From Home to Home
As most of you know I had the blessing of being able to spend almost two months back ‘home’ in the States. While I was there I got to see my niece and nephew dedicated by their parents to Christ and my little sister get married! I also spent a lot of time helping out at my parent’s store – White Horse Grocery & Mercantile in Idaho. It was a trip filled with lots of family time that I absolutely loved!!
I was given a couple of opportunities to speak at churches, share with friends and supporters, and even have an article published in the oldest newspaper in Idaho about what I am a part of here in Thailand and Burma.
Two weeks ago I returned to Mae Sot, Thailand… and I hit the ground running. A lot of things changed while I was away, all really good changes, it’s just taking a bit for me to catch up. I’m back to helping out at Famous Ray’s, the hamburger restaurant that was started to provide jobs and support one of our children’s homes. We are also taking teams back into Burma and hosting them here in Mae Sot again. Since I’ve been back we’ve hosted a family visit, a college group and a team from Bangkok. One of the benefits of having teams visits is that I get to take extra trips into Burma to visit the villages and friends I’ve made!
While visiting the leper village last week one of the ladies didn’t know my name (speaking different languages makes communicating difficult), so she decided that my name is daughter. We laughed and hugged at my new name. It’s an amazing feeling, knowing that I have a “family” in Burma now.
I love being back in Thailand and Burma, it is exactly where I know I am supposed to be. Unfortunately my financial support is really low, and I’ve found myself in desperate need of one-time and monthly support. I need to raise an additional $800 a month. My personal expenses are relatively low, however, I want to raise enough support to give in abundance and to be able to accomplish the ministry that God has called me and the team here to do. Costs add up quickly when buying snacks for kids, purchasing school supplies for poor students, feeding families, paying to cross the border, starting a vegetable and herb garden. God has called me to Mae Sot and Burma to help physically do these things, but I rely on the financial support of others in order to see the things that God has spoken happen, to build relationships and help bring joy and hope into people’s lives here.
Would you take a moment to consider giving financially towards what I am doing in Asia? To make an online donation or for information on where to send a check head over to Kingdom Inc
When water recedes it leaves behind mud
The morning after the flood I woke up with the same question on my mind as everyone else, ‘how high are the flood waters’. Not living in the effected areas I had to rely on social media… I was so relieved to learn that the waters had receded in town! Overnight the water had gone from a few feet deep to not even covering the streets in the downtown area.
A boy sifts through flood waters and garbage looking for anything that might be valuable.
Unfortunately those who lived and worked along the river were not as lucky. On both the Thailand and Burma side of the river the water covered the entire first floor of the buildings next to the river. Being a large import and export border the area is surrounded by large and small businesses as well as villages. Some people received the warning that the river was going to rise and were able to evacuate, but not everyone heard about it before it was to late. Many people were stranded until the waters went down… three days later.
A man wades through flood waters looking for items that can be used to rebuild houses in ‘no-mans land’.
It’s one thing to pray for flood victims that you don’t know, but as I prayed people’s faces came to mind from my many visits across the border. After the waters receded a group of us went down to the border to pray and see the damage. I prayed for those effected by the flood, and that we would run into our contact as I really wanted to know my friends were all ok!
A woman working to clean up flood water, mud, and garbage left over from the flood near the border.
God heard my prayers, and we found Myo, our contact!! We were able to encourage him and remind him that we are praying for him and his people. Myo tried to help many people get to higher ground before the flood, unfortunately not everyone wanted to listen to him. He said that three boats that were crossing the river tipped over. At least 200 people had died in Burma due to the floods. Myo had been renting a small room right next to the border, he didn’t have much, but being an educator he had lots of books and a collection of photos and notes for an autobiography he wants to write, he lost everything. Our time was short with Myo as it was late. We asked him what were the greatest needs at the moment… he said that temporary refugee camps had formed at four different monastaries so people had somewhere to stay and a bit of food, but they needed medicine.
Some of the clean up after the flood in the market area received immediate attention by the government.
