DAY 3 – Hammering, Weeding, Painting, Swimming, VBSing

Hammering: Today we started work on the rice barn. We were all really excited, knowing all that FCBC has done with the rice farm. When we got to the building site, the men got straight to work hammering and doing other manly things. The rest of us helped transport wood from a nearby shed. We were getting pretty efficient, with our assembly line and all, when Jessica said, “Ok, there’s a snake” and calmly backed away from the shed. Needless to say, Kevin was excited. Chaos ensued as one of the staffers went after the snake. He was victorious and we celebrated with snake meat- it tasted pretty good. After all the excitement, Uncle Andy, Pastor Dennis, Jordan, and Kevin stayed to work on the walls, but due to lack of tools and experience, the rest of us were assigned to weeding.

At the beginning of the day, the rice barn was just foundation and a roof. But after just one day’s work, our hard-working men with the help of a few local contractors were able to complete 3 ½ walls and a door! We are amazed at what they accomplished and so appreciative of all their hard work.

Weeding: Some of us started our mornings with some weeding in the tea plant field. After a few minutes of hard labor, we began to realize that short sleeves and shorts were not sufficient for this type of work. A few of us got some scratches and cuts, but came out feeling that we had helped. 

Painting: In the afternoon, we took on a new paint job- the high school boys’ dormitory. Fortunately, it wasn’t as big a job as the tea room and we finished the job with some free time and lots of energy.

Swimming: Since we finished early, one of our new friends Ying invited us to go swimming. We drove down to a lake nearby and were able to cool off in the water. The lake was refreshing, but also a little slippery. Almost all of us slipped – a few of us completely ate it.  We tossed around a ball and splashed each other, but our favorite part of the excursion was sliding on a downhill water “slide.”

Vacation Bible School: Today was the first day of VBS. We got to teach the students two new songs. They responded with cheerful singing and joyful applauses. Their “THANK YOU GOD!” was the loudest we’ve ever heard! Even with a language barrier, we felt that they were able to understand the message. This was a great opportunity for us to really bond with the kids – they are starting to remember our names!

That is all for now!

Lindsey, Team Thailand

P.S. We asked everyone if they had anything to add to the blog and all I got were food requests. You know what to do.