We Always Leave Our Hearts in Mae Sot

On April 7-12 a large HQ team went to Mae Sot near the border to facilitate our 4th annual Good Life Club and Jr Ranger program for refugee children and youth. We partnered with several children's homes and churches as we continually to develop relationships there. We facilitated a 4-day (1/2 day) GLC program for children 12 years old and under with the theme "Armor of God." We also facilitated a 4-day youth program for ages 13-20+. This program ran from 7am-4pm daily with a variety of subjects: PT, devotions, worship, hand to hand, swimming, leadership, medical, basic tools knowledge/ oil change, Human Rights/Art, and "sex, love, and relationships." 

This program was a special memory for me (Aimee) since I was the program lead and this year Adam chose to fill the role of my XO (second in command) in order to help me with all the details. I felt so blessed by his professionalism and help in so many ways. It was a great opportunity to work more closely on a work task and see how good he is at his job and how humble he was to serve "my" project. We also had such an amazing team of staff and volunteers who made the program so high quality and special for the kids. I was truly amazed. This program has grown every year with more students, more volunteers, better facilities, more professional trainings, and smoother logistics. My heart feels full when I think of how much work and love our team put into making this all happen.

I want to say a special thank you to donors who gave specifically for this project. Because of the extent of what we wanted to do this year, our staff raised the majority of these funds on our own (outside of our organization's regular budget). I hope to replicate a similar training again next year. On top of all the classes taught, we were also able to provide lunch for 200-250 refuge kids daily. Next year I would also love to provide breakfast since our youth program starts at 7am.

Prayer Requests:

-Please pray for the people in Burma as military violence continues to increase and air strikes are frequent.

-Please pray for our family as we continue our work to show the love of Christ in difficult areas and to people who are experiencing great loss and anxiety.

-Please pray specifically for Adam and his upcoming field work and travels.

*As of now we don't have plans to return to the USA this summer. We will do a shorter trip in December to visit family for Christmas as we haven't been home for Christmas in several years.