The same night I went to the pharmacy to pick up the medicine that Myo said the people needed. The pharmacist was wonderful in helping me find the best options to purchase, and told me if I could stop at a clinic in the morning she would like to make a donation. So on my way to the border the next morning I stopped at the clinic and was given two bags full of medication! She more than tripled what I had purchased!! A friend and I travelled to the border to meet Myo, he was blown away by the amount of medicine and supplies we brought him. As he looked through what we brought he almost came to tears over the small bottles of baby powder in one of the bags. Myo was so excited to be able to get medicine to the people who needed it. (He was able to give some directly to people he knew needed it, and then hand the rest over to a doctor who was also staying at a monstary.)
Myo taking the medicine and other supplies that we purchased into Burma to share with flood victims.
Those living in villages or not on the main road are still struggling with the cleanup from the flood. Not only did the flood waters do LOTS of damage, but they left behind several inches of a clay like mud on and in everything. I watched antique shops have to take every item out of their shop and use buckets of water and paintbrushes or toothbrushes to clean their wooden merchandise. The amazing thing is that it didn’t take long for many of the shops to open back up.
The view across the river at Burma. Note the entire wall that is missing from one of the buildings due to the flood.
A few days ago we got to meet up with Myo once again. He again was beaming over what we able to donate. Myo let us know that all of our friends in the villages were untouched by the floods! All of the people who had been staying at the different refuge camps had gone home or found somewhere else to stay. As Myo said, ‘things keep happening to my people, but we are survivors, we keep on going.’ I asked if people still needed anything and he told me, ‘ we don’t need food or anything, we just need love’.
Please continue to pray for the people of Thailand and Burma who were effected by the flooding. Pray for the businesses and economy (many people in Burma lost their jobs because businesses couldn’t stay open). Rainy season is almost over, but the flood was the worst they’ve had in over 10 years.
The rain came down and the waters quickly came up
Last week it rained. I mean, it is rainy season here, that’s what happens. But this was several days of almost constant rain. It wasn’t a Seattle drizzle kind of rain, but a soaked to the bones kind. The if it keeps raining like this I might lose my mind if I don’t see the sun or can be dry sometime soon kind of rain.
On Sunday, the roads were turning into muddy messes or starting to form huge puddles. Monday looked like it was going to be super wet and a lot of water on the roads… then we heard the news that the constant rain meant that they were going to have to release water from the damn.
Mae Sot is relatively flat. So news of another rainy day and water being released didn’t sound like good news. I was at the restaurant which just happens to be on slightly ‘higher ground’ than the main road going through town. As the roads around us started to fill with water I began to get concerned for the team we had staying next door who needed to catch a bus that night. When cockroaches started running for higher ground and water began coming up out of the sewer I knew it was time for us to start making a game plan.
When we went for a quick walk around the neighborhood, we found that water was already to our knees and still rising. Our first priorities became keeping the roaches from getting inside the restaurant and flagging down any truck that might pass by to get the team and their gear out of the flood area so that they could catch their bus to Bangkok and not miss their flight home. They got a ride on the LAST vehicle to go down our street!
The staff and I moved as much as we could from the restaurant and team building to the second floor of our buildings. Refrigerators and freezers got placed on top of crates, just in case the water continued to raise at the rapid pace it had been. With the water to our shins in the street and only inches from getting inside the building there was nothing we could do but sit and watch. So we said a quick prayer, locked the doors, and made the journey home.
My typical trip home takes about 25 minutes, in flooded streets it took an hour. Water ranged from almost waist deep, to not even covering the roads. The thing that we often forget with foods is that it’s not stagnant water, slowly raising. There were a couple of roads that became rushing rivers. Where streets intersected currents grew stronger than the rest of the street. Police were out in lifted trucks and boats, strangers began helping each other regardless of ethnicity or religion.
The waters rose for only a few hours, but thousands of lives, homes and businesses were effected both in Thailand and Burma.
The water never made it inside the restaurant and never got close to the part of town that I live in. Cell phones and social media allowed me to be in constant contact with the rest of my team and receive instant updates on the flooding. And I was very thankful to not lose power or water, which allowed me to connect with my team letting them know I made it home safely, and then head straight into the bathroom to scrub off the flood, rain, and sewer water from the adventurous trip home from town.
Stay tuned for my next blog about after life when the flood waters receded.
