Kap Khun Kah Thailand!

This will be my final post of writing, so thank you again for following along and reading and praying for myself, our team, and the people of Thailand. Please continue to keep us in your prayers as we make the difficult transition of life away from each other and away from Thailand, and I know that my prayer is that my heart would not forget what God has taught me and shown me about the beauty and brokenness of this world.





I ended the last post talking about the day we taught English at the public elementary school. This school was incredibly poor, and any student that can afford private education leaves to one of the nearby private schools, so literally only the poorest students remain. After being abandoned by our teachers, we all reunited for lunch a bit dazed and confused to say the least. I think the teachers sensed that and said we could observe a music class for a while. That sounded lovely, and initially it was. My third grade class was learning to play many traditional Thai instruments, including a guitar, recorder/flute, and violin made from a coconut. Needless to say even my tone-deaf ear could sense the grating music more atune to fingernails on a chalk board than any sort of orchestra. Yet there was a certain beauty in the students exploring and trying out their instruments, and I know that it was a joyful noise to Heaven. I wish my ears were more divine, because after two hours of such music, my ears were ready for a different sort of music. So I reviewed English lessons and just played with my students, and realized that in a day they had become so precious to me.





After class I returned to the house and volunteered to help Dtoom in the kitchen with dinner preparations. I too easily forget that me and kitchens, especially those lacking the utensils I am accoustomed to, do not get along all that splendidly. But I rolled up my sleeves and tried to glean as much wisdom from this amazing Thai cook on making green curry, cashew chicken, and vegetable stir fry. I was not encouraged in my skills when she continuously raised her eyebrows at me, asked if I had ever used a knife, had ever cooked, and nearly started to cry when I chopped the green onions too small. She kept looking at the dish and made me tell everyone that it wasn't supposed to be so ugly. At least we could all laugh about it, but Dtoom spent a lot of time with us throughout the week and she always brought up the ugly onions.





After dinner we were reunited with the rest of our team, and the next six to spend the night took one look at our faces and knew they were in for a real treat, perhaps far different than their expectations. We boarded the vans and headed back to the YMCA and never had our bunks and air conditioning felt so wonderful. But we definitely missed Claire and Dtoom and the girls, it was an amazing experience filled with laughter and frustration and heartbreak and joy.





Tuesday I spent the day at Asia's Hope, an orphanage in the hills of Chiang Mai with about 80 kids of all ages and from various hill tribes. When we arrived the kids were all at school, and so we dug holes for papaya trees for a few hours. It was exciting to learn about the history and philosophy of the school and how they are working to be self-sustaining and want to offer employment opportunities to widows who would otherwise have to give up their children to orphanages. It was fun to dig holes and then have the people working at Asia's Hope make us sit in the shade and drink water and cola and "rest" and protect our fair skin from the sun. Getting to know our translators, drivers, and other workers has been awesome and to hear their stories reminds me of our common humanity and common redemption through Jesus. One of my favorite things is finding myself caught up in this web of humanity and inter-connectedness, that even across the globe I can make friends and be encouraged by people whose lives are strikingly different yet at once similar to my own journey. And knowing that within this web are traces of beauty and traces of Grace, marks of our Saviour's work within our hearts and within this world.





After digging holes the moment we had all been waiting for arrived...school was out and the kids were there to play! At first there was a definite element of awkward as they stared at us and we stared at them, unsure how to cross the bridge of relationship. Bubbles. That is what we needed. Bubbles have the amazing ability of helping us forget our age and language differences and remember the wonder of floating balls of soapiness. So I spent the remainder of the afternoon blowing bubbles, teaching others how to blow bubbles, and cleaning up spilled bubbles. It was lovely. After dinner I took a walk with one of the directors, a lady named Debbie who I think was from Texas...somewhere down south judging by her accent, and we visited another orphanage down the street with 15 kids and two house parents. Again I was in awe at the love and sacrifice of husband and wife who dedicated themselves to showing love to fifteen orphan boys and girls. Sometimes in our group we ask each other "What makes you feel alive?" That question has been on my heart often, and I would have to say that being with these children makes me feel alive in a way that mysteriously breaks my heart and heals it all at once.





