Thai Peace Foundation

Hello from Thailand!

 My name is Meagan. I have been working alongside my teammate Allie doing a few different things than our teammates and would like to share a bit about what we have been doing in our time here. Each morning we teach an English class at Santisuk, but that is just the beginning of our day. We are both majoring in Non-Profit Administration, so we were given an opportunity to work with the Thai Peace Foundation. Their focus is on church planting and community development in slum communities in Bangkok. When we arrived we had very little idea of what we would be doing here in Bangkok. A couple days after arriving, we got to get an idea of their ministry and how we will be involved in it during our month here. One of the things we are doing regularly and have never done in the past is teaching English. This is something that Allie and I both were not expecting to be doing, but we have been really enjoying so far.

Building relationships has been the primary focus in each of our ministries. This is done with the hope of planting seeds in the hearts of those we interact with and that they will desire to know more about Jesus. We have been able to glimpse this through one of the missionary families that lives in the slum they work in and showing what true incarnational ministry looks like. Our Sunday mornings are spent in this slum community helping as best as we can with a children’s program run by volunteers from the church plant nearby. The goal of this time is to open up a room for the kids in the community to come and have a place of quietness. Most of the children here do not have their own space and this ministry provides that space for an hour every week. During the quiet time the kids are able to read or color by themselves. The second hour is a time of fun worship songs and games played together. These kids are so sweet and we pray that they feel the love of Jesus through each one of the volunteers there.

 A couple times a week, directly following teaching at Santisuk, we hop on a bus and head out to the same slum community that the Thai Peace Foundation is involved with. There is a preschool in the community that the church has sent volunteers to in the past, but it is not a Christian organization. We arrive at the preschool and are greeted by welcoming teachers and about 30-40 adorable three, four and five year olds smiling up at us. While there we teach some English, but mostly love on the kids. We sing songs, read stories, color, and teach some English words. Allie and I have really enjoyed our time there so far.

On Mondays and Thursday nights Allie and I teach English to a family in a nearby community. To be honest, we are not sure how the Thai Peace Foundation is involved with this family, but we are so happy to get to spend time with them. The husband is a health services activist and has a lot of influence on the community. This gracious family has made Allie and I feel so at home in their house as we teach them English. We follow the curriculum used at Santisuk, which is awesome by the way. We are there for two hours each night and we have already seen them improve in our first couple days. This family is Buddhist and we are hoping that through the Christian curriculum, our words and our actions, they will desire to know more about Christ. Though we are only here for a month, we know that Kevin and the other missionary family will continue to be involved with this family.

This week, many of those on our team have been able to receive some feedback from our students and have been very encouraged by this. The students at Santisuk have been such a blast to begin to get to know and it will be hard to say goodbye. Thank you for all of your love and prayers you have sent our way. We have already seen God working in and throughout the challenges we have faced and his protection all around us