Aaaaand we're back! I can't believe it's only been 2 weeks since I left the U.S. Things never slow down here so as soon as I arrived back at camp last Monday, it was back to work as usual! Thank you all so much for your prayers! Traveling was very smooth, no delays, and no problems. I even had two check-in bags, one was overweight, and I had no baggage fees at all! Praise God for providing!
When I arrived at KT, a team was there led by the first ever KT volunteer, who may as well be a legend the way she is remembered and talked about. Three years ago, at the age of nineteen, she came to Thailand and lived at the old KT, or as we call it, "death hill." This location was on a steep hill, there were no buildings, no school, no place for the kids to play, and it was overrun with animals and fecies. She had a vision for a new KT and drew a picture of a school and real buildings for the kids to live in, and a place for kids to play. How awesome to see God transform Shekinah Children's home from "death hill." How our God loves to bless us! How our God takes care of His children! What a good God we serve!
Things are already looking a lot different, due to the amazing volunteers God has drawn to Thailand. At KT, we now have a young couple, (also from MT) that will be acting as dorm parents for the kids. Because a lot of my previous responsibilities are now there's, I will be going to Pastor Jimmy's school on Tuesday through Thursday of each week to teach English to the 24 students there. This school has never had a consistent volunteer before, and the kids are very behind in their English skills. More than that, before I left, I prayed that God would give me an opportunity to visit the kids at Jimmy's more often. He answered that quickly and specifically by my "boss" telling me that I was now their English teacher. I look forward to getting to know and love these kids more! They are ages 5-14. I have no experience in teaching English, but God never seems to let me stay comfortable for long, so I ask that you pray for me as I try to figure out this new adventure of teaching ESL!
My house now has a frame and a roof! The walls should be up soon, and hopefully in less than two weeks,  my house will be finished! Thank you all again for the support for this! I can't wait to see how God will use this house! It is dedicated to Him and His work! May He use it as He wills!
In about thirty minutes, I will be picking up Amy and Kyle (my sister and brother-in-law) from the airport! They are just beginning their adventure here in Thailand for six months, teaching English to hill tribe children up north. This location has two hundred kids and Amy and Kyle, as well as one more volunteer who just arrived, are the first help they've ever received. Pray as they adjust to life and routines here! Pray they connect with the kids easily and find ways to communicate! Pray teaching comes naturally and is something they look forward to each day!
I am so excited to begin life here again. Thank you all for your prayers and support! God is moving in Thailand and in my life! Praise God from whom all blessing flow!

Kwe Seh and Deh Tzeh's Story

This couple are the grandparents of a friend of mine in Mae La Refugee Camp. One evening we visited their home. This is what they told me:
Kwe Seh and Deh Tzeh have lived in Mae La since 1988. The Burmese Army was near there village in Burma and though they were only unarmed famers, they were taken as porters many times. Because of the frequency of the army visits, K and D were unable to work their land and therefore provide food for their families. Kwe Seh said that porters are beaten and killed. She watched it happen many times. She herself was kicked and beaten when she walked to slow or appeared to be tired. They were also used as minesweepers. This means when the Burmese get to a field where they've planted landmines but forgotten where they've placed them, they have the porters walk ahead, to set them off before they follow. One of Kwe Seh's friends, Juhst Mi, stepped on one and lost her leg. She was 17 years old.
In 1988, their oldest son (16 at the time) was killed by the Burmese. When the army attacked, he ran to avoid being taken as a porter, since it is most dangerous for young men. However he was caught and killed. "The Burmese are like dogs. They only bite; don't know how to care for people. They have guns so they think they are strong. They are not human."
It was not long after this that Kwe Seh and Deh Tzeh decided to take their four kids to Mae La Refugee Camp in Thailand. It took them five days to walk through the jungle to safety. 
K and D are afraid to go back to Burma, but said if there was democracy, they would. Kwe Seh said, "I want to go home." They hope Burma has peace so they can return to their village. When I asked them why the Burmese are so bad to the Karen, they said, "They hate Karen. They are not human; do not fear God; Satan's workers."
K and D believe that America can help. "Need to help us get peace and democracy in Burma. Then we can go home." And going home, they said, is the most imoportant thing.