On Wednesday we woke up in the morning and planned an assembly for the elementary school we had been to on Monday. By this point exhaustion was definitely kicking in, as was the realization that we would be going back to the place where teachers abandoned us and language inhibited us. But we planned games and crafts and songs and skits. It was amazing that we were able to sing songs about Jesus and do a skit about Him calling the children to himself in a school that is very much Buddhist, has monks visit, and had a shrine on the very stage that we sang from. When we arrived at the school, it was so great to see my students again. I was honestly a little shocked that they actually remembered me, but we soon sat together and began singing and dancing and laughing our way through our confusion. In the middle of the craft time, while half the group was in the feild doing games, a huge rainstrom swept through, so the rest of the time was inside with lots of duck duck goose, puppet making, and more skits. At the end the kids sang us thank you songs and the teachers reappeared, as if by magic, just in time to enjoy ice cream and a nice send off. I will certainly miss those kids, but I am glad that we were able to be with them for even a few days, and to celebrate with them and show them Love.





After the assembly our group split off again and I went with six others to Remember Nhu, which is a home for girls who are at risk of being sold into prostitution. Basically this is a very real risk for many of the girls living in the hill tribes whose parents can not afford to feed them, so they are sold and trafficked. It is so tragic to even imagine, and the ministry of Remember Nhu is offering hope to many girls. There are a few Remember Nhu homes in the Chiang Mai area, and the one that we went to had only been opened for a little over a month. It was primitive compared to Asia's Hope, but it was very nice and much safer than the accomodations the girls had come from. Our team had been part of a work project to build showers and bathrooms, so for part of the afternoon after the assembly we mixed cement and lugged bricks and built the bathroom. Actually the only contribution I made was mixing cement in a hole with a shovel, but it was pretty fun and I can add that to the resume for sure. When it became clear that our services were no longer needed for construction, some of us girls went to the kitchen to help with dinner preparations. Mistake.





I was asked to chop up the meat. Not being too skilled with raw meat chopping, I was reluctant to begin. Then I found out I would be chopping up pork on a less than clean wood chopping block. I did my best to avoid the flies and to chop up the pork. I even cut all the fat off (which I later realized was a mistake because that is the best part, so someone chopped it up for me and put it back in the stir fry mixture). As I was just finishing with the pork, the cook came beside me with some gizzards (perhaps heart and stomach? I may never know) and began chopping with such tenacity that the guts began to splatter on me. Fortunately I was wearing sunglasses so my eyes were spared. And when they asked if anyone was available to mix cement, it didn't take much convincing for me to drop my knife and leave the kitchen duties to those more equipped. Dinner that night was surprisingly delicious, however.





When the girls arrived we were able to give them a bunch of new clothes and shoes we had brought over. After playing with playdough and a little soccer, we began more English lessons (we have become pros). It was fun to sit with the girls and hear them learning with so much enthusiasm. At the end the pastor/house dad and mom said goodbye and thank you to us before we left, and I felt the pleasure was definitely ours.





On Thursday we spent the day visiting various hill tribe villages. I guess I had different expectations for the day, expectations of being able to connect more with the people and spend time with them. We knew that many of the villages would be preparing for us to come with money for shopping, as the livelihood for the majority of the people is in handicrafts and tourists coming through to purchase scarves, bags, jewelry, and carved trinkets. I guess I hoped that our trip could be different, that we could show we were not just there to take souviners but to share in something...though I was not sure exactly what. We had brought toothbrushes and soccer balls and craft supplies for the people, but that seemed grossly insufficient when we saw the state of their homes and their apparent need and desperation. As we walked through the three villages, I realized that language barriers and lack of time made any connection very difficult. When I tried to speak with the women, they mostly wanted to know if I could buy anything. They would call out, "Please you buy something? I have no money." It was heartbreaking to be viewed purely as a consumer and challenging to realize that maybe this would be the only way that I could connect with these people. At the same time it was certainly a lesson in living missionally. We didn't have organizations or people there telling us how to serve or giving us jobs, instead we needed to learn to love and treat the people we met with dignity and respect and serve them in that way. I hope I can remember this lesson with my family, friends, work mates, people I meet in the grocery store and the mall--sometimes the greatest act of service we can give is to really see people, to reach out simply by making eye contact and saying "hello, you matter, and I see you."

On Friday we began our "debriefing" weekend, basically a time to enjoy Thailand together as a team, talk about what we had learned and experienced, and organize our leftover supplies and gifts and give the extra money we had raised to the various organizations. We ended up with nearly $15,000 left over that we will give to help start an orphanage in Burma, fund medical costs and education costs for the women and children of Garden of Hope, and give gifts to Remember Nhu and Asia's Hope as well. It is exciting to know that we will be able to leave behind resources as we take these people with us in our hearts and in our prayers.

