workin' hard

I decided to post a photo blog this week, so you can see for yourself what a week looks like for our team here in Mae Sot, Thailand. We volunteer at 3 locations: a SafeHouse for kids, New Day elementary school, and construction sites (we've spent our first 3 weeks building a playground out of used tires, and are currently building a bamboo classroom at New Day school - pictures of the bamboo classroom should be up in a week or two). A pictures worth a thousand words, right? Enjoy!

These are the SafeHouse kids, Ali and Jamela. There are 6 kids from Burma that live at the SafeHouse now, but during the day all are at school except for these two. They are the most beautiful, energetic kids, and have been growing so much since they moved in with Compasio just one month ago.

New Day is an overcrowded elementary school full of Burmese kids from across the border. I spend most of my time there with the preschool students playing, singing, teaching English and helping feed them. Their energy is contagious, and at times pretty chaotic, but it's so fun to be there and fall in love with all of these kids and learn each of their unique personalities.

We have been working with a guy from Australia named Marcus, brainstorming and creating and tearing apart tires to make a playground for an elementary school. After weeks of sweating, bolting, painting and drilling tires - the playground is just about complete with a marry-go-round, swing set, climbing pyramids, a 3-part see-saw, a sandpit, a tunnel dome and a flying fox. The kids are already showing up each afternoon to play and challenge their imaginations.

Outreach Itinerary:

Aug 2 -5: Staying at a Koren Village

Aug 7: Visit Refugee Camp

Aug 8: Day in Burma

Aug 10 - 14: Visiting & touring Chiang Mai

Aug 15 - 19: Debrief in Bangkok

Aug 20: Fly back to Colorado Springs, CO

Aug 28: DTS Graduation

Aug 29: Back home in Lincoln, Nebraska

waterfalls

 Today has been the best day I've spent in Thailand. The past few days many Thais have been celebrating a Buddhist holiday and cleansing, which started on Wednesday and will last for 3 months (similar to Lent, I'm told). With schools out and business' closed, the team was treated to our own special holiday - a surprise trip to the waterfalls!

The water rushed over the steep rocks and pounded down onto us, the thick trees and jungle branches swallowed us as we climbed up and up. I've been in waterfalls before, but never have I climbed up a waterfall. Unlike the icy bite that comes from snow-melted waterfalls, this tropical current was cool and comfortable, and just perfect for water fights. The beauty and adrenaline and adventure of today has put it unquestionably at one of the top 5 best things I've ever done in my life. Getting lost in the wonder and greatness of God steals my breath away. He is so good! - and my life is so good because of Him. I would never have climbed a waterfall in Thailand if he hadn't brought me here.

So today, on a Buddhist holiday in the middle of an Asian jungle, I wanted to make a statement of faith and give back to my Lord and Father. Surrounded by my Thailand family and held by my 2 most amazing leaders and friends, I was baptized. I've wanted to be baptized as an adult, but I felt like God was telling me to wait - until this moment. It was soul-shaking, one of the most powerful moments I've ever felt. And hey, who else can say that they've been baptized under a waterfall in Thailand?

Pictures below. I hope this brings a smile to your day.

     

    

journal entry 7/07

I'm witnessing firsthand what Compasio does in Mae Sot - and it's rocking my world. And not only am I witnessing it, but I get to be apart of it.

Tonight our team welcomed into the family 3 amazing Burmese girls. They were put in jail after their parents were arrested, then left in prison after their parents were sent back to Burma. So now these 12, 15 and 17 year old girls (although they look much younger) are homeless and abandoned in a country that is not their own. It is so humbling to me... I have no idea what loss feels like, hopelessness or fear. I have no platform to speak from except love and compassion. They're still trying to locate their parents, so this move could be very short term or result in permanent relocation. And we're here to take them in, love on them, be their friends. It's such a beautiful thing. My heart aches when I think about what would of happened if Compasio wasn't here - if Sia said no. Those girls would have been dropped back in Burma with such an inescapable risk of rape, starvation, sex trafficking and death. God you are good.

