The rainy season here is wet and gray.

Monday, the team was given an opportunity to go to a Thai middle school and give a presentation that was about an hour long. They shared songs, dramas, and testimonies and then gave all of the students coloring books that share the Gospel in both Thai and English. It was an opportunity that the staff from BIFA had been trying to get for a while, and being able to share that with them was wonderful. After lunch the team had an opportunity to go to another children's home to work on a block wall that needed to be built. Our team didn't take a block laying class this year at Boot Camp, but our leaders have had lots of practice, and the kids were excellent listeners/learners. The hosts even made them homemade cookies and brought them cold cokes for break time. What a blessing.

On Tuesday, we joined the staff for Bible Study time and Miss Lori led this time talking about Peace. After this, we started painting. We have been painting the concrete around the soccer arena and touching up some accent colors on the curbs and stairs. They also painted a concrete wall. There is a Volleyball court that we are hoping to paint for them, but we are not sure if the rains will stay away long enough before we leave on Saturday. They got a lot done and then after lunch a small group went with Mr. Ethan back to the children's home to finish the block wall. The rains came just as they finished the wall and everyone had cleaned up. We spent some time working on our memory verses and cleaning up our rooms to start the packing process. It is hard to believe that we only have two more full days here in Thailand. The time has gone so quickly.

Wednesday morning we awoke to rain. We started out the morning with Bible Study and memorizing our verses. We also started preparing a presentation that we will present at debrief for the other teams about our experiences here in Thailand. The kids are having fun working on a skit that will be a News report. Hannah G and Kenna P are the anchors, Joey BP is the reporter who will interview both Julia H and Ezra E about our work and sports ministries. Esther Y is the weather reporter who will talk about the rain! We also have a couple of commercials about the importance of socks (Hudson) and vitamin C (Ben K)!! The vitamin C has kept the sniffles away! Monika F, Callie B, Logan T, and Laurelyn V do not have specific speaking parts, but they are helping each of the groups write their scripts and will be singing and helping in the support roles. It should be epic! After lunch we had a break in the rain again and everyone went out and worked hard to finish the painting that they had started. It looks great! We spent a little time in our rooms packing and organizing and doing laundry as well. As I type this we are waiting for dinner and the kids are all helping each other with memory verses. It is so fun to watch them just enjoy some down time together. They are so encouraging to one another.

This is always a hard time in the trip because we start to realize that our time is coming to a close. We still have some work to finish, and tomorrow we will have another opportunity to go to the Night Bazaar if the rain holds off. Our hosts are planning a pizza party Friday night so that we can say goodbye to all the children that we have grown to love over the past two weeks. It has truly blessed each one of us to be able to get to know our Thai brothers and sisters in Christ. Please pray for us as we begin our travel back to Florida this Saturday afternoon.

Esther Y. I am having a very good time and we had a lot of fun shopping with my travel group and my teammates. I love this place and my new friends. Hope to see you soon, God bless.

Hudson P. I am having so much fun. We have been playing football and doing evangelistic work. We got to go to the Thai school the other day and today I finished my verses.

Manaen C. I am learning to work hard and push past my limits. I am also learning respect and how even when I’m tired I have to be kind. The summer had a rough start, but I feel like with Jesus' help I’m finally getting my bearings.

Joey BP. It’s crazy to think that we’re only a few days away from leaving! It’s been great to be able to help with football and the children’s homes, and I’ve learned a lot from them.

Julia H. Hi family! We’ve been preparing to leave for the last couple of days. Our time in Thailand is slowly coming to an end but it’s so much fun! I’m so sad that we have to say goodbye to our friends here in Thailand. We get to go to the night bizarre tomorrow. Anywho, love y’all and can’t wait to see y’all.

Kenna P. Preparing to leave has been so sad! We had the opportunity to do a presentation in one of the schools. It was such a blessing to know that children struggling with poverty got to hear the Gospel. We also got to build a wall. Unfortunately, we didn’t take block laying class at Boot Camp so it was a learning experience for everyone!

Logan T. So far, everything has been going great. As always, my leaders rock. The other day we began working on the wall. We just started finishing painting the dug out of the football field. We just put up a basketball hoop also.