Last Monday I moved into my house. I live in a small neighborhood about a 15 min drive from the red light where i will be working with the street kids, and about a 20 min drive from Wongen Cafe, which is my office in the afternoons :)
For the last week I have been living in the house by myself. It has 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, a living room, dining room, and kitchen. In 2 weeks my friend Lindsey will be moving to Thailand for the year, and will be my roommate. The two extra rooms will be used to host short term teams that come through to work with Lighthouse in Action.
My cute little house in Chiang Mai :)
A look down my street on my walk home.
My little work corner. Makes me feel right at home :)
Tomorrow afternoon a team of 7 people from World Race will be coming to stay with me for the month. Each of them will be helping me work with the kids ministry during their time here. I'm so excited that there will be other people living with me from now on :)
Last Thursday was my first chance to work with the street kids in the red light. I am so excited for the work I will be doing here. One of the girls who had been working in the red light the past year, Bethsaida, will be transitioning out of the kids ministry as she prepares to move back home, and I will be transitioning in. For the first few weeks I'm here she will be working in the red light with me and introducing me to the kids. God showed her the need in the red light for these kids. She went in not knowing any Thai, by herself, and just began loving on them. The kids work every night in the red light selling roses. It's forced labor. They have to work on the streets every night until early hours of the morning sometimes with no shoes, and inadequate clothes. She brought games, books, and candy so the kids could come rest, and play when they got a break. She began teaching them English - and simply building relationships and loving on them.
The ministry is so simple, but so vital. To be the consistent, loyal, trustworthy love of Jesus in these kids chaotic lives.
He has THE sweetest heart. I loved hanging out with him!
These two boys loved playing!
She is SO smart! She loves learning English!
Last Christmas Bethsaida bought clothes and shoes for all the kids she met. This opened up a huge door in these kids lives. She took the opportunity to meet a need in these kids lives and practically show them love. She called this act Project Warmth. December-February can be quite cold at night so providing the kids with warm clothes and shoes broke down a lot of walls.
So this year we are doing the same thing. December 3 we will be handing gifts out to all of the kids. Even though it's for Christmas, this is when it gets cold. There's no point in them waiting to be warm. We are wanting to raise money to sponsor 25 kids to get them warm clothes and new shoes. This will cost approximately $25 per child.
If you're interested in donating to Project Warmth, you can click here. All donations will go directly to purchasing shoes and clothes for the kids. I will be posting pictures and videos of project warmth as they become available. If you have any questions feel free to email me at kristenwilkes.design@gmail.com
So that is my focus as the moment - along with learning Thai :) I love what I'm doing here and I'm really excited for you all to have a chance to connect with these kids and the work that God is doing as I build relationships here.
For now, it is time for me to go and pick up my bike that I will be renting for the month so I don't have to walk everywhere anymore. Thank you Jesus :)
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