This post is from Amber, an Australian who has been in Thailand for the past few months as part of the Xealot program.  While she was in Bangkok, she met the families at the Safe House, and befriended them. She also happens to be a personal trainer, so she took the initiative to use this gift to help the families. Here is her story.

I first met the families in early February when they invited us to a  birthday dinner. I was welcomed as though I was a long-lost family member. The warm hugs, kind hearted hospitality and love won me over right away! Since that evening I have been blessed with the countless opportunities to share with them.

 Because of the dangers of the streets Bangkok, the refugees rarely have a chance to walk, let alone get significant exercise. So they tend to live quite sedentary lives, and their health suffers because of it.

 With my background in personal training, I decided to start doing weekly exercises with them to get them moving and active. Everyone wanted to join in, from the grandparents to the toddlers,  so we would cram 20 people into one room, the music cranked up and sweat dripping in every direction.  Taking advantage of the materials available, we used teddy bears as cones, pillows as exercise mats, and pots and pans as obstacles.  I had an absolute blast. Seeing the eclectic crew dancing to techno music and running in place was one of the funniest things I have ever seen! Every session was full of laughs and smiles. They reminded me why I became a personal trainer.

 I want to say thank you to the families and Jade for impacting my life and re-sparking my passion, and to Life Raft for allowing me to be a part of these beautiful people’s lives!

This latest post is from Jade Dols, our Community Development Coordinator. She is doing incredible work in Bangkok, and has been the driving force behind our exciting recent developments. You should check out some of her incredible stories at: www.jadedols.com

I swore I’d never do it again. Sure, the last wedding I planned was beautiful, fun, and a massive blessing for Moon and Rish. But that all came at a cost: My sanity. After the couple finally said their “I do’s,” I felt like I needed an uninterrupted, week-long, nap, perhaps interspersed with a daily massage.

So when my pastor came to me, suggesting I help plan another wedding, I just wanted to run as far away as possible. I’m not sure why I didn’t. But my pastor realized that I couldn’t do it on my own, and more than anything this wedding has shown me how far we have come as a community, in terms of helping refugees.

Rish’s wedding sparked something in the Newsong community. Since then, more and more people have started getting involved in refugee’s lives. More refugees have come, and the community has welcomed them.  This community has been the driving force behind the Safe House, and is hoping to open up more.

Selah’s wedding is a testament to the power and growth of the Newsong community. Whereas last time, I felt like I was doing everything, this time I honestly did almost nothing. Left and right, it seemed like people were jumping at the opportunity to get involved and help.

Friends volunteered their photography and videography skills, prepared food (peanut butter and nutella sandwiches with banana!), altered clothes, lent dresses, makeup, and curling irons, made slideshows, arranged music, baked cakes and prepared all the hair and makeup.

One of my friends wasn’t able to make it to the wedding but really wanted to bless them, so the night before the wedding, we went shopping, and she bought nearly all of the food and drinks for the entire party! We returned at around midnight, and I found 3 more of my friends hard at work hanging cloth, making tissue balls, and arranging bouquets and candles.  They decorated until nearly 2am.  One of them even stayed overnight so that she could finish decorating in the morning!

Thanks to all their hard work, the wedding went beautifully. It might have been planned on a budget of about $100, but you wouldn’t know it from the beauty of the wedding. We had been able to provide so much of what Selah had hoped for, and she shed tears of joy after the ceremony. For me, the highlight was couple’s families being able to Skype in. It was so cool that the family who was 1,000’s of miles away could still be present for the wedding.

As I look back at it, I am blown away by the generosity of the Newsong, to be able to come together and make $100 wedding amazing. After seeing the growth that the previous wedding sparked, and can’t wait to see what flows from this wedding!