7 days

I cannot believe how quickly time has gone by. It will be two months in Thailand this week. I must admit that the time seemed to drag on forever, but when I hit the one month mark I feel like the fast forward button has been pushed. The weeks are over before I know it. I have somewhat of a set schedule, I work at various houses during the week. I thought I would give you a look into my life to see what my daily life is like...

Monday.

Baby House day. I don't think there is anything that will lift your spirits more than spending the day hanging out with babies. The Compasio babies are being taken care of temporarily until their mothers are released from prison. I usually arrive around 8:00 am and my day consists of playing with the kids, feeding them lunch, taking a nap, playing some more, feeding them dinner, bathing them, and getting them ready for bed. That nap is a lifesaver. Running after four 2-3 year olds and a six year old can be tiring.

Tuesday.

(Just the white girls L-R Jade, Steph, Sia, Mila, Me, Ashlee, Kelly)

We have our staff meeting and I usually hang around the office writing or doing whatever needs to be done.

Wednesday.

I help at the drop in center where we get to spend time with the street kids of Mae Sot. We cook breakfast, watch cartoons, and do arts and crafts. We try to go out to the street a few times a week to spend time with them as well :)

Thursday.

Compasio has recently begun building relationship with the families who live in the garbage dump. Every Thursday we visit to do basic medical treatment, coloring, laughing, and just being friends.

Friday.

Usually Friday is market day and I will go with the Thai staff to buy large quantities of eggs, fruit, vegetables, rice, and Burmese fish paste (something I could live without smelling) which we deliver to the Compasio houses as well as to some families that we support. I also write up some stories and edit some photos I've taken over the week which I send to our main office in Chiang Mai. That is the media part of my job :)

Saturday.

My day off. Never the same. Always goes by too quickly.

Sunday.

I will work at either the baby house or safe house in the morning so that the Thai staff can attend Church. I go to an English speaking house Church in the afternoon and in the evening I attend Burmese Church.

I am studying Burmese 2-3 hours a day, everyday. I meet with my teacher for an hour 5 days a week and I like to practice reading, writing, and speaking on my own and with Burmese friends.

So! There you have it, a glance into my life, however, things change every day, but I would not want it any other way :)

Be Blessed.

My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever... I will tell of all your deeds.

Burma

Burma is so close. Yet it is so far. If only I could reach out and touch it. If only I could reach in and help those who so desperately need it.

March 14. Global day of prayer for Burma. I want everyone to be praying today. But, not just today. Everyday. Is that selfish? No. I believe it is our duty.

My friends, before I was blind. I was unaware of the horrors Satan brings. Now I see that he is a trickster; he is a bearer of rotten, selfish, deathly gifts. I refuse to let him take my joy. Please don't mind that I'm processing this in writing. I'm getting this off of my shoulders. This is what blogs are for right?

The Karen, Chin, and Arakan people are suffering. Their government has deemed them unclean, and they are attempting to wipe out these rich cultures and beautiful people. The Burma army has entered peaceful villages and destroyed them. They move about the country burning, raping, torturing, and enslaving the defenseless. It is a war against civilians. This is in my front yard.

River between Burma and Thailand

Today in church we were having a time of intercessory prayer for Burma, and we watched a movie made by the Free Burma Rangers (a group that helps to bring supplies and relief into dangerous parts of Burma) and they showed footage of the people, the injury, and the land. They interviewed one man who was talking about how he viewed the Burmese army. He said that at first he hated them. He despised them. They had killed his brother, his mother, and his father. They had burned down his village and he had nothing because of them. Yet, as God worked in his life, he grew to love them and forgive them. He now has compassion on the Burmese soldiers. When he looks at them, he sees a human being that God loves and who Jesus died for. I wish that I could be so strong and devoted as to see my enemies in that light.

Praise God that He has replaced bitterness and hatred with love and compassion.

Please pray for the conflict in Burma. Pray for the people and for the leaders. Pray that there would be intercession and peace. Personally, I pray that God will use me in this time. My heart has been burdened for these people who are undergoing the unthinkable, and I am open to the Spirit leading me to where I am most needed.

This Karen boy lives in a refugee camp and is able to attend school

for more information visit Pray for Burma.

Thank you for being part of my journey.

relief

We hopped onto our motorbikes, baskets full of basic medical equipment, colored pencils, and paper. As we drove along the bumpy road, we prepared ourselves mentally for what was coming. As we went around the last bend in the road, we saw the heaps of garbage. I felt my heart jump, but I scolded myself for being so anxious. As we drove past the clusters of people, we were greeted with smiles from the men and woman and children ran after us.

Welcome to the Mae Sot garbage dump. Compasio has been building relationships with the families who live here. These people are often exposed by westerners who come in, photograph and video tape their circumstances only to leave, sometimes even without saying a word. Compasio simply comes into the lives of the people to talk to them, spend time listening, and to be a reminder that they have friends, they have advocates.

As we left the dump, we looked back and saw that the kids were still intrigued by the paper airplanes they had been taught to make and we knew that the origami cranes they had folded would be placed in a safe places to be admired by all. But, more than any physical objects we left behind, we knew that they knew we would be back again next week, and the week after that, and the week after that. Because that is the heart of relief, not just bringing materials to save someone physically, but to bring a relationship into bloom, because as Allan Brown says “We’re not galloping in as their saviors but we’re there to sit with them and to get to know them. They’re our equals; they’re our brothers and sisters. Relief and development are tools that we use as we go out and love people. When the rice is gone or the clothes are worn out, that’s the stuff that lasts, that’s what changes lives.”

Burmese

Since I'm working in a city which is predominantly Burmese, I have decided to study Burmese before I try to tackle Thai. There are very few Burmese books or online tutors, which made it difficult for me to start learning in the States. Since I've arrived here, I've been picking up so many Thai words and phrases that it seemed unlikely I would be able to learn Burmese first. However, things have changed and I have started taking lessons from a friend. Hin Bai is a newly married, young, beautiful, and Godly Burmese woman that I met through my friends here at Compasio. She speaks English quite well and is such a gifted teacher.

I just finished my second lesson with her, in which I learned to construct small sentences. She is teaching me to write, read, and speak. We meet for one hour each day, so, I am well on my way to become a Burmese speaker. Easier said than done though. Have you seen their letters or ever heard a Burmese conversation?

I would appreciate prayer as I begin to climb this unpaved mountain.

:)

Special Delivery

Today we went to the market to do some food shopping for the families we support. Some of these pictures were taken by Saja (see blog entry "Babies don't belong in Prison"), he did such a good job! Maybe I should give him some training. Anyways, enjoy this little break from my spewing of words.

The Market Crew

Holding hands with my little cuddlebug

Backseat

Trusty Land Rover

Nokia learning to count money and make purchases

Guess what we're talking about? You'll never guess.

Okay... we're talking about how much we want to be like Jason Bourne.

Sia and Jade

P Jimmy

Alias and Chiada

A fruit stand. Yum.

Typical street in Mae Sot

Jade takin some pics

Sweaty, dirty, happy

We hired this guy to lug our groceries and kids

That kid with the hat isn't ours. His dad just put him there.

Miracle

Child trafficking was never real to me. I had no personal experience with it, no friends who had gone through it, and I could not fathom the idea of a human being sold into slavery. Of course I knew it existed, but I also know that lots of things exist. That doesn’t necessarily mean that I’ve seen it or lived it. All that changed last week.

Two boys who attend our drop in center disappeared last Wednesday. Gone. No one would say what happened. The only information we had was that they had gone to Bangkok to sell flowers. It seemed suspicious to say the least. We began a desperate search, we would not let our kids just disappear with no reaction. We went into the community to search for information, we went to the immigration office in hopes of someone having seen them, we contacted World Vision, and we prayed.

There was little hope that we would ever see them again. Usually when kids are taken to Bangkok they disappear. No one ever hears from them again. World Vision of Mae Sot specializes in trafficking cases, and even they were doubtful that we would find the boys, though they were willing to type up a report and keep an eye out. Yesterday, as my friend was on a way to meet with WV, she saw, out of the corner of her eye, a bicycle with bags for collecting bottles and cans; a telltale sign of some of our older boys out collecting garbage. She turned around and as the boys approached her she saw that the two missing boys were with them. Somehow, they had returned to Mae Sot.

She was ecstatic and hugged both of them exclaiming “What are you doing here? Where were you? We were looking for you!” This is what they said…

They had met a guy who promised to give them 20,000 bot each if they went to Bangkok. The boys agreed and the man told them to meet him at the grocery store. They got into his car, and they drove to a second location where there was a van. The guy blindfolded them and they later woke up lying in a truck with twelve other boys. As they talked, they figured that they had been kidnapped and they would be sold. They had been drugged to fall asleep and were now on their way to Bangkok. Somehow they were able to escape from the truck and began to make their way back to Mae Sot by walking and hitchhiking. God had done what we thought was impossible. He brought these boys back to us safe and unharmed.

They cooperated with World Vision, telling them their story and describing the man who had attempted to traffic them. We’re hoping that with their information, the other boys can be found and returned, and the men who are at the root of this will be charged. Not only that, but now the boys will have a firsthand experience of how dangerous it is to go to Bangkok. It's not a new and better life, it is prison. We're praying that the community will understand this and not allow strangers to enter and promise payment for the lives of their children.

We were able to intercede this time, but I know that there are thousands of other children who are not as lucky and have no one to care that they are gone. I pray that we, followers of Christ, will join together to fight against this injustice. Because, it is real and it is unacceptable.