People Watching
For those who don’t know, I managed to bang up my arm pretty good … I was a passenger on a motorbike and we tippedover when we hit a crack in the road. There were no major injuries, except for the pieces of gravel that decided they wanted a ride in my arm into town. Thankfully the hospital changed my bandage daily for several days, and now I’m able to change it at home. It will take several more weeks to fully heal, but it’s healing up nicely and I’ve thankfully had lots of time to rest and recoup… although I’m really looking forward to getting back to my normal routine and the day my arm is completely healed!
I wanted to share with you a little from my time at the local government hospital here in Mae Sot. The majority of my time was spent just hanging out in the waiting area. It was surprising to me that the busiest times were during normal work hours… the exact opposite of the hospitals in the States. Evenings and weekends almost made the place look empty. Being a boarder town with a variety of cultures, languages, and religions makes ‘people watching’ at the hospital even more interesting. . .
Some people would be brought by ambulance, car, motorcycle, taxi, or even the back of a pickup. There were those who had to go straight to the e.r. and many who just needed to see a doctor. The hospital had a very organized system in order to see as many people as possible, yet with so many people coming from outside of the city limits and speaking different languages it really requires an advocate to help people properly maneuver through the system without getting lost in the shuffle.
The thing that surprised me the most was watching those who were waiting their turn to see a doctor or a nurse. I watched as a Burmese father held his infant child, obviously worn out and concerned for his baby, have a Muslim woman come to his aid and lovingly make a bottle for him so that he didn’t have to do it while holding his child. I watched an entire cycling team bring a woman to the e.r., pay for her bills, and saw the concern and worry for her on their faces (I don’t know the rest of the story only that the woman was released after being treated). Buddhist monks waited their turn just like everyone else. There were those who could probably pay their medical bills, those who were scrapping together whatever their family had to cover the cost, an probably people there who couldn’t pay the full amount.
I watched as people waited their turn to find out ‘how bad is it?’. I watched as each new person who arrived had all eyes on them, everyone wondering ‘I wonder what’s wrong with them’. I learned that you can’t judge a wound by the size of a bandage, you don’t know what it really looks like underneath the gauze and tape. I watched people who normally wouldn’t interact, have smiles of compassion for one another. I was reminded that everyone wants to feel valued, understood, and listened to. I was surprised at the number of people who were injured due to different types of accidents. And more than anything I wanted desperately for God’s healing power to flow through that place. I wanted everyone from the little babies to the wrinkly old people to have a touch from heaven and to be able to walk out of the hospital whole and healed.
Even though I spent hours at the hospital, my prayers remained silent. I never had the urge or the courage to ask to pray for someone. Yet I feel like something inside me changed, I can’t really describe it in words. But I know that even in the midst of Mae Sot Hospital, God is there, just waiting for people to call on His name. And I know that even though my prayers might have been silent, God heard every word I prayed over that place and the people that were there.
I’m in Thailand
Well, I’m sitting at the dining room table in the Ward’s house in Chiang Mai, Thailand. The trip here was one of the smoothest I’ve had and I was amazed at how normal it felt to be moving to the other side of the world. I was blessed with extra legroom on all three flights, and didn’t have to sit next to anyone who was loud or stinky. I learned that Eva Airlines is great, and they have a Hello Kitty theme (unfortunately I didn’t make it onto any of their Hello Kitty airplanes, although they do have several). And Bangkok Airways lets everyone into their lounge at the airport (free snacks, drinks, wifi, and comfy couches), making my layover in Bangkok much more enjoyable.
The plan at the moment is to spend some time here in Chiang Mai with the Wards, the family I came here to serve alongside. They will help me with some orientation to Thai culture and share what has been happening here since my last visit almost two years ago. You can check out the ministries that they’ve started and see their lovely faces on their Facebook page – Outpour Movement. Then they will take me over to Mae Sot where I have more friends waiting to welcome me. I can’t wait to start exploring the city I feel called to and find the many opportunities that await me.
Having been in the country for less than 48 hours, I don’t really have anything else to report quite yet. Over the coming days and weeks I am sure I will have more information and possibly get some photos taken to share. Please pray for wisdom as there are decisions to make, that I will adjust to life here quickly and easily, and for the focus and ability to retain information as I begin to learn Thai.
Watercolor Memories
One of my last days in Thailand I was able to visit the largest Burmese Refugee Camp in Thailand. This camp holds tens of thousands of people and has probably been open longer than I have been alive.