In the afternoon we went to a temple in the hills of Chiang Mai called Doy Su Tem (I am not sure if that is how it is spelled...) and it was interesting. Definitely touristy, and gilded and filled with burning insence and offerings to the countless buddha statues. There was a beautiful view of the city, and the temple itself was interesting to see, but there was a heaviness and darkness there, and I think our teams hearts were with the women and children we had met in the previous weeks.

After the temple we had a meeting with Carl (from Remember Nhu) and learned more about his connections to the situation in Burma and people who are wanting to start orphanges there for children whose parents were lost in the cyclone or whose parents have been killed because they are part of the tribal ethnic minorities therefore a target for the government, which is systematically killing the hill tribe peoples. This couple, Philip and Esther, fled Burma and moved to the U.S., went to college, then moved back to Thailand. Now they are risking everything to go back into Burma and start this home. Not only that but they plan on having the home centered around Bible teaching and the truth of God's love, and if the government were to find out they would likely be killed. It is challenging and encouraging to hear of people who will enter into those situations and bring Light in the midst of danger, darkness, and despair. I am not sure if I have that courage, or even the faith to pray for it. At times I feel that I have too easily forgotten my first Love, forgotten that Jesus does not call me to safety, to comfort, or to security. Rather He calls us to live radically in the most ordinary and extreme ways, whether in a business suit, classroom, coffee shop, or the jungles of Burma.

In all the homes and orphanges that we worked with and were connected to, there was a strong sense of the need for wholistic healing. It is crucial that these people are given the basic necessities for survivial--food, safety, clothing, health care--and beyond that they need education, opportunity, and ultimatley Hope. And this Hope is displayed through discipleship and support from their brothers and sisters around the globe.

On Saturday we woke up early to go to an elephant show. I was super excited for the chance to ride an elephant, and I was not disappointed. We arrived and I was greeted by an eager trunk trying to eat the bananas in my hand. He almost got my camera too, but I pulled away just in time. We took a thirty minute ride through the jungles atop our trusty elephant, whose name I could not pronounce let alone remember, but he was 38 years old. And he had wonderful tusks. Following the ride we watched the elephant show, where they played soccer, danced, played harmonicas, and even painted. I purchased one of the paintings, and it is so incredible and super humbling to see that an elephant has greater artistic skills than me. After the show we went to lunch at a beautiful orchid and butterfly farm, and just enjoyed each others company. That afternoon we had more meetings and then a few of us girls went back to the market place for some last minute souvinouer (sp?) and gift shopping.

Sunday we went back to church at Asia's Hope, and I held a beautiful girl named Sorwana (I think) in my arms the whole time. She was so solemn and still, and slept for a lot of the time, but at the end of the service she woke up and just sat in my arms and sang (in a baby gibberish sort of way). We had sung many songs throughout the service, and there was special music and guitar solos and everything. But in my heart I felt that this song from this orphan girl resonated the deepest in the heart of her Father, a heart that was breaking and rejoicing all at once to see His children united in worship. I kept holding her for the majority of the afternoon and made it my goal to cause her to smile. After many tosses in the air and goofy baby talk, I was blessed with the most beautiful smile. I do not know why she forgot to smile, I don't know where she came from that her face would be so somber. But I also am confident that the joy and love she is experiencing in Asia's hope will begin a healing process that will draw her closer to Jesus, and my hope is that others are blessed with her smile as I was.

Sunday night we went to a Thai cultural dinner, and that was amazing. We heard lots of Thai music (I decided not to purchase a CD and subject my family to that) and saw lots of dancing, and even had the chance to participate. At the end of the night we let off these giant lanterns into the sky, and it was so awesome to see them floating up into the night. Afterwards we went back to the Sunday night market and walked around and absorbed all things Thai, as well as our final stops at fruit vendors and banana crepes, before going back to bed exhuasted. Monday we spent the day packing, meeting, and organizing our gifts and crafts for the various ministries we had worked with. We left for the airport and said a tearful goodbye to Brittany, Faa, and our friends we had made the past three weeks, and we began the long journey home, including a ten hour layover and tour of the city in Seoul.

Now that I am home, I have been asked often the question, "How was Thailand? What did you do?" I am still learning how to answer that. It was challenging, blessing, heart and mind stretching. It was hot, it was spicey, it was rainy, it was beautiful. My prayer now is that the glory of God may be revealed in the people of Thailand, in the people of Burma, and in our own hearts, as the following verse describes.

"I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. The creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay, and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God." Romans 8:18, 20-21.