Thailand Mission and Cultural Trip 2012 - Journal 10

Every other Sabbath the International Church has service in the auditorium, and the Thai-speaking service is in the main church. There was an ordination of 5 elders today. When I noticed that 3 were women, I accepted the invitation to participate and intentionally laid my hands on two of them.

After lunch we headed for the Orphanage. It is such a wonderful experience. As we arrive the girls just pick a person and latch on to them for the entire time. It seems to be the one time for the week that they receive a steady dose of human contact and love. They love braiding hair, photography, and just generally having fun -- oh, and picking grey hairs out of my beard! We were fortunate to have a former worker there visiting. She has her MA in Social Work, and worked there for 10 years. She was able to give us some valuable information on the Orphanage. I don’t think I mentioned earlier that we have 4 graduate Social Work students on the team, as well as Kisna who is the Recruiter and Administrative Assistant in the School of Social Work. They were very interested in what she had to say.

Immediately after, we were on the road for the 4-hour trip to Kanchanaburi to spend the night before getting up early for the day at the Tiger Temple. We were in for a surprise: After we checked in, Richard took us to the famous Bridge over the River Kawae (Kawai). This was my first time. And then we ate at a lovely Floating Restaurant with the bridge in the background. Incidentally, the balcony of my room overlooks the river.

And one last thing: I broke my all-time pedometer weekly record. The record made last year was 172,329. This week it was, 172,573!