Who Are the People in Your Neighborhood?

Here is a really fun video we just made recently!  Get a view of where we live...

https://vimeo.com/134397939

In other fun, Hanover news, Turism, who turned 16 last Wednesday, was just accepted to a volunteer position with IJM, or the International Justice Mission (see more about them here: https://www.ijm.org).  Here's the story...

Turism has decided to combine her last 2 years of high school (she finished 10th grade 2 weeks ago) with college.  She is using a program called CollegePlus, an organization we highly recommend (see more about them here: https://collegeplus.org).  In doing this, CollegePlus sent her through a few classes to help her learn her passions as well as her giftings.  She landed on Pre-Law as a major.  She feels very passionately about those who don't know Jesus and those who are caught up in human trafficking.  IJM conveniently combines both those passions in fighting for those who cannot fight for themselves.  IJM has 6 global offices, one that "happens" to be in Chiang Mai and not only in Chiang Mai but 10 minutes down the road from our house!

I contaced IJM in June and asked if they would take on a volunteer in their Chiang Mai office to do whatever menial work was needed.  We just wanted Turism to get her foot in the door.  Their reply was that they rarely took in volunteers in their global offices but they could contact the Chiang Mai office and get back to me.  Turns out, the week before we had contacted IJM, the Thai staff, who have been trying to keep their casework current in their database, made a small mistake and it had cost them hours of work.  They really felt the need for an intern to be sent over, just to help with cataloging cases and keeping their database current and accurate.  The Thai staff contacted their head office in Washington D.C. who said they could send someone in 10 months.  Then they received my email.

They asked Turism to come in for an interview on July 20th.  Curt and I spent the weekend prepping her for typical interview questions and she felt confident when she went in for the interview on Monday morning.  Elden, Turism and I piled on our motorbike and found IJM's office.  Elden and I went on a walk while Turism went in and interviewed.  They told her they would let her know within a week.

Friday afternoon, IJM sent an email to welcome Turism to join their staff.  We are thrilled!  She will be helping manage their database, attending all meetings and taking minutes and traveling with her boss into the villages whenever needed.  What an amazing opportunity for our 16 year old!

She started college this past Tuesday as well.  Her first class?  Social Justice.  The Lord is working mightly in her life and it's really fun getting to be a part of the ride.  Thank you to those of you who prayed!!