Hello to all!
This year is a big year for the Redemptorists in Thailand. We are celebrating 75 years of the arrival of four Redemptorist missionaries. Three of them were still active and working at various positions when I arrived, and I was lucky to work under all three. I learned a lot by shutting up and listening. All three were great guys, and I feel blessed to have known them. Being wheelchair bound, I did not go to Bangkok for the Mass and celebrations down there. But I hope to join in the minor celebration in Nongkhai on August 5th,
Rain has been plentiful so far, and our rice looks really good, and we hope and pray the rains continue. We have been trying to finish our modern chicken coop and yard, but with the rain, it is a muddy mess. We might have to wait a long time to pour cement and buy 150 chickens, for eggs and meat.
Our German volunteers have returned home. We really miss them. They did a magnificent job working and playing with the kids. Six volunteers from the Redemptorist parish in Seville, Spain came to volunteer for a fortnight, and all 6 young women really fit in with the kids. Also, we have two young Thai girls who just finished Teacher Training School, who have come to help until the end of the year. They teach the kids literacy and Math as well as Thai dancing, among other skills. Needless to say, they are a great hit with the children.
Two former directors of Sarnelli, Fathers Ole and Mayti, came up with their 4 Redemptorist Aspirants, for a visit to the children of Sarnelli. (An Aspirant is one who wants to be a Redemptorist and spends a year with directors before going to the Redemporist Novitiate.).The older children remembered Fathers Ole and Mayti with great affection, whereas the younger kids did not know them.
So as we enter the month of August, we ask the Lord to bless you all!
Fr. Mike, the staff and kids of Sarnelli House
