Thailand 2017: Activities at ZOE

We hopped out of the vans and walked over to the front entryway. We immediately took off our shoes, left them by the steps and either slipped on a pair of the provided flip flops or went barefoot. When everyone had their name tags, we followed one of the missionaries further into the building, usually to one of two rooms, where we'd receive further instructions for our day.

The room where we often ate and occasionally hung out
PC: ZOE

Thus began most of our days with ZOE. The first couple of days we had some orientations and learned more about ZOE, including a tour of the main building and of the new Child Rescue Center. We rehearsed our team song "This is Amazing Grace" and our drama of the lost sheep, as well as filled all of the goody bags that we would be distributing during our time there. We met the ZOE ministry school students (hereafter referred to as "ZMS students") and were paired up with them to learn some Thai phrases. I was with Min, who said to me, "You speak good Thai!" I told her that a girl at my job taught me a few phrases she knew before I even came to Thailand.

Min teaching me Thai
PC: ZOE

A tour of the Child Rescue Center
PC: ZOE

We joined them for an evening worship time, where we introduced ourselves and they surrounded us and prayed for us. Though I couldn't understand a word they said, I could feel their prayers. There was some worship time and some of the kids gave their testimonies. We then sang out team song to them.

Our team was split into groups to teach English. Our High Intermediate group was Tim and Sherri, Tammy, Miranda and myself. Our theme was travel. The first group we taught were the younger kids, and they were very into their coloring - and they colored way better than most kids their age in the US! The next group, the youth, really enjoyed the charades. Our last group, which was on a different day, was ZMS students and some Thai staff, and they were so much fun!

Helping two of the ZMS students with their postcards

ZMS students (and Thai staff) working on their postcards

The one day we did a Cultural Exchange. We were put into small groups - mine was Hiromi (one of the ZOE Japan missionaries who were there with our team), Miranda and I - and placed with a ZOE family unit. Ours was a family of young boys with three house moms. Those boys were so precious and sweet! They taught us about the wai, and we played some games. Then we did our American "picnic" lesson with them, taught them about the US flag, and played the song "Grand Old Flag." Lastly, they took us inside their home and washed our feet, prayed for us, and gave us each a present, and we spoke encouraging words over them and gave the women hugs before we left.

Miranda and I playing a game with our ZOE family during the Cultural Exchange
PC: ZOE

Becca and Christina getting ready to play "Grand Old Flag" and distribute American flags
PC: ZOE

We got to hang out with the ZOE kids and play games with them. First I put puzzles together with a few of them, and then I joined some others playing Jenga. We had dinner with them on their mats and then served them ice cream sundaes. That night one of the girls came over to ask me how old I was, and she couldn't believe I was 20 - she said I look 16. She also asked me about my covering, which is a little hard to explain when it's hard to communicate at all, but I did my best.

We joined them for their Monday prayer time, with was perhaps the fastest hour of my life and just what I needed. Many of the girls came up to each of us and prayed for us. We also joined them for another worship service later in the week.

For our work project we were put into four different groups and each group was give 2-3 rooms to paint. My group painted what had been a storage room and a bathroom that had also been used for storage for a while. The bathroom especially looked very refreshed after a few coats! We all had a lot of white to scrub off.

Preparing to paint in the bathroom
PC: ZOE

More prepping - out the door you can see the other room we were just starting to paint
PC: ZOE

Les, one of the missionaries, took us on a land tour of ZOE. We learned a lot about their self-sustainability, too, which was very impressive and fascinating. They have a pig farm, a fish farm, they grow corn and rice, they have banana trees, they grow a lot of what they eat otherwise as well including having a greenhouse that they grow off-season foods. We saw their pool, their vocational schooling area, and more.

Seeing the pigs
PC: ZOE

 We did an outreach to a nearby school. Some ZMS students came with us as well as some ZOE kids. Our team did some songs, our drama, our mini English lesson, and our craft. We also provided lunch for all of the school kids (as well as goody bags) and ate with them. At the end, some of us saw one of the ZMS girls with one of the school girls, talking and then praying with her. Later, that same ZMS student started to ask each of us on the team to write down our name and beside it, our dream - so that she can pray for us and our dreams. My heart was full to bursting.

Our drama about the lost sheep
PC: ZOE

The shepherd (Josh) ousting the wolf (Eugene)
PC: ZOE

On our last day, we had a group debrief time, where we shared both serious thoughts that brought some tears and hilarious moments that left us all shaking with laughter. We had time to get up and move around to each other and share our appreciation of our teammates with them. It was a very special time - we had such an amazing team of Jesus-followers!

Our amazing team (plus some of the missionaries' kids)
PC: ZOE

The night that we were leaving, we had a special BBQ with the whole ZOE family. We helped to get some of it ready. First I helped portion out some morning glory greens and white cabbage (which my group bought at Day Market) and some angel pasta stuff and put those out on the mats. Then I helped to portion rice onto plates and put out some more oranges (whose peels were green, nor orange). And then the BBQ! They had their meal mats spread out all over the place, and our team spread ourselves out among the Thais, all of the families, staff, and ZMS students. First I sat at a mat with some ZMS students and some Thai staff. Then when they hit this gong-thing, us Americans had to get up and bring our plates and bowls and such with us and move to a new mat to eat with a new group of people (I sat at a total of 3 mats). The second mat I ate at was a group of quieter and more shy girls. The next and last mat had older girls who weren't all quite as shy, and the girl who had spoken with me earlier about my covering talked to me most of the time I was there, and when we had to leave to go join the rest she took my hand and walked with me.

The last thing we did at ZOE was go through the "Love Tunnel." The whole ZOE family lined up in two loooong rows (that extended quite a ways and up a few flights of stairs!) with space in the middle for us to walk through. As we went through, most wai-d us in respect and thanks, some also high-fived us, took our hand in thanks, repeatedly thanked us and said "God bless you," and some hugged like that didn't want to let go. We were not allowed to cry - it was supposed to be a happy time, for the kids' sake - so I couldn't dwell on what we were actually doing, or I'd start to tear up. So I pretended that this was not potentially the last time I would see them.

All in all, our time at ZOE was amazing.

***ZOE protects the identity and dignity of children and does not show trafficked children***