From Pua, With Love
Meei Fang reflects on how God has supplied every need and more during our latest trip to Kathy’s Home, and invites you to come and taste the goodness of God for our next trip from 20–24 November 2025.
And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.
(Phil 4:19)
Indeed, the Lord provides. We were recipients of the Lord’s divine arrangement and provision throughout this trip that were so precious. And here is an account of the trip and time spent at Kathy’s Home (KH), and the sweetness of travelling, eating, praying and sharing morning devotion together.
Back in July, we had as many as eleven signed up for this trip. This was very encouraging because there were only five of us on the previous two trips. Siew Kim and Kim Song, skilled old-hands who faithfully came on each trip, had other plans and commitments this time. Nevertheless, most of us who signed up had been to Kathy’s Home before, experience and expertise were not lacking and hence Siew Kim and Kim Song’s absence would not be so sorely missed. The teaching load would also be shared amongst more of us and the children would receive more attention. Thank you, Lord, for your provision.
Unfortunately, a few had to withdraw from the trip. With just two weeks to go, the team was down once again to five. Who would be assigned the large cohort of newbies whom Kim Song had undauntedly taught with Noel’s assistance during the last camp? How to organise the groups without too much disruption with just five of us to spread out? Beh and Mak had to figure this out.
We give thanks for God’s provision! The team: (L-R) Elliot, Mak, Narola, Noel, Sze Gar, Meei Fang, Joni, Anabel, Thungti and Beh.
It was decided that Noel would have to teach one group of newbies with the other assigned to Joni. Natchareeya and Nalin, two of the senior students would help out instead of having their usual lessons with Siew Kim, thus solving the resource problem. What a brilliant move. There were also Supakit, a KH alumni and Thungti* who could be fitted in to assist. It didn’t seem so difficult after all, to get the groupings and resourcing sorted out.
Then, the day before we were to leave for Pua, Mak texted us. Natchareeya and Nalin had to attend full day classes that weekend for final year exam preparations. What a disappointment for the two girls who would have relished assisting Noel and Joni with the young ones. It wasn’t too much an inconvenience for us with Supakit and Thungti as our reserves, we thought.
When we landed at Nan’s airport on 22 August, Mak came to pick us up. The team would normally hire a van for the road trip from Nan to Pua. There was really no need for him to drive all the way for us. And that was when we were told that Supakit had received a last minute call to attend a job interview in Bangkok. Mak had driven him to the airport for an earlier flight and had been waiting for more than an hour for us to arrive. No Supakit? What more would we be deprived of? Perhaps tired or jaded at this latest round of attrition, we didn’t think much initially of Mak’s next piece of news: But we have Anabel!
Anabel, the daughter of Don and Kathy Rulison (of whom Kathy’s Home is named after), lives in Chiang Mai and had come to Pua to attend a friend’s funeral. When she learned we were shorthanded, she offered to extend her stay. And what a blessing she was with her fluency in both Hmong and Thai languages. She was a tremendous help to Joni, in bridging language barriers with the young ones. Game time went well because she was able to convey the instructions in the children’s native language. She also interpreted for the Sunday worship message. She just made communication so much easier and less stressful.
Elliot knew that he would be the one organising the game scheduled for 3pm on Saturday but he was only briefed of the details before lunch. The name of the game is Dadu-dice and this is how it’s being played: Divide into teams of 4 or 5. Team members are to stick together, hands on the others’ shoulders and walk towards the finish line by first rolling a dice. They take the number of steps forward if it’s an even number and backwards if an odd number is rolled. The game could be repeated with the conditions flipped.
What is the biblical lesson or message behind the game? Many thoughts were shared and Elliot, between lunch and game time, would have to process all that and come up with a brief message that would be simple yet impactful for these kids. We were also mindful of the hot afternoon sun. We were approaching noon, the sky was clear, and the sun was shining relentlessly. Would it be wise to play this active outdoor game under a blazing hot sun? There was only one thing we could do – pray.
