Missions Blog

Devotional at Borderline Coffee

Down the street from Faith House sits a quiet little gem called Borderline Coffee — a peaceful spot that teams on this trip have come to love. Tucked away from the noise and bustle of Mae Sot, it has a tree growing right up through the middle of the shop, handmade cups, a proper French press, and the kind of unhurried atmosphere that makes space for real conversation.

It had been closed the first couple of days of our trip due to Songkran — Thailand’s beloved New Year celebration. But today? It was open. And it was perfect.

After a few days together on the ground, the team was beginning to open up in deeper ways. This morning Dee and Joell each shared something hard — and beautiful. Stories of tragedy, loss, and the very real presence of evil in the world. And yet through every one of those broken places, the same thread ran through: God showed up.

He takes the broken pieces and makes a stained glass window.

The morning’s devotional centered on gratitude — not as a reaction to good circumstances, but as a deliberate choice to remember what God has done. A few anchoring thoughts from the study:

• Gratitude is a posture of the heart before it is a feeling. It takes discipline to give thanks in all circumstances — not just the easy ones.
• Like Israel singing on the far shore of the Red Sea, or the one leper who turned back to thank Jesus — thanksgiving turns memory into worship. It anchors us to what God has already done, so we can trust Him with what is still to come.

Borderline Coffee — a peaceful place amid the bustle of Mae Sot, with a tree growing right through the middle of the shop.

Handmade cups and a French press — the simple things that make space for real conversation.

Nehemiah Lesson — Building Together

We arrived at Faith House to find the girls already waiting for us, dressed in their purple “Arise and Build” shirts, ready to go. There is something about seeing that kind of eagerness — it fills you right up.

We opened with worship and prayer, and then Dee took the girls through a review of Nehemiah Chapters 1 and 2 before moving into Chapter 3 — one of the most visually powerful chapters in the whole book.

In Chapter 3, Nehemiah organizes the rebuilding of the wall around Jerusalem. What makes it remarkable is this: every family, every group, every individual was assigned to rebuild the section of wall directly in front of their own house. They didn’t work on someone else’s piece. They worked on theirs. Their home. Their responsibility. Their contribution to the whole.

Each girl wrote Nehemiah 2:20 on the yellow strip of her Identity Mobile, alongside her own individual goals — her words, her handwriting, her dream placed right next to God’s promise.

Then came the building project. Dee passed out boxes and a glorious pile of craft supplies — glue, pictures, paper, stars, yarn, craft pens — and each girl decorated her own box however she wanted. Her piece of the wall. Her self-expression. Her identity.

When every girl was finished, they brought their boxes together and assembled them into a Wall of Jerusalem around the Worship Center, each one taking her place in the larger whole. It was one of those moments that you watch unfold and think: this is exactly what the kingdom looks like.

No one built alone. No one was left out. Every box mattered. Every girl mattered. They celebrated with a worship song and a dance, and the wall stood.

“We his servants will start rebuilding.” — The Wall of Jerusalem, built one box at a time by the Faith House girls.

Here is a closer look at some of the individual pieces — each one as unique as the girl who made it:

Kumu — one of Faith House’s newest and youngest girls, building her piece of the wall. She belongs here.	Rose — one of Faith House’s older girls and a worship leader, who leads with her voice, her guitar, and sometimes the piano.

Each girl built her own piece of the Wall of Jerusalem — her goals, her identity, her handwriting.

Swim Time!

The girls of Faith House carry a lot. They are learning Thai on top of everything else they navigate — the weight of troubles at home, the grief of broken families, the shadow of civil war in Myanmar. They face more before breakfast than most of us face in a week.

So when the vans pulled up to take everyone to a rustic swimming resort about 20 minutes outside of Mae Sot — the excitement was something to behold. For these girls, an afternoon at the pool is what a trip to Disney World feels like for a kid back home. Pure, uncomplicated joy.

After a delicious lunch, the afternoon was spent in the pool — swimming, teaching the girls water games, splashing around, and resting in the cabins. Rest is not wasted time. God designed it. And watching these girls laugh freely in the water was one of the most restorative things our team has witnessed all week.

