I had gone shopping with my friend that runs the resort, to get food and snacks for all of the meals that we would share together at the Youth Group Retreat. When my friend and I returned to the resort, I called Bill (my husband). He said that the youth started arriving at our house before 3:00 and that there appeared to be more than had signed up. Yikes!
After getting off the phone with Bill I quickly arranged for the use of a third dorm, as we had more youth than we anticipated.
Around 4:15 the vehicles left our house and transported the youth to the resort, and we were off and running. The retreat included dinner on Friday, then a Bible Study followed by a time of discussion. Next, they had free time – which a lot of the youth choose to spend swimming, playing board and card games, or doing art work. Then we walked the two minute walk to the beach for a bonfire – where we taught the non-Americans about the yumminess of s’mors. After that, we went back to the resort for a movie that ended around 11:00 pm, the youth went back to their dorms and we had lights out at 11:30 pm.
Saturday was to start with the youth waking-up at 7:30 am. I had planned to get up at 6:00 to spend time in prayer, reading my Bible and perusing the lessons we were going to teach. After my shower I heard talking, and sure enough a number of the youth were up and excited about the day, not long after 6:00 am.
Saturday went as follows: Breakfast at 8:00, followed by quiet time/prayer time, then about 40 minutes of free time (aka swimming, swimming and more swimming). Actually some of the youth did go for a walk along the beach, and some played games or worked on arts and crafts, but the pool and the slack line were the big hit. The slack line was like a tightrope across the middle of the pool. We then had another Bible Study, followed by a time of discussion. Next, it was time for lunch. As I watched the youth get in line to get their lunch and then find a seat, I thought about the cartoon that shows a whole fish on a plate and then something runs by the fish, and all that is left is bones. That was what feeding the Youth Group was like. There was a lot of food, the youth went through the line, and then there were empty serving dishes. I guess they liked the food.
After lunch we had free time down on the beach. The youth played Spud, volleyball with a huge ball, walked on the beach, sat and talked with each other, and made sand castles.
After brushing off the sand from the beach, we went back to the resort for the third Bible Study and discussion time. The youth then had 45 minutes of free time, which most of them spent. . .you guessed it, swimming and walking the slack line across the pool.
After all that excitement, we had the task of trying to get everybody back upstairs for a time of Worship.
We then shared dinner together, followed by packing up their belongings and clearing out of the dorms.
Before we left the resort, I gathered all of the youth together for a group photo. Standing toward the front was a young boy with two tears flowing down his cheeks, he tried to smile as he realized that the retreat was over and it was time to go home. Seeing that young boy and the emotion he felt about the retreat being over, tugged at my heart. Bill and I had tried to make the retreat a wonderful, fun, exciting time to learn about Jesus. We had been planning for months, so that it would be a meaningful time for each of the youth. Seeing and later hearing, how much the retreat meant to each of the youth was such a blessing for us. We feel so blessed to be used by the Lord. We are humbled and grateful. Thank you Lord!
We headed back to our house around 6:20 pm on Saturday. Upon arriving, with the youth and their belongings strewn around our yard and house, we served up the usual ice cream cones that signify the end of Youth Group. A lot of the youth hung out at our house well past 7:00 pm, reminiscing about the retreat. Praise God!
The Lord was awesome in bringing just the right youth to the retreat. With 27 youth from at least three different countries, there could have been disagreements or problems, but there were none. Thank you Lord!
Being in a foreign country it is amazing to see the Lord work in the hearts of the Thai youth. Only He can do that, as we are still learning the Thai language.
Mark 10:13-16 NLT - "One day some parents brought their children to Jesus so he could touch them and bless them, but the disciples told them not to bother him. But when Jesus saw what was happening, he was very displeased with his disciples. He said to them, "Let the children come to me. Don't stop them! For the Kingdom of God belongs to such as these. I assure you, anyone who doesn't have their kind of faith will never get into the Kingdom of God." Then he took the children into his arms and placed his hands on their heads and blessed them."
The English speaking youth blessed us with a wonderful, huge Thank you card, and the Thai speaking youth blessed us with a great Thank you card that was artfully folded into an intricate heart shape.
Oh how we pray that each one of the youth would come to truly know Jesus as their Lord and Savior.
We want to give a huge thank you to all of you that supported us with prayer and with funding. Thank you for your faithfulness. We were able to offer the retreat to all of the youth at no cost to them. We pray that you will each realize that you are as much a part of the work that is being done for Christ here in Hua Hin, as we are. God bless you!
By April
Photo by Stefan Schmied
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