Then we beheld God showing up for us. At about 1.30pm, grey clouds began to form and soon covered the sun. It got cooler and by 3pm, it was the perfect weather as the kids trooped out of their classrooms, excited and looking forward to game time. Just so awesome to see God answering prayer in real time!
The kids absolutely enjoyed the game. Some teams had the luck of the draw and reached the finish line rather effortlessly whilst others had a more challenging time going forwards and backwards. When it was over, Elliot was absolutely ready with this gospel-centric learning point: We are all heading to life’s finish line, death. We have no control over how or when we get there. So, we should trust in God because He’s the one in control. If we trust in Jesus we have hope of eternal life at the finish line.
At Sunday worship, Elliot spoke again, on John 4:1–25, the all-familiar encounter between Jesus and the Samaritan woman by the well. Jesus did not avoid Samaria nor shied away from the Samaritans whom Jews disdained. He sought them out purposefully. He ignored all social norms to meet the woman, offering her the gift of living water. Herein, Elliot made yet another gospel call to the kids:
Jesus loves us, cares for us and offers us the gift of God – living water. Whoever drinks of this living water shall never thirst again. It springs from us unto eternal life. Living water is the Holy Spirit. The water we drink only quenches our thirst temporarily. Many things in this world only offer temporary relief and pleasure. But the gift of God, the living water never dries out. It keeps on giving. And this is the good news – God gifts us the Holy Spirit so we will never thirst. Worship God in spirit and in truth when you turn to Jesus and you will never thirst again.
We pray that this message, along with all past and future ones, would touch the children’s hearts, stirring them to receive Jesus as their personal Saviour to the glory of God.
Joni and Sze Gar led us in our morning devotions. If there is anything to describe the setting of us gathered around the table for devotion, it is that of the picture of overflowing sweetness and blessing in Psalm 133.
Behold, how good and pleasant it is
when brothers dwell in unity!
It is like the precious oil on the head,
running down on the beard,
on the beard of Aaron,
running down on the collar of his robes!
It is like the dew of Hermon,
which falls on the mountains of Zion!
For there the Lord has commanded the blessing,
life forevermore.
We all found common ground with Joni’s grappling with sin upon her reflections in Psalm 25. We felt for Sze Gar’s struggle and crisis of faith over unsaved family members and friends in her ruminations of Romans 9:1–3. We’ve been there and also have loved ones and dear friends in need of Christ’s salvation. There are no easy answers this side of heaven except to keep in close, unbreakable fellowship with the saints. For then and there, God will pour out His blessings, joy unspeakable, life forevermore.
Came Sunday afternoon, we said goodbye to our beloved residents of Kathy’s Home, and headed to Nan airport. But not before chowing down a second round of wanton noodles at the best stall in Pua.
Thank you, Mak and Narola for your warm hospitality, as always. Thank you, Noel for stepping up to teach a group on your own. We hope to give you a break next time. We are grateful for Anabel and Thungti, truly God’s provision.
The last word or words must belong to Beh. As we waited for our flight at the airport, Meei Fang reminisced that she enjoyed this trip the most, to which Beh responded: “Yah, I feel the same too! Don’t know why. And last night’s dinner at the Football Restaurant was the best I ever had.” But Beh, we always ate at the Football Restaurant and we had always ordered the same dishes!
And that’s the God whom we serve. He not only meets our needs but can turn the mundane into deliciousness. GBC, come and taste what God can do. Register your interest for the next trip from 20–24 November with Beh (9788 6171) or Siew Kim (9752 5589).
*Thungti arrived from Nagaland a few weeks ago, to embark on his missionary journey in Thailand. His stay at KH, while waiting for his visa to be approved before taking up language studies in Bangkok, offers him the opportunity to be introduced to some Thai culture, pick up some Thai and acclimatise to life in a new country. Let us remember him and his heart’s desire to serve God in Thailand, for smooth application of visa and papers, and for what’s beyond.