The Sound of Hope (a non-profit organization) brought art supplies to the youth at The Refuge (a children’s home inside the refugee camp, an Outpour Movement project). It took only seconds for the youth to start their artwork. They had never seen watercolors before, but you would never know that looking at their work.
As I watched each blank page fill with color I noticed that every one of the youth was drawing / painting landscapes. There wasn’t a single alien, prince, princess, sea creature, airplane, or puppy dog drawn.
The next day we were able to ask each artist about what they created. Each of them told us that their landscape was of Burma. That these were their memories. They remembered living in the mountains, the fields their village worked in, the colorful sunsets, and the fruit trees in full bloom. The stories behind their pictures were how the village and fields were burned to the ground, children dreamed of going to school because there wasn’t one, parents who had died, trees were chopped down and animals killed by people who were hoping to starve the villagers.
These youth have the choice of remembering the pain and darkness that they left in Burma, yet they chose to remember the beauty.
As we asked the youth individually what they wanted to be and what they wanted to do when they grow up, each of them shocked us by saying that they want to go ‘home’ to Burma. These youth want to go back to their people and bring hope by becoming teachers, nurses, and political leaders. Not one of them said that they wanted to stay in Thailand or go to a first world country (which is a possibility being a refugee).
In the face of poverty and persecution I was amazed to see the youth’s faith and hope. There is still an innocence and purity inside each of them. I was honored to spend time with each of these amazing youth and can not wait to see the men and women of God that they become.
For more details on what’s happening in Burma, check out Sound of Hope’s 10 Things You Need To Know About Burma.
For more pictures of the youth, their artwork and their stories click here.
Fore more information about The Refuge click here.
To help give financially towards The Refuge click here, under donation designation type ‘The Refuge’.
To help support orphans around the world through The Sound of Hope click here.
Hidden in the Darkness
In the parts of Thailand that I’ve traveled to in the past, the sex industry is very obvious. Bars and hourly hotels have large neon signs drawing your attention to their services. Women and men stand out on the street wearing tiny bits of clothing, passing out pamphlets that give all the details of what the clubs offer. The sex industry is in your face.
Up north, it was different. The bars and brothels were more hidden, they weren’t on the main streets.
I don’t want to share my thoughts on red light districts or debate the sex industries around the world. My point is that there are things that are in the open and things that are hidden. One is no better or worse than the other. Sometimes we must just look beyond what we see, to remember that every person has a heart that needs to be cared for the same as you and me.
Drop and Shake
When I went to the Drop In Center in Mae Sai, Thailand, it was to visit the Center but also to drop off a Real Life team and one of the Outpour staff. This team was a group of girls age 19-27 who were going to spend their last week in Thailand at the Center. They were a lot of fun to hangout with and I knew that they would love volunteering at the Drop In Center.
On March 24, two 6.8 earthquakes hit Burma. The Drop In Center was less than 50 miles from the epicenter. To give you some perspective, I was a three to four hour drive away in Chiang Mai and felt the earthquakes. The girls later told me that as they were running down the stairs to get out of the building during the quake they were tossed from one wall to the other. Amazingly the building hadn’t been damaged in the earthquakes, and the girls were all ok. As the group stood outside not knowing what to do next, government officials came over the loudspeakers saying that there was going to be another big earthquake in the middle of the night (we’re still not sure how they could predict another earthquake). People began leaving the city. For girls who had never been in an earthquake before, it’s easy to understand that they were scared.
Sitting in Chiang Mai we (the rest of the Outpour Movement staff and myself) were obviously worried about the girls in Mae Sai. Even though phone lines were often overloaded we were still able to maintain contact with the team every few minutes. It was finally decided that it would be best to move the team out of the city. We were able to have someone we knew in a city an hour away pick everyone up and house them for the night.
As much as the girls wanted to get away from any possible danger, they knew that they were leaving behind the kids. When the girls left Mae Sai they didn’t know when they would be able to come back and they had now way of knowing what had happened to the kids they were falling in love with. Their ‘motherly’ instincts came out as they thought of the kids, and their faith in God was tested as they had to put their trust in God that He would protect the children.
Thankfully the girls were all able to return to the Center a couple of days later. The girls had to face their fears of going back to Mae Sai, and told me how thankful they were they did. The kids from the Center were so excited to see them again! None of the kids were harmed during the earthquake! What could have been memories surrounded by fear ended with wonderful laughter and smiles of children who felt remembered and loved.
