle that dropped several feet to the ground since it was erected on stilts. Mom and Dad used donations to have that house dismantled and a new concrete home built for her family. 
Story after story helped me see how my parents’ lives are woven into the fabric of the people here. I met my sponsor child at church today. Nat is a beautiful young teen with a reserved manner, but we quickly embraced and felt comfortable standing with an arm around each other as we waited for Gan to facilitate a conversation. She is precious. I am so thankful we got to connect. I will see her again at the camp next weekend!
This afternoon, we hosted a celebration of my Dad’s life at the Mighty Oaks Ministry Centre. It was a beautiful service with elements from our Thai friends and our family.
So many people came from the early days of my parents’ Thailand trips. It was like a reunion for Mom. I tried to keep up with her after the service to capture photo memories of this special day. We met many of our Mighty Oaks graduates who are working in a variety of stable professions. Some travelled three hours from Chiang Mai to be there.
After everyone left, Steve, Mom, Sylvia and I gathered on the upper deck to talk and relax. David, Gan and Beulah (their amazing teen daughter) brought dinner in tonight and we enjoyed recounting parts of the day and one another’s company as we ate together. Mom shared about how in the early years she had to work hard to change mindsets. It took persuasion for some parents and grandparents of our sponsored children to value education over getting them working earlier. The investment in a brighter future has brought a new level of security to whole families. There is so much to be grateful for, and so many young ones we continue to meet who need a chance at an education and a supportive community to become all they can be. This work is just getting started!
February 10:
After a relaxed breakfast in this beautiful seating area at the hotel, we left Chiang Mai for our next adventure further North.
We were so thankful that our lost luggage was delivered to the hotel a day after we arrived. Now those 8 large suitcases and 4 carry-ons and personal bags all were tied into the back of the truck with room left for Gan to stretch out near the tailgate.
It was a three-hour drive to Fang following a road that runs parallel to the mountain range at the Myanmar border. The mountains were so different from any I’d seen in North America. They are tall and narrow like a camel’s hump and covered with tropical forest undergrowth. As we drove the curvy roads, we had a great conversation about spirit houses and the burden of having to appease, strive and earn favour. Grace has been such an important learning curve in my own growth that I was struck by our human need to try to control, please and earn.
After a quick lunch, we finally arrived at our Mighty Oaks Ministry Center – a place I had only seen in digital drawings during the design phase.
The staff came to greet us with beautiful flower wrist hangings, a sign and hugs!
Each room has a name: Goodness, Mercy, Peace and Joy were the rooms we claimed.
It feels luxurious to each have our own room with a bathroom.
The view from the upper deck is stunning and our staff proudly gave us the grand tour of the Isaiah 61 Home, the Ministry Centre and offices, the gardens, the fish pond and the grounds! It is beautiful or สวย (pronounced as sÇ”uai in Thai)! I picking up a few words and phrases of Thai’s tonal language.
This is the view from the upper deck to the back of the property where the Agape girls home, fish pond and gardens are.
We watched the sunset as we dined outside at a place Mom loves. I learned that the smog that shrouds the mountains is caused by smoke from fires even though there is a burn ban during this dry season. The sunset was still magnificent!
When the Isaiah 61 girls arrived home from school we had a rushed introduction and they held up signs they had carefully made to welcome us! Before bed, our team shared a bedtime prayer of thanksgiving for all that God has done to take a small step of faith from my parents and all our partners to build this life-changing program that has transformed so many lives. Amazing grace indeed!
February 11:
This morning we met with staff and the Agape girls for some worship and prayer after breakfast. The builder dropped by and we were able to thank him for his attention to detail and magnificent workmanship!
Today was a preparation day for our church service and Celebration of Life for my Dad tomorrow. The ministry centre is spruced up with flowers and a sheltered area with seating for guests. The pieces of the service were rehearsed.
Once the work was done, we pulled out some games to play with the Agape girls. We had a great afternoon laughing and I made up a visual for each of their names so I won’t forget.
I’m looking forward to our learning activity with the Sunday School before church, Steve’s message, and the wonderful worship led by MOGI’s staff and Agape girls.
One of today’s purchases should help our quality of sleep. We found the beds a bit hard, so David and Steve bought mattress toppers to make tonight a good night!
A cool family touch to each room is a photo taken by my brother enlarged and printed on canvas as a gift from the builder! Our time in Fang at the MOGI ministry centre feels like home away from home!
For the full details see:
The story behind MOGI:
February 9, 2023
Today was our first full day in Chiang Mai. We are still resting up from travel and so are enjoying seeing Mom reunite with dear friends that live in the area! This morning we had three special guests join us for breakfast. I was taking pictures of our beautiful surrounding when Pastor Somsock and his wife and Tippewan stepped into the courtyard with Gan! Mom was surprised and thrilled to see them. Mom shared photos and stories with these friends she has made over her seventeen trips to Thailand.
After breakfast and goodbyes, we headed to a favourite destination in the area: The Umbrella Factory. Historically, the umbrellas were made by villagers for ceremonies in the monasteries, but as they grew in popularity, they became a source of income post-harvest season. It is a pleasure to watch this 200-year-old craft still performed by hand. The shop is full of vibrant colours and provided Sylvia with lots of great gift ideas!
We had lunch back at our hotel before heading up to a temple that sits at the top of a mountain overlooking Chiang Mai. The view is incredible, and the flowering trees and plants are matched in beauty by the ornate gilded craftsmanship of the temple and grounds. It is easy to get a feel for the Buddhist roots in Thailand and the striving for peace, serenity, and enlightenment.
We sat by a small lake surrounded by terraced flower gardens for dinner. We soaked in the fragrances and colours of spring after leaving the cool greys and browns of Canadian winter. It was a feast for the senses. It is easy to find gratitude for our days together here!
I am loving the exchanges around the table, in the truck and walking along the way that happens in community. Today David purchased some pads for sitting in the back of the truck. I found it a way more comfortable way to travel! I got some amused looks from local motorists as I faced the oncoming traffic! 
We are so grateful for these days of regaining strength for our time in Fang! We head up to our Mighty Oaks Ministry Centre in Fang tomorrow! We can’t wait to see the land and buildings that have developed from generous donations since the last time I was here in 2015.