Me in Deh Tzeh and his Granddaughter (and her daughter) in their house in Mae La Refugee Camp.

LahKuHtoo's Story

LahKuHtoo with Bible in hand and Mob after sharing the gospel with his grandmother for the first time.

This is LahKuHtoo. If you're not familiar with LahKuHtoo, go back and read "Break My Heart" and  "God Answers Prayer" and start praying! God's going to do great things through this guy! He's got an amazing heart!

When LahKu was born in Karen State in Burma in a Karen National Union (KNU) operated village. The Burmese found out about the KNU prescence there and attacked the village when he was about six months old. The villages fled to the jungle to hide. His grandmother brought him to a cave that became the home to not only his family, but many others from the village as well. They lived in the cave for the next four months as the fighting raged on. The Burmese burned their homes and fields so many people were forced to head to Thailand and the refugee camps.
His father, however, was not so... "lucky." He too fled to the jungle as he was not a part of the KNU and had no weapon. Afraid of being caught and used as a porter (almost guaranteed beatings, torture, and/or death) he ran. The Burmese saw him and shot him. LahKuHtoo has no memory of his father.
Like most Karen people, LahKuHtoo wants to return to his homeland. "I want to go back because it is my own village. I don't need ID card. I am free."
He also wanted me to tell you, my friends, "Thank you for helping [the Karen people]"

LahKuHtoo's grandmother and me. Pray that she will come to experience God's power and truth and allow LahKu to be baptized!

Paul's Story

I would like to introduce you to another of the beloved teachers at our school. He asked me not to use his name or show his picture, because the Burmese Army threatened him that if he told anyone about what they had done to him, they would hunt down his family and kill them. So we decided to use the name Paul, as he is a passionate warrior for Christ.

Paul grew up in Karen State in Burma. When he was about 18 years old, the Burmese Army (State Peace and Development Council) started using him as a porter (someone who has to carry all of there weapons/equipment/etc.). The Karen National Union (KNU) had put landmines around his village to protect it. The Burmese (SPDC) set them off one day, igniting a fury, and they attacked the village. Paul said even though being taken as a porter was very dangerous (porters are beaten frequently, used as land-mine sweepers, and often killed), especially for strong, young men, if you refused they would beat you with bamboo poles.
In 2008-2009, the Burmese had taken over the village and forced the people to work as porters everyday. There was no time for the people to work their farms or buy and sell, so the villagers had no food. Paul said he would try to sneak to the jungle to get food for his family at night, but as a consequence was beaten many, many times with bamboo poles.
If someone was rumored to be either in the KNU or a friend to them, the Burmese Army would tie plastic around the face of the accused and force water down their throat. Many times the water would fill the person's lungs; most of the people would die. Many people were falsely accused. Another form of punishment and entertainment for the SPDC would be to play drums and force the accused to dance for long periods of time- days at a time- and if they stopped, the SPDC would beat them. While the person was forced to dance, the soldiers would drink alcohol and smoke marijuana. When the people were allowed to stop, they would have health problems.
Paul said the people were allowed two days a week to work their land, but they were too weak. "Can only pray," he said. Children were only allowed to go to school if they could pay. To be allowed in grade five, the family would have to pay the equivalent of $50 while grade 12 equaled about $115. Unfortunately this amount of money is far beyond what most people would be able to pay.
Paul said as a porter he would be taken for weeks at a time. Sometimes people were allowed to return to their village only to be taken again in a month. Others never return. The SPDC finally told the village they all had to leave and either live in the jungle or find a new village, thus leaving their homes, land (and therefore, income), friends, and sometimes family behind. Paul decided to go to Thailand at that point to go to school and journeyed five days to reach safety. His family is still in Burma.

Paