Thailand

Thailand is a beautiful country. So lush...so green. In August 2004, I took a two hour bus drive outside of Chiang Mai to visit a Compassion International project in the jungle. The roads were barely drivable, with potholes the size of lawnmowers and ruts that tires sank halfway into. Had the roads been better, the trip may have taken only 45 minutes. We drove by the rice fields where workers--men, women and children--were working in the humid summer heat to make sure they had food for the next season.
Once we arrived, I met this little guy. He lives in a tiny village of a little over 1000 people. Compassion assists nearly 200 kids there. Each week they are cared for, looked after, discipled, get help with their studies, a hot meal, and lessons in hygiene. It's a great program. Look at this little boy's face. That's the face of a happy child...a healthy child. Not what you'd expect to see of a child living in extreme poverty.

I met this mother
raising four children in her wood hut of a home. The house is built on stilts because every year, during the rainy season, a good portion of the village floods...her house included. I sat on the floor of her home, made of scraps of wood, and listened (through an interpreter) as she told us how Compassion's program has made a difference in her children's lives. They know the Lord. They are healthy. They are getting an education. Three things the mother deemed vital, but certainly unattainable without Compassion's help. She was a strong woman...and impressive woman who was doing all she could for her children. A good mother.

Children playing on the playground equipment at the Compassion project.

A girl in the classroom at a Compassion project.

A boy gets a hot meal at a Compassion project. Many of the 800,000 children that Compassion ministers to around the world get their one and only hot meal at a Compassion project. This little guy was the last to finish his plate. He was so methodical about the way he ate...taking his time. He seemed to want to savor every bite. What a cutie.