The Boys Become Teachers

A young South African, Philip-Johan, spent a month on the island, helping daily with English classes and being taught to surf by the boys. In July they attended the Christian Surfers International seminar, where the coach who had trained them, Tim, asked the boys to help teach a large school group to surf. Shy at first, they threw themselves in — and several attendees said the highlight of the seminar was watching what the Lord is doing in these Moken young men. Along the way the boys also built a self-watering garden for a children's home.

Philip and Mark then took a boat across to Myanmar, a long-planned scouting trip, and found a large Thai-speaking community and word of Moken living on the islands there; Philip resolved to seek them out on the next visit. A new horizon had opened — the Moken are not only on Koh Phayam. Back home the citizenship struggle continued: another official registration was blocked by a controlling local who refused to let witnesses testify, and Philip spent a long time winning her cooperation for the future.

In October, at a surf competition against more than sixty children in Khao Lak, Wud was named best helper of the whole event. The group then stayed on for a Father Heart of God seminar that touched the children deeply, teaching them in practical, tangible ways who the Father is and giving them quiet evenings to talk with Him. And in Ranong, a group of young Moken children announced they had decided to follow the Lord — their lives, Philip wrote, already bearing witness that they truly believe.