Lord, Send Us To Thailand

12/13/2023

As the dust settles, The Opperman family would like to thank our sponsors - personal sponsors and business sponsors. We’d also like to take a moment to recognize our prayer teams, friends and family, coworkers, and community for supporting us this year! God blessed our family and team immensely and it was simply amazing to see how God used so many people to bring to fruition the work that was accomplished on our trip and the seeds that have been planted for future blessings.

Thank you for sharing our posts, following our journey, buying crafts and keychains, supporting our fundraising events, keeping us in your regular prayers, donating finances and time, and so much more!

This trip warranted $10,000 for us to make this journey as a family of four. I’m so humbled to say 100% of those costs were accounted for through all the doors God opened for us. In those doors that were opened, lasting relationships were made throughout the community as well!

A donation of $3,000 USD was left with Seed of Hope campus to help them in any way needed. $300 USD was left with The Seed Christian School. Two VBS classes were taught to Akha hilltribe and Burmese refugee kiddos. The largest order Seed of Hope coffee has received was completed and successfully shipped. The education center was cleaned and is nearly ready for move in day. Lawpa’s (SOH co-founder) home was worked on for the ongoing construction.

Our team faced incredible attacks leading up to and during our trip. Our team members, us included, faced relational hardships, a death in the family, pet loss, family emergencies, personal illness, and seeds that were planted falsely that resulted in stress with our team and their families at home. The Bible says there is rejoicing in our suffering (Romans 5:3) and it is evidence of our work aligning with God’s will that we do suffer. We could not have navigated through so much had it not been for our faith that God would see us through, fellowship, and prayers.

With that all being said…. THANK YOU!

Please look through our sponsors and support those business or take these individuals aside and give them a big hug and a thank you for what they did for our team.

Sponsors not pictured:
Judy & Randall Hale
Lori Dollar
Tina and Barrett Biberdorf
Becky and Glen Fuller
Tami Jantz
Sabrina Schmidt
Leigh-Ann Davis
Soma Grotefend
Kelly Morgan
Melissa Gladden
Kim Caldwell
Jill and Carrol Carter
Landa and Chad Houghton
Ashton Larson
James and Lacie Torres
Jamie Rice
Monica Nagahiro
Danica Busby & Troy Brown
Taffeta Troutner
Steven Malarchick
Christi and Brandon Drake
Lisa and Matt Boswell
Melissa and Levi Conklin
Isaac Bates
SJHP Urgent Care staff
WEBB Automotive Group
Vanessa Charlie

12/05/2023

12/03/2023

Day 13: Departure Home.

Thank you Day3Church and sponsors for supporting our team members and our mission. We could not have done it without your volunteer hours, prayers, and donations. We could not have done it without your support at home while we were gone. Our team experienced struggles, deaths in the family at home, family medical emergencies at home, illnesses, and fatigue to name the big ones. Your support was felt and needed.

Thank you Seed of Hope staff for driving us, hosting us with preparing meals and with being at your campus, providing coffee, and providing your friendship. Thank you for sharing your lives with us and allowing us to be a part of them in any way we could.

Thank you to Paul with the Foundation and Ryan and Rebecca for providing guidance, answering questions, and ensuring we had all of our needs cared for while here.

Thank you to everyone who played a role in our trip. God uses all, big and small, with gifts of all kinds, to change the lives of many. These trips are foundational bricks for future missions and opportunities for God to use the Body according to His will. There is rejoicing in suffering and blessings in sacrifice- even short term trips such as these.

12/03/2023

Day 12: We went to visit The Seed Christian School in Chiang Mai and present our curriculum to the younger kids in the school. This is a Christian school that has a facilitated self-paced curriculum through grade 9 from the US. It is in English so the children are fairly fluent in English because of this. The childrens’ families pay about 50% of the sustainable costs and the church tithes pay for the other half. This school is for Burmese children and family that have left Myanmar due to the conflict. The church associated is also a Burmese church and Pastor Steven is one of 6 pastoral faculty members that run the church. We did day 1-3 for the kids and left days 4-5 for the teachers to review with all the students once the older students return from their conference. We played 4-square and mingled with the students during lunch and free-time. We really got to know them, the teachers, and Esther (the superintendent and founder). Pastor Steven’s wife and volunteers made lunch for us.

A Burmese doctor also started having a clinic for anyone in need 3 weeks ago. This is a church and school barely getting on its feet but quickly picking up momentum. We were able to leave a large donation to assist with their needs as they grow. Praise God for His hands in their work and prayers for continued strength, wisdom and guidance.

12/03/2023

12/02/2023

An Akha hill tribe pastor makes bamboo walls and he made these for the school. They are great because they help with ventilation but protect from the elements.

12/01/2023

Day 11: We visited Grace International School where Cindy was called to work at as a middle school principal. She is a sponsored missionary from Day3Church and we toured her beautiful campus. (We also had to take some silly photos in her office because she wasn’t there) 😂 These students also have a completely student lead chapel worship service and announcements. It was amazing! Austin and Organ got to spend a few hours in a 4th grade classroom as well.

We then visited the Old Chiang Mai Cultural Center where they have traditional dances with stories. It was an interesting experience.