Nov-Dec Update | Missions Trip To Man

Almost สุขสันต์วันคริสต์มาส! (suk-sahn-wan-krit-mahs, merry christmas in thai)!! Another 2 months have blown away. We have been super busy, let’s start from the beginning!

November – December 23 🎅🏻🎄

SO WHAT HAS BEEN HAPPENING?!

At the end of October, South Bay Missions Church (SBMC) from LA, visited Mango House.

Just like the Cornerstone team, this team poured so much love into the kids. SBMC has been visiting for many years, so it was cool to see how they have built relationships with the kids. SBMC had a lot of fun planned for the kids. They also arrived just in time for the MH Sports Day! My team won 2nd place in basketball, obviously thanks to my basketball talent and fierce athleticism.

After SBMC’s VBS at MH, MH and SBMC joined forces to do ministry & teach the story of 10 plagues in Mae Hong Son.

Mae Hong Son is a province along the Thai/Burma border with Myanmar refugee camps. Myanmar refugees cannot cross into the rest of Thailand, but because of the violent reality in Myanmar, many make the dangerous trip to Mae Hong Son for safety. As we did ministry, God showed me the greatness of His love. Most of the children were from the Karen Tribe and spoke the Karen language, so the language barrier was steep. However, God's love went beyond language as we still connected with the kids.

God also opened my eyes to the vastness of His kingdom. Mae Hong Son is heavily Buddhist, but God was still there, clutching the kids’ hearts. I was in awe as I witnessed His love transcend beyond brokenness, reaching every dark corner. Also, from Thai college students to the SBMC team to MH volunteers, our team had all come from many backgrounds and walks of life. Yet somehow, God worked in each of our hearts before linking our lives. He united us to serve together to learn more about Him from each other and His work. I am so grateful for the opportunity to be part of such an experience.

thank you song from the kids :)

beautiful Mae Hong Son + team

After SBMC left, we taught a 6-week stretch of Mango School!

I teach 3 classes: high school biology, junior high biology, and high school physics. For biology, I am really trying to build a curriculum that is digestable but maintains the bigger picture of the science of life. This includes A LOT of activities including growing bacteria, DNA extraction, planting, and more (see below). Lesson planning is arduous, but seeing their progress and willingness to learn fuels my tank to keep working hard.

For example, Wendy, a girl in my physics class, really wants to become a doctor, but she has testing anxiety and a hard time grasping concepts (much like myself in high school). I have been working with her on critical thinking skills and confidence on exams. Recently, she finally felt like she was understanding the content and passed her exam!! She kept the equation sheet I provided as a momento :)

a focused Fah swabbing bacteria samples

acting out protein tertiary structure

new student!

beautiful cell models

I shared my testimony!!

In November, we had get-to-know-the-volunteers nights! Each of the 5 volunteers took 1 night to lead worship, share our testimony, and lead our favorite activity. Preparing to share was NOT easy, but all of your encouraging words and prayers helped me meditate on what God wanted me to share. THANK YOU! I centered my sharing on how God used my struggle with anxiety and mental health to draw me near to Him. Every kid at MH has their own struggles, so I hope they feel encouraged to see their dark moments in light of God’s love. Sharing has also crystallized the evolution of what I want to do at MH: I am still here to share God’s love and truth with the kids, but I want to do that by encouraging their growth as learners so they can pursue whatever God calls them to without fear.

My testimony if you would like to listen/read!

For my activity, I shared my love for creativity by having everyone decorate a paper bird for a collaborative art installation! Everyone’s effort and creativity really touched me. I wanted to capture how God created us as unique individuals, but we are still united as God's people. See below!

it was hard to capture the dimension of the piece on camera, but hopefully this gives you an idea!

i also served french fries + ice cream...i will always be midwestern at heart...

Faith N Hope from South Korea visited.

Faith N Hope, a nonprofit that works to uplift orphans via faith and education (click here to check them out!), visited to do 2 days of VBS about God as a promise keeper. Though their visit was short, they gave undivided attention to the kids and planned creative ways to teach the word of God. Mango House is so blessed to be backed by hands all over the world!

thanksgiving!

Holiday season is in full swing at Mango House!

I am so excited to join MH for the holidays. For Thanksgiving, we cooked and shared an elaborate 11-part meal. For Christmas, we have been playing a massive, 25-day game of Secret Santa, wrapping presents, and decorating all of Mango House. Pastor Danny has also been reminding the kids to celebrate with profound gratitude to God. This was a good reminder for me as well to slow down during the holiday craze and be intentional with my gratitude! God has blessed me with so many people and experiences this year. Can't wait to share what else MH is doing for the holidays in my next letter!

the office has been a gift-wrapping factory

I LOVE DECORATING!!!!

last summer's HMCC team!

We went to Hong Kong for new tourist visas!

Our 90-day tourist visas from Vietnam are up! Pastor Danny sent us to Hong Kong to get new visas and to meet Harvest Mission Community Church (HMCC). HMCC is sending a team to MH in a few days so we got the unique opportunity to worship with their community and share our experiences at MH with the incoming team. HMCC welcomed us with open arms and took care of us so well. They really beam with God's love as a community. Unfortunately, we were unable to get 90-day visas; non-Hong Kong residents can no longer apply for visas :(. Despite the disappointment, I was truly blessed by and grateful for the conversations and fellowship with everyone at HMCC!

Bruce Lee statue!

Reflections/Lessons :)

It has been 3 months since arriving at MH. During my time here, I have gotten to meet over 100 of God’s people. Hearing so many different stories, I find it so beautiful how God relentlessly brings beauty from brokenness. Collectively, we have so many different flaws and hardships, yet God finds a way to create beauty from ALL of them. I am especially grateful to witness this beauty as a result of God's work in different people in the missions field 😊 Before coming here, God helped me understand how he worked in me, but now God is opening my eyes to show me the magnitude of His work all over the world.

Hearing over and over how God uses the weak and broken also gave me a much-needed reminder about where my strength comes from. MH has been very busy, bringing many blessings but also pushing me to my mental/emotional energy limits. Additionally, right before the last 2 teams arrived, I got sick. It was challenging to keep a good attitude because I was drawing energy from the wrong places. Without God, I am so weak. God is the only one who can truly make me strong enough to carry out His work (Psalm 73:26). Thank you to everyone who reminded me of this through their stories!

HERE ARE MY PRAYER REQUESTS!

After Mae Hong Son, my heart still feels so strained by the amount of work that must still be done in God’s kingdom. Please pray over why I still have this stirring 2 months later and what it might mean for my future.
As a long-term volunteer, you see the kids go through the highs and lows of life. I ask for wisdom on how to be the best supporter for each kid.
Strength! To continue to learn how to lean on God for my strength rather than myself.

Thank you so much for reading! And as always, thank you for keeping me in your thoughts and prayers. I am grateful to have such encouraging supporters, your words really mean the world to me. I wish you happy and healthy holidays from over yonder :)

boon wanted a picture with her green curry and our green clothes because she LOVES green

near death after spicy noodle challenge

Izzie / Isabella

Sending warm wishes,