the reinforcers: the beginning.

And just like that, it’s a thing. It’s a part of our lives, a part of schedules.

It’s a new project!

And more than that, we’re seeing God working here. It’s encouraging and fresh.

In short–Stephen dreamed this up over a year ago. He wanted to provide a rentable sound system in Mae Sot that comes with two mentored, trained teenagers to run sound. His idea was to get the initial sound equipment funded by grant, which would allow the project to then be sustainable to provide work for two young men and maintain the equipment and allow for growth.

Honestly? When we didn’t get the grant, we were a bit thrown off. Stephen particularly felt so sure he was supposed to start this, but unsure how to go about it without the initial investment. We were nervous to raise it individually because of other needs in the community (i.e. The Breakfast Club–you hate to fund a sound system over a malnourishment program). And we just really wanted to make sure we felt it was the right thing before we spent a good portion of our year’s expenses on it.

A quick budget breakdown: In 2016, we spent right around $10,000 on all the community projects–medical, playhouse, Flour & Flowers, Christmas. In 2017, we added the community center side and added The Breakfast Club mid-year. We haven’t finished crunching the books just yet, we were estimating $15,000 for the year; a pretty significant increase for us. And this project we were estimating at $4,000-$5,000, a very big portion and in 2017 would have doubled our community budget.

All that to say this: what a big God we serve.

As the year progressed, Stephen still felt the need was there for these two boys, as well as the opportunity. Further, he felt the market was available in Mae Sot, and that it just. might. work.

{Cheapskate Kelli was still a little concerned, but wanted to be Supportive Wife Kelli.} So when Stephen felt like we should do a year-end request for this particular project, we did. After a Christmas party, in the midst of chaos, we sent out a choppy video to explain the project.

Y’all, it was amazing to see. We received over double what we hoped for, and we are so excited (and maybe a little nervous) for what God has in store. {While he always provides for what he puts in front of us, sometimes financial provision isn’t the only daunting part!}

Fast forward just weeks, and Stephen was trekking across Bangkok to sign a credit card slip for a whole set of sound equipment!

Fast forward five days after that, the boys had their first gig with the new equipment–running sound for a worship night of fellow Burmese & Karen youth.

Fast forward another six days to this past weekend, when they all ran sound on Friday night for a concert, Saturday night for OneHouse worship, and Sunday morning at church.

Can I just tell you some of the amazing things about this?

– We are still working on the logo and fliers and marketing material, and The Reinforcers have been hired two weekends in a row. The response from expats: positive. The response from the guys: positive. The response from the boys’ families: positive. The response from the Spurlock House: positive exhaustion.

– The guys are getting to work with Stephen on nights and weekends, so they are still attending school and taking exams, but also able to help their families, both of which need the assistance.

– They come to our house for a couple hours after school on Tuesday to practice new sound skills and to learn computer. They are able to get one-on-one time with Stephen and learn skills to set them apart in the workforce.

– We are able to use some of the equipment at church each week to help out our little Light of Love community, too.

– The guys run sound for church every week, where they hear the sermon, learn the songs, and experience the body of Christ in their own cultural context.

– On Tuesdays, Stephen is teaching them to type Burmese on the computer and how to manage Keynote. By April, we hope to be taking our projector to church each week with a database of songs, to save the church bulletin paper while continuing to improve the boys’ computer and literacy skills.

The boys love it, they do. But they are shy. They are hesitant. They are teenagers. We see it the most in the moms, who open the doors to their kids at 11pm with huge smiles on their faces. Who tell us thank you a million times over, because they know that this is opening up great opportunities for their sons and families. And they know Stephen is probably the greatest guy in town for them to be hanging out with 😊

I can’t really capture how excited we are for this, and how much we are just awed seeing it roll out so quickly. Are we a little nervous? Heck yes. It’s a commitment–everything is. But we can also see God’s fingerprints all over it.

Oh, and the name is sticking. The Reinforcers are the newest piece of The House Collective!