Missions Blog

We arrived at the Pittsburgh airport at 3:30 AM sharp ready to depart for the Dominican Republic to serve at Kids Alive ministry. We transported 16 suitcases of supplies to fully equip a sensory room, gifts for preschool teachers, and games and crafts for preschool and elementary classrooms. We landed in the DR around 2:00 PM, retrieved the bags, and headed to the ministry house at which we are staying.

After orientation and a Colombian dinner with the director of Kids Alive, we spent the evening organizing all the supplies for the preschool trainings throughout the week and the sensory room construction. Preschool educator, Darlene Slifco, who purchased and packed nearly all of the supplies, organized this effort to prepare us for our ministry throughout the week. 

Thank you for your prayers and to all who supported our ministry! We are excited for a week ahead of spreading the word of Jesus to our friends.

This was written while we were sitting in Bangkok waiting to leave.  Unfortunetly, we couldn't post it because we couldn't connect to the internet.  We are home now and still marveling at all God did on this trip.

Highlights from our trip:

Teach the book of Esther and have the girls act it out.

Teach a painting class and bring supplies for 28 girls to learn how.

Take them to a resort for fun and to swim – something they rarely get to do.

Go deeper in their identity in Christ through lessons from Known by Aubrey Sampson.

Throw a lavish banquet to finish our time together – Just like Esther!

We are at the Bangkok airport waiting to return home from an amazing week with the Faith house girls and in Chaing Mai. It has been an amazing week seeing miracles all around.  Here are a few to share:

We flew over 10,000 miles each way with 8 people and over 700 lbs of luggage, and nothing got lost or damaged.

We decided to bring 28 Chromebook laptops in a prior planning meeting, and guess how many girls are at Faith House right now? 28

Brenda’s mom made cute PJ bottoms for the girls at Faith House that we brought with us. Guess how many she made? 28

We had the largest group of men ever to come to Thailand, and they spoke to the girls about what it is to be a Godly man and how to be safe on social media. As these girls get older, they are thinking about dating and marriage.

We have had eight people together for 10 days staying in one place for no more than three days, and everyone was on time, had no major conflicts, and nobody got sick.

So, do you believe in miracles? God has watched over us in a mighty way. Thank you for your prayers, support, and encouragement. Such a joy to be the hands and feet of Jesus and a light in the darkness.

This is our group with the college girls in Chiang Mai.

This is our last day at Faith House with most of the girls. What an amazing trip it has been! Brenda led the teaching on Esther 7, and the girls acted it out. Hilarious?? They are so excited for our banquet this afternoon. 

We presented gifts to GiGi, Deborah, Grace, Maria, and Isabel. They are an amazing team of missionariess- imagine parenting 35 teenage girls!! Wow!! And they do it so well!! 

A highlight of our trip is Bill presenting each girl with a Chromebook. That blew their minds!! Imagine helping 28 girls set up laptops- no small feat!! Way to go, Bill!! He also set up their internet to work faster. Awesome

In the afternoon, we set up our lavish Esther Banquet, and I challenged the girls with a talk on being SENT!! Princess Warriors who will change the world “for such a time like this!” Just like Esther. 

Tomorrow we visit the 8 girls in University, so we say goodbye and travel 5 hours north to Chang Mai.  

Thank you for your prayers!