From the bean

Let me explain a little about the airport – so you can understand my guilt in the whole situation!

We arrived at the belt just in time to collect my rucksack, I commented to Jenn what a relief it is when you see your bag... as soon as it was out I realised what I’d said. It would have been wise to wait till Jenn had her bag before making such comments! And sure enough, half an hour later there was still no sign of Jenn’s rucksack. We reported the bag missing to the airline who assured us the bag would be here in the next couple of days. We left giggling hysterically on the way through customs on the lookout for Pastor Mike.

Fortunately Pastor Mike hat received our message and was there with two ladies from the congregation. When we arrived at the church we were greeted by some more members who were busy preparing lunch for the congregation. The ladies quickly stopped what they were doing to prepare breakfast for Jenn and I. Fried egg, sausage, ham and bread... not quite what we’d expected in Thailand!

During the service a lady named Toey sat between Jenn and I and translated the sermon for us. After the service the whole church stayed for lunch. We had chicken soup, a plate of steamed rice, some stir fried veg and meat patties. The ladies took a spoonful of soup and added some rice to it. Trying my hardest to fit in I took a spoonful of rice and dropped it into the soup. This amused our new friends very much. It ‘s steamed rice but now it looks like it’s boiling hahahahaha they laughed.

In the afternoon we had a sing song and answered a lot of questions about Scotland, ceilidhs, kilts, haggis and so on. By the time we had demonstrated a gay gordons Jenn and I were exhausted and headed up for a nap. As promised by Lorna and Erica we were on the wooden floor. Which wasn’t nearly as uncomfortable as you would think, perhaps that’s in comparison to a plane.

When we woke up we headed out with the Pastor and his family and also Toey and her daughter to pick up a few essentials (a sim card, tiger balm, sun cream and shampoo) and dinner. I ordered some egg fried rice, I knew my stomach could handle fancy Thai when I was soooooo tired. The pastor had ordered some special soup for Jenn and I... with quail egg, chicken and fish stomach! We were so nervous to try it but couldn’t refuse after we’d spent the afternoon describing haggis!!!! It actually tasted much nicer than we’d thought, but we couldn’t get the thought out of our heads to be able to enjoy it.

Next day we visited an orphanage for blind and disabled children, pastor told us to prepare our hearts so Jenn and I spent a bit of time praying about what we were about to face. When we arrived we were told a bit about the project and shown around the shop which sells t-shirts and things to raise funds for the orphanage. After this Jenn and I asked if we could visit the children. We were led to a room, with about 12 children in it. Some of them lay sleeping, others were singing and jumping and a few moved about the room touching walls, tables and each other. This was a room full of new arrivals. We went in and held our hands out to show them we were there. Straight away a small boy, about 3 or 4 grabbed my hand and started to jump up and down, he was so pleased to have someone to play with. Shortly after another boy about the same size appeared at my side, he grabbed me and started to climb up, as I lifted him he threw his arms around my neck and rested his head on my shoulder. All the while the other boy was using my hand to pull himself off the ground over and over. I was completely overwhelmed, these kids didn’t know us, they couldn’t see us, yet they were so happy we were there.



We left this room after a while and had a walk around the 5 bungalows in which the children sleep, eat, learn and play. We stopped at a picnic bench where there was a few boys sitting with one of the workers. Jenn and I sat with them, and the boy next to Jenn started to touch her hand, she touched him back and he completely relaxed, laid his head on the table and placed his arm in front of Jenn for her to stroke. It was amazing to see the difference the contact was making. He held her hand loosely, playing with her fingernails. It was beautiful.



These kids were amazing, it was incredible to watch them interact with each other, it was so evident how unique each individual child was. In the car on the way home we talked about the care system in Scotland compared with Thailand. It’s so heartbreaking to think that these children would have families somewhere that couldn’t, for whatever reason, look after them.



That evening there was a celebration at the church for one of the congregation who had just graduated with a law degree. We had a meal in the garden but I was hurried inside as soon as it started to get dark as the mosquitoes in Thailand LOVE me! When everyone else joined me Jenn and I gave our testimonies and we all watched a pretty graphic but amazing video about healing.



We stayed up pretty late with Pastor Mike and Ning Ning praying and chatting about gifts from God. It was a pretty busy and emotionally draining day so we were well ready for a good sleep before heading to work with YWAM (youth with a mission) the following day.

Laura x