This was these three guys from Iowa 5th time to come to Thailand and build houses with Mike. Over the years the teams have been bigger as they brought friends and their own kids to help build- but this year it was the "Faithful Four".
They know each other pretty well by now and have all figured out how to work together even in difficult conditions.
The past four projects have been on Elephant Island in the south building homes/huts for the Moken Sea Gypsies. This year, we switched things up a bit and they finished a home for one of our TCCC staff members parents in the northeastern part of Thailand.
In Thai culture, when a child graduates from college and gets a job, it is their responsibility to send money home to their parents every month and help provide for them. For our TCCC staff who raise their own support, it is difficult for them to help out their parents a whole lot. Some of them come from poor families, and much is expected of them culturally. We have been talking for awhile about our desire to help our staff families, so Mike asked our leadership team to choose some staff whose family had needs. This is Yong who has been working with us for 6 years full time, and her family has had some hardships.
Her parents are very simple farmers (they grow some kind of special nuts) and had been living in this shack up until last year.
Over this past year they had been building this home little by little as they got enough money, and the Waterloo team was able to finish off the first floor by laying these cement blocks. When the team comes from Iowa each year, they also raise the money to pay for the building supplies and bring it with them.
Yongs parents are not Christians and have not been very excited about her serving God full time with her life. She brought along some of her staff team to help with the project too which was a big testimony to her parents as they observed their lives, watched them pray together, and felt the team's desire to help their family.
Her dad in particular (in front in blue shirt) has had some big changes in his attitude this week. He rode around with Mike sometimes going to buy supplies and repeated numerous times, "thank God for your team and your help". The last day he asked them to buy two big pieces of wood to put up a cross in his new home. Please pray for Yong as she continues to share with her parents about her relationship with Jesus. Our desire is that this building project would just be one step toward him really understanding God's love for him and his family. May this teams acts of kindness and labor of love, help her family find God's love for them.
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