Take my heart and make it clean
Open up my eyes to the things unseen
Show me how to love like you have loved me
Break my heart for what breaks yours
Everything I am for your kingdom's cause
As I walk from earth into eternity
As I make this song my hearts cry, God has given me my heart's desire and brought many opportunities for me to show His love to His people. A few weeks ago, TaPoeTu, a student at Shekinah, came to me after visiting his mother's house. "My parents have no rice," he said. "My mother told me to ask you for help. My brother has already left and she has no one to help her work." In a culture where I have to beg the people to let me help them, it was a delight to know that his mother recognized I could help her and let me do so.
A few days ago, a woman came to visit her husband, a Karen soldier who lives near the camp. She told one of our teachers that she has six children but is so poor, she can only feed them white rice and chilies. I gave her 300 baht for food. Yesterday I saw her again and was greeted with a "GwaLuggy Tharamu! (Good morning teacher)" It was wonderful to see her and her children carries bags of food and veggies. At the same time, I was convicted that I had no prayed for her when I gave her the money! The first time we met, I saw the Buddhist strings on her children's wrists (to ward off evil spirits). The second time, they were not their. Pray that God can touch her heart despite my failure to tell her more about Him!
On Saturday, I visited MaeLa refugee camp for the first time. It is registered with the UN so those who live there (if their names are written down) can get a bag of rice, beans, fish paste every month and one blanket a year-- which is not near enough to live on. It is sickening to know how long the UN has known about the suffering and does nothing to help-- not even to make awareness! Well, I will not be silent. I went with PahSehMo, our cook, her son, and LahKaHtoo. We went to visit one of the teachers from Shekinah, NawLahEh who lives in MaeLa during summer break. After a morning of meandering through the shops and exploring the camp, we went to her house. On our way we passed the Bible College that our teachers during the VBS had come from. They are wonderful, intelligent, and loving Christian people. I was excited to attend their opening ceremony in June. Not ten minutes after arriving at NawLaEh's house, we heard a loud CRACK. Everyone ran outside to see a huge black pillar of smoke rising from the Bible College. It was on fire.
We all took off running to help. One of the boys grabbed me and told me to stay back. He was afraid I might get hurt. I told him I came to Thailand to help the Karen people, not watch them suffer. He tried to stop me a few times, but eventually saw my determination to not just stand by and let me go. It was so heartbreaking. There were hundreds of people gathered round. Every house nearby was being evacuated of all belongings. Since the roofs are made of dried leaves, all the men were on the roof, breaking the roofs with their feet. The women were trying to soak their houses with buckets of water. Meanwhile dozens of men were beating the fire with shirts and blankets, pouring sand, pouring what little water they had on the huge flames.
After more than an hour of men risking their lives to save the Bible School, the Thai soldiers and fire truck arrived. That is also when the Americans showed up-- not to help, but to take pictures. I heard one girl say to a Karen girl, "I bet it will smell like campfire for a while, huh?!" and another man, "Well I've seen enough. Are you ready to go?" They didn't ask if anyone was hurt. They didn't ask if they could help. If they could pray. If they could give money to the teachers who had lost all of their belongings...
After the fire was all out and we made sure there were no injuries, LahKuHtoo and I talked to a student at the Bible College and asked about what was lost. Thankfully, all the teachers were at a wedding in another village so no one was in the buildings that were burnt down, but all of their clothes and belongings were lost. The student himself now only owned the clothes on his back and his computer. The 6 or so buildings that were burned down held books and computers and Bibles and food. I saw some people scraping fallen rice off of the ground. These people are poor and never waste food. I gave the student, Hser Nay Wah, 1000 baht for him and the teachers to buy some of their immediate needs-- clothes, hygiene products, food, etc. We also prayed together that God would make a way for the school to be rebuilt. If the funds and materials do not come in, they may have to cancel school for the year. Pray for the school called KKBBSC.
When we got back to Shekinah, LahKuHtoo had to leave us to live with his grandmother and help her at the house. He has experienced God greatly in the past 3 weeks he stayed at Shekinah and he desperately wants to be baptized and serve God. However his grandmother is a faithful Buddhist. He is her favorite grandson and she is set in making him a Buddhist monk. On Sunday after church, Mob, LerGay, and I went to visit LahKuHtoo at his grandmother's house. I asked her about Buddhism and her life in Burma and prayed God would give me an opportunity to share Jesus with her. He did and I was able to tell her about Jesus' birth, death, and resurrection. It was the first time she'd ever heard it. She is still dedicated to being Buddhist, but we were able to pray together, LahKuHtoo and I with her and for her. Pray that God touches her heart and that LahKuHtoo has the courage to follow God and be baptized- no matter the cost!
I tell you these stories, not to bring any praise to me. If God had not brought me here and opened my eyes, I would be of no use. I do want you to know though, my friends, that if you send money, most of it is going directly to the Karen people who need it most. Yesterday I was told about three Karen soldier posts near Shekinah. These men are so poor, they do not even have shoes. They also have been eating only broken, white rice and chilies-- not a substantial meal for a soldier. I plan on bringing them canned fish, coffee, and shoes tomorrow. (Coffee since many nights they are on watch and do not get to sleep.) If God has touched your heart with a love for these people who so desperately need help, please contact me or my mother. I have only about 1500 thai baht right now-- about 50 USD. Right now, my needs are provided for, but I can no ignore the needs of those around me. Please help. Please pray that God continues to open doors for me to pray and share Jesus with His people. There are many who do not believe. So many who have no hope. My prayer is to help provide them with earthly food, but let God give them the Bread of Life so they will never go hungry.
1 John 3:17 If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him?
James 2: 15-17 Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If
one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but
does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.
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