Tonight Sia also got a phone call. There are 40-50 children orphaned and homeless with nowhere to go due to the cyclone that hit Burma last month. Without hesitation she said yes. Without a house, without a plan - there was no logical way to say yes and yet no possible way to say no. Her words were, "If God wants us to have these kids tomorrow, he'll provide the house." So within the next week our entire team might be moving into a new Compasio home with 50 abandoned Burmese children.

I am in the midst of Compasio at work - respond, react, love without limits or logic. I am so thankful that you've trusted my team enough to be apart of this. This mission is going to be exhausting and painful and absolutely amazing. Help me not to hold back, not to be afraid. I think I'm finally ready - I'll do anything you ask me to do. 

Sawa-dee-ka!

For those of you who don't speak Thai, that means, "Hello, how are you?" One of the few phrases I've mastered thus far on my week living in Mae Sot. For those who like to hear a little more details on what my team is up to in Thailand -

We're starting to get into a groove with ministry, waking up around 6:30am for a little breakfast and Jesus time, then headed out at 8:00 or 8:30am to our various work locations. The team is on rotation so everyone will get to serve at each spot: New Day Elementary school, construction and watching little ones at the SafeHouse (a home for children funded and run by Compasio).

A group of us went in for construction Tuesday morning with the intention of learning how to work with bamboo to build a classroom. Instead we found ourselves brainstorming, sketching and constructing a playground for kids made from only used tires. It is definitely a creative and exhausting project, but at the end of the day watching the little kids jump and laugh and climb all over it makes the labor completely worth it. 

  A couple days this week I've been at the SafeHouse watching the two most adorable kids Ali and Jamela. They're both around two years old (no parents, no birthday) and have been living with Compasio about a month. In that time I'm told how much they've been growing and changing to now happy, healthy kids spoiled with love and attention. I love that their are no language barriers with 2-year olds, and a laugh - or a scream - is universal in any country. Being at the house also really frees up the long-term missionaries to build up relationships and service in the area.

  

Next week I'll be teaching and helping out at the school, as well as trying to get out in the city more to practice my Thai and make friends around the downtown shops. This past week in Thailand has felt like a month! I'm really happy to be serving here as my brain is challenged and stretched with new information from this side of the globe. This is the 2nd year I've celebrated the 4th of July outside of the U.S., and I must admit that I miss the fireworks, although we were spoiled with our first taste of (almost) American food. Rest day has been switched from Monday to Saturday, so I'm excited for an afternoon of swimming, playing cribbage, and maybe even grabbing a soft-serve ice cream cone at the end of the day for 10baht (about 20 cents). 

Sawa-dee-ka! (it means hello & goodbye)

the hands of Love

I don't know her name, but I can't forget her face. Her skin is caramel brown and her black hair long and silky... she is such a beautiful little girl.

She spoke only Burmese, but through Sia - our host and leader through Compasio - I was told her story. This little girl lives in Burma with her older brother, and every day crosses the river to the Thai border to beg. Her parents are both dead, and her family has been displaced by the Burma militia attacks. Sia meets with this little girl when she goes to the market, and on this day decided to bring her home.

She ate an overflowing plate of chicken and rice ans she sat in rags on the floor with the kids. After lunch a few of the Compasio volunteers showed her love the best way they knew how - by serving her. Her greasy and ratted ponytail was brushed, washed and treated for thousands of lice that lived on her little scalp. After that she was dressed in new clothes, glowing in bright pink and pastel blues. I felt like the Lord was giving this little girl hope that day. She came into the SafeHouse with empty eyes, and left smiling and laughing and free to be a kid.

Sia took this little girl back to the market that afternoon, where she would later cross the river back to her home in Burma, unsure of what the next day will bring. But today she felt love, God's love, and no one can steal that away from her.

Whoever welcomes this little child in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. For he who is least among you all—he is the greatest. - Luke 9:48