Grandpa Glenn kept a watchful eye on everyone — as Grandpa Glenn does. He may or may not have been spotted quietly enjoying a popsicle when he thought nobody was looking. The world will never know.

It should also be noted that Uncle Bill was gently reminded — more than once — that perhaps the little ones did not need to be thrown quite so high in the air. Noted, Bill. Noted.

He restores my soul — an afternoon of pure, well-earned joy.

Brenda’s Lesson — Don’t Come Down from the Wall

After the pool, the girls gathered once more — hair still damp, hearts still light — and Brenda took them into Nehemiah Chapters 4 through 6. If Day 2 was about starting to build, Day 3 was about what happens when the enemy tries to make you stop.

Nehemiah and his workers had barely reached the halfway point when the opposition escalated. Sanballat mocked them publicly. Conspirators plotted to attack. Rumors spread. False accusations flew. And through every wave of it, Nehemiah did the same two things: he prayed and he prepared.

Brenda asked the girls: “Have you ever been made fun of for something you believed in — or something you were trying to do?” Hands went up. Heads nodded. These girls know what that feels like. And Nehemiah’s answer to ridicule and threat wasn’t to argue or retaliate — it was to turn to God, keep building, and refuse to come down.

The builders never laid down their weapons while they worked. Half built the wall. Half stood guard. And Brenda reminded the girls — they’d talked about this sword before. The Word of God. The sword of the Spirit (Ephesians 6:17). You build and you stay armed. You don’t put it down.

Then she brought it personal.

Brenda and Dave at the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro — 19,341 feet up, American flag in hand, and yes — a Terrible Towel. Pittsburgh to the top of Africa.

In 2019, Brenda and her husband Dave climbed Mount Kilimanjaro — the tallest mountain in Africa, standing at 19,341 feet. Six days up. Two days down. Eight days without a shower. Every morning: wake up, hike four to five hours, make camp, do it again.

On the final night, they woke at 11:30 — not in the morning. At night. And hiked through total darkness toward the summit. No light but their headlamps. Thin air. Bitter cold. Every step a choice to keep going.

They reached the top just as the sun was rising over Africa.

And at the summit? Dave pulled out an American flag — and a Terrible Towel. Because they’re from Pittsburgh, and that’s just what you do.

Brenda told the girls: “We reached the top by accomplishing our goal for each day and sticking to our tasks. At the end, we had to really focus. It was very cold and very dark. But we were persistent. And that is how you reach your goal.”

Then she wrote two versions of FEAR on the board:

“Remember the LORD, who is great and awesome.” — Brenda bringing Nehemiah to life for the girls.

Then came the activity: “Walk to the Promise.” A strip of masking tape stretched across the room, and at the far end, a sign: God’s Promise. One girl at a time walked the line — while the others played the roles of every force that tries to stop you.

Round one: distractions. “Come sit with us! This is boring! You’ll miss out!” Round two: resistance. Girls standing in the path, pool noodles and pillows, making the walk hard. Round three: threats. “You’re going to fail. People will laugh at you. It’s too hard.” And each girl walking the line had to say out loud: “God strengthens me. I will not quit. I’m staying on my path.”

Walking the Promise — one girl at a time, through every distraction, every resistance, every threat.

Every girl walked. Every girl made it to the sign.

The Internet Came Back — and So Did Uncle Dave

And then — right at the close of the lesson — something unexpected happened.

The internet came back on.

Brenda pulled out her phone and called her husband Dave. The man who climbed Kilimanjaro with her. The man in the photo with the Terrible Towel at the top of Africa. And when his face appeared on that screen and the girls realized what was happening…

They lost it. Cheering, waving, calling out to him. Pure joy. A man they’d just heard stories about, suddenly right there in the room with them — grinning back from thousands of miles away.

Dave was a hit.

So it has been decided: next year, Uncle Dave is coming to Mae Sot. The girls have already made their feelings on this very clear. The cheering said everything.

Day 3 is in the books. Gratitude in the morning. A wall built together. Laughter in the water. Persistence preached and walked out on a strip of masking tape. And a surprise call that brought the whole room to its feet.
God is so good.
— Dee, Brenda, Glenn, Joell, Kathleen, Sally & Bill