Today officially began Operation Love BaWao. If you've read earlier blogs, you'll have seen that we have met a wonderful woman named BaWao in the Bethel community just outside of town. We spend every Wednesday night in her home for dinner and small group, we see her on Sunday mornings, and we've crossed paths for outreach events and english camps. We have loved having Bawao in our lives here this summer.
Her house sits right above a swampy area with her floor often level with the water. This past week we have seen some intense thunderstorms and heavy rains. Her home is dangerously close to being taken under, and her front deck is already under water. Operation Rak BaWao was born, and we decided that these conditions were not ok. We moved some dollars around and ba da bing, ba da boom - we started building her a new deck this morning. The four of us boys strapped on our rubber boots and headed into the swamp and began ripping off the old deck. We were elbow deep into black swamp water, not knowing what we would find as we searched for deck foundations. It was incredibly hot and sweat dripped off our faces in a steady flow. As we ripped boards, we would unearth old pieces of garbage, clothes, car parts, shrubs, bottles, etc. You name it, it was in there! I felt like I was in a scene out of Anaconda. I asked BaWao how big the biggest snake was that she has seen here in her swamp. She started laughing and pointed to her arm as she began desribing the width of the snake. As I waited for translation, I was horrified as I watched her describe the length and width with her hands. She saw a boa in her swamp once, but was happy that it never came inside. She just laughed... as I cried inside. Sure enough, Aaron finds a snake as he's digging. It tried to escape as Aaron kept pestering it with his rake. Silly child. It just slithered away into the deeper area of the swamp. That's snake number 4 here so far! We eventually cleared her old deck, and the new deck is now under way. We bought some plants and flowers and are hoping to continue working on her deck tomorrow. The girls may even paint some of her place too! She was so excited to see work being done on her house, and we all just felt happy we could help. We are happy to know that she can come in and out of her house now without getting wet.
While we worked at her place, BaWao went to the church and cooked for us all morning. She spent all morning just working to make us four boys happy. We have the coolest relationship with her. It feels like all our omas from home combined into one here in Thailand. She is so happy all the time, and you can't help but laugh when you're around her. She continues to love Adam more and more. It's just really cool to see friendships building with the people we meet here.
A few other updates - I'm sorry to report that GuyWao has passed away. The church mice attacked her one night, and we found her huddled in the corner chirping softly in pain. It was an awful site, and she was in a lot of pain, her leg barely attached to her body and half her side ripped apart. We had to put her down. It was a sad day for our team. I am just happy that GuyWao experienced love in her short life here in Thailand. She was loved by us all, and will be missed.
Jody celebrated her 19th birthday with a party in the Lighthouse. We invited all the youth from the Bethel Church and Dave and Louise's kids too. We played games, made fondue, and just hung out. We spend a lot of our down time with the local youth. They're always at our place. My birthday is tomorrow - Bah! We are celebrating both our birthdays this Saturday as we head into Bangkok for the day. We're going to see some temples, Asia's biggest market, and the king's palace. The team has also planned an evening adventure in Bangkok that Jody and I are both unaware of. Apparently it's going to be life changing. I'm nervous, and rightfully so when Acksanna and Adam are the team fun coordinators.
To my father whom I share a birthday - yet again we are apart. I take full blame. I love you and wish you a wonderful day as you continue to accept old age.
That's all for now folks - we're doing great!
Love,
Team Thailand
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