That was the mission of the Nordh Family from the north of Sweden, Sandviken, when they traveled to Thailand three months ago.
Now, they have returned to Sweden and are filled with so much gratitude for their Thai experience.
”The joy to give was so valuable. It was worth all of the sweat in Thailand,” says Christer and Charlotte Nordh.
In the Felix Village lives children who were orphaned but which now have their own families - a mother, a dad and up to a dozen siblings. Very little English was spoken in the Felix Village. This circumstance has changed, however, due to the love a the Nordh Family. Christer and Charlotte were strongly affected when they first heard of the work of the Felix Village. Then when they heard about the need for volunteer help to teach simple English, they made a quick decision to go there. In February, the couple along with their daughter Theresa, 5, and son, Jacob, 6, left for the eastern county of Thailand. For the next three months they were busy teaching the village parents - and children - basic English.
“It's so fun to see how they were continually improving,” says the Swedish couple. As an extra bonus when they came to Thailand it was the summer vacation in the country. It gave the possibility for Theresa and Jacob to have much play time with the village children.
“God so very much cares for us,” says Charlotte.
The magazine Världen idag was in place when the Felix FamilyVillage was opened just a year ago. The magazine readers’ hearts were so touched that they even paid for one of the five houses in the village. The parents, Dos and Nez Suksit, who live in the house with five orphan children, have now participated in the Nord's English lessons. “They were consistent participants of these lessons,” says Christer.
The Nordh’s followed the Suksit Family up close and says that almost every weekend they would leave the village in Surat Thani to travel a little north to participate in the work of "Tha Chana Church". One Sunday the Nordh Family had the privilege to visit the church where Dad Dod preached the message about the Christians’ everyday life. Theresa and Jacob participated in the Sunday School led by Mother Nez. The Nordhs are very happy for their Thailand adventure as it was done entirely on their own initiative and expense. "We have laughed a lot, and we have received such warm contact with everyone in the village despite the confusion of tongues.” The villagers who once were so dependent upon an interepreter can now express themselves, thanks to the Nordh’s, much better to foreign visitors.
The Nordh Family says they are now waiting for the slightly cooler Swedish spring.
Written by Jonas Adolfsson in the Swedish magazine Världen idag magazine
17 maj 2010
jonas.adolfsson@varldenidag.se
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