Miracle Mountain Ranch is working with The Potters School (TPS) to offer a trip to Thailand. The trip is organized by TPS and Ranch Alumni and Friends are invited to apply. The TPS staff carefully assemble the team from those that apply. Staff member Donnie Rosie will be helping to lead this trip along side TPS Staff. If you have any questions about this trip please contact the TPS staff or Donnie Rosie.
Thailand Trip Details from The Potters School
As most of you know, we have dedicated ourselves to providing the homeschool community with courses that combine a high-quality Bible-centered curriculum with effective feedback and evaluation. What some of you may not realize is that these courses are just a part of our more foundational purpose. That purpose is to strengthen and equip families in serving God together, and in raising children who love God, fear Him, and remember His works. Toward this end, we are involved in other endeavors well beyond the classes themselves.
In January 2015, TPS will be serving at a family discipleship and education conference in Chiang Mai, Thailand for the ninth consecutive year. The entire trip will run from about January 24th – February 10th. This is not a vendor conference, and we are not going there to advertise TPS or sell anything. This conference is an annual event to strengthen and equip families serving in East Asia, and it is the major family and education conference for faith workers in that vast region. It is expected to have over 200 families in attendance, most of whom homeschool their children in their remote location. This year, we have again been asked by the conference directors to coordinate the entire youth and children’s program for 100 kids. During this conference, the TPS team will lead the children in games, crafts, object lessons, and other activities designed to increase their understanding of God’s love for them, and His faithfulness to provide for their every need. If you would like to read a past report or view a video summary of the trip, please click here.
Our service and ministry will continue even after the conference ends, when our team travels to the mountains for a few days to experience the local Thai culture and minister to the native people. Our entire stay in the mountains is an opportunity to build relationships with Thai people, with highlights that include teaching English at a Thai elementary school and hiking to a remote tribal village of the “Karen” people (refugees of Burma) to spend the day with the families and teach the children.
What does this have to do with you? We have seen the life-changing difference these trips have made in our children and other teens who have accompanied us, so this year we are again offering TPS students an opportunity to travel overseas with us to serve at this conference. It is an amazing chance to share the lives of families serving all over East Asia, many of whom live in countries closed or even hostile to the Bible. It affords us the privilege of providing vital support to those who want to disciple and home educate their children but do not have access to the resources we take for granted. It strengthens our faith and expands our biblical worldview, while providing us first-hand exposure to a foreign culture. It is a rewarding and arduous trip, and it is a lot of fun.
We want to take about 12-15 youth, and we welcome applications from parents as well. All participants must individually apply and be accepted. The trip is challenging and requires maturity and independence, so teens should be at least 14 years old. Acceptance will be based on spiritual and emotional maturity as well as matching strengths to needs, with older students generally given higher priority. Participants must pay their own way, but may do this by raising their support through The Potter’s School (a non-profit, 501(c)3 organization).
Participants must have a valid passport and will be required to make their own flight reservations to and from the Washington, DC point of origin. We apologize in advance for any added inconvenience and expense it may cause U.S. families not located near Washington, DC but, except in special circumstances, we will not allow a student to travel overseas unaccompanied to meet our group (families living overseas should contact us directly to discuss options). Participants will be required to arrive in Washington, DC the day before we depart for overseas. We will arrange all airport pickups, overnight housing, and meals in the DC area prior to departure. Due to return flight availability, some participants will need to remain overnight in the Washington, DC area the night we return. If required for the return trip, we will arrange any individual overnight housing and airport transportation in the Washington, DC area.
The approximate cost of the trip is $1,950, which covers all expenses from the time you arrive in Washington, DC for departure through the time we all return to Washington, DC. We will provide the final cost of the trip prior to asking for an acceptance and commitment from you. We encourage participants to raise support from their church, family, and friends. The Potter’s School is a non-profit 501(c)3 organization and all donations (except payments made directly by the participant) to this trip are tax deductible for the donor.
Students should be expected to get ahead in their schoolwork as much as they can before they go so the trip does not overly hinder their academics. However, you can expect that TPS teachers will be flexible in supporting this trip. Though we have no control over the conference dates, having the trip between Christmas break and Winter break is helpful for getting ahead and catching up.
This is probably enough detail to get you started in prayerfully considering this tremendous opportunity. You can read a written summary or watch a video re-cap of prior years’ trips on the TPS website (https://www.pottersschool.org/tu/K3WQvGOqwkh). Please don’t hesitate to ask us any questions you may have about the trip. All questions should be sent to [email protected] . We will also be happy to connect you with past trip participants if you want to discuss their experience with them.
