Krabi Town

So we left Bangkok this morning, after somewhat emotional farewells with Chatchai and Hope (a Thai woman who also works for Sampat Chiwit Church). We had become aware in the past couple of days that Chatchai and his family really needed some new bedding, which we were very pleased to be able to provide by all chipping in to buy it as a housewarming present from the team. Amazingly, we were able to find what we wanted (3 mattresses, plus pillows & sheets) nearby and have them delivered to the church while we were there catching up with Chatchai and Hope one last time before leaving. He was very pleased when we presented them to him! We also heard that the shiny new pushbike Hope had been riding last year when we were in town was stolen just after we left - and she hasn't yet been able to save up enough money to buy a new one. So we chipped in for that too. I worry sometimes that we can seem like arrogant, rich Westerners throwing our money around... but we are so blessed in Australia, and things are so much cheaper in Thailand that it wasn't a great sacrifice for us, and they are things that will make life so much easier for these people who are working hard to make Christ known in this dark city... so I think it was a good thing to do. May our gifts help in the spread of the gospel!!

We're now in Krabi, where we will spend a day debriefing as a team tomorrow. We didn't do on-feld debriefing last year so it will be interesting to see how it goes. I think it will be a valuable experience - everyone seems to have been greatly impacted by their time here but that can turn into a negative experience if we don't process properly all the things we've experienced. And also, it's so easy to get distracted by worldly things and lose all the momentum and zeal that's been generated by a trip like this, it's good to start to think before we get home about what changes we might make in response to what God's been doing in our hearts here.

Appropriately, tonight's devotional reading was Colossians 3:1-11, which includes the verse:-

"Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things."

This is what we must remember to do every day, even when life is crowding in on us from every direction.