Fourteen Skagit Adventist Academy students and six adults discovered firsthand the joy of service during a mission trip to Thailand.

The Skagit missionaries went to help the Bamboo School, a self-supporting mission for children from the Karen tribe in Burma (Myanmar), where a former SAA student, Steven Ladish, is a student missionary. Catherine Riley-Bryan, lovingly called Momocat, started the school seven years ago with a prayer and a mere five dollars. Today, the school has more than 70 students.

SAA students put their hearts, brains and brawn into helping with Vacation Bible School, experiencing hands-on medical mission work in the village, and building a much needed bathroom block. Interacting with the children at the Bamboo School was the highlight of the experience, and many SAA students are interested in returning to Thailand as student missionaries.