A Retreat...

At the beginning of March Michelle, Jasmine and I joined The Garden of Hope (the ministry we work with) on their annual retreat. It was so much fun to just hang out and relax with our friends but we also had some awesome times of worshiping the Lord and planned for the next year of ministry. The week was a good opportunity to practice my Thai too :). Here are some photos and videos... This is Michelle with a couple of the Thai staff she works with in the Children's Drop in Center.

We drove south of the city to a little resort near the mountains. There was a lovely view of mountains, rice fields and elephants.

What's a retreat without a hamock? Or a lovely pond with tropical flowers?

But the scenery doesn't compare with the lovely ladies we shared the week with. Worship times with were some of my favorite parts with them...here is a video of us worshiping in Thai...

Thai people love singing...not only in worship but karaoke is very popular here too... Both nights of the retreat I fell asleep to the the sounds of my Thai friends singing their favorite songs in Thai and English :).

A true Thai party isn't complete without lots of food. The last evening we had a traditional Thai barbeque. Basically it is a ceramic pot with hot coals in it and a metal pan on top for boiling and grilling various meats and vegetables.

We sat around cooking, eating, talking, and of course singing more karaoke.

I was so blessed and refreshed by the entire retreat. I was great to hang out with my co-workers outside of work and get to know them and their culture better. Keep us in your prayers as we continue serving the Lord reaching out to the lost and broken women and children here in Chiang Mai, Thailand.