All of the pictures I’ve posted of the earthquake were taken by a contact who lives in Burma. Remember that these pictures were Not where our team was. The girls were not able to go to the areas most affected by the earthquake. However they were able to give our contacts from Burma bottles of clean drinking water and some basic medical supplies, which were their greatest need right after the earthquakes.
Back in Bangkok
I got into Bangkok, Thailand late last night. The two flights that it took were pretty uneventful. The food tasted like bad airplane food, but we each had our own tv with ok movies to chose from. I’d never been to the Seoul airport and was blown away by its size.
My friend picked me up in Bangkok and we took a taxi to her place in the city. We spent the ride getting caught up, it’s been over five years since we’ve seen each other.
As we drove across the city there were familiar sites, sounds and smells. I’d forgotten how much the rest of the world seems to impact all of your senses all at once. Even at midnight there were still people selling fruit and other market items on the streets. ‘Women’ stood on the street corners wearing so little clothing you knew what they were waiting for. As I lay in bed the sounds of scooters, taxis, Thai music, stray dogs, people sweeping the streets and people talking filled the air all night.
I have part of the day to spend here with my friends in Bangkok. We’ll probably just hangout and continue to get caught up on life. Then it’s time to fly up to Chiang Mai tonight.
This month is going to fly by quickly. I’m hoping that the jetlag and culture shock will pass by quickly as they will only slow me down. Keep looking for updated blogs as I will have pictures and stories to tell in the coming weeks.
Travel doesn’t have to be torture
For as much as I travel, I don’t actually enjoy the process of getting from one place to another. It often feels like you spend more time trying to get somewhere than you actually spend at your destination. Plus I always have that sinking feeling that I’ve forgotten something. I’m just never emotionally prepared to actually travel.
This morning was no exception. Friends took me to the airport extra early so that they could make it to work on time. I had plenty of time to use a Starbucks card to get some coffee to help wake me up. I was walking towards my gate entrance a few minutes before boarding. A girl saw all the patches on my bag and asked me why I travelled so much. Turns out she had just finished serving with The Navigators and was looking at teaching English overseas. She wanted to know all about who I worked with, what my plans were, and what God was calling me to. It was so encouraging and refreshing to talk about my passions with someone who understood my heart behind my words. I had an extra copy of my newsletter that I was able to give her so we can stay in touch. We had a great little chat in terminal D of the Atlanta Airport, I walked away feeling great.
I had a middle seat on my first flight. No-one likes a middle seat! I noticed that the lady sitting by the window had a few laminated sheets of scripture that she was memorizing. I asked her if there was a specific reason she was memorizing scripture. She said that it was ‘for healing’. This beautiful black grandma shared with me her battle with breast cancer, it had spread to her lymph nodes and brain due to her doctor dropping her as a patient. All she could talk about was the hope she had. When she was diagnosed in 2009, she began a real relationship with Christ. She made changes in her life style, repented and asked forgiveness of her children, and began to get healing in her soul before it began in her body. The Lord told her that it is going to be a journey of healing for her, and it has been. The hope and joy that she has radiates off of her! I haven’t seen anything like that ever before. She was beautiful from the inside out. I told this mother of four (but her and her husband raised 9 in their house!), that the hope and faith that she has brings joy and healing to people’s hearts and souls. When I shared that I was on my way to visit a friend who has cancer she pulled out her pages of scripture – ‘this is why I have these out today, take them’. They are scriptures that the Lord has given to her, that bring healing. She recently gave them to another cancer patient who was on her way to dying, three weeks later she walked out of hospice and is continuing to get better with medical treatment.
In the afternoon I met the other two girls who flew in. We drove to the hospital to meet up with our friend as she was getting a vitamin C IV. Her family had managed to keep our visit a surprise, and she was overwhelmed with emotion when we walked in her room. Her doctor came in her room in the end to share some good news – her blood levels are becoming more normal! A couple of weeks ago things were going downhill fast. Her liver wasn’t functioning the way it should. Things are turning from impossible to possible!
The Lord told me that I was to visit my friend this weekend. He’s put an expectation and excitement inside of me. If this is how things are starting off, I can’t even imagine what He has in store for the rest of my trip in TN and Texas.
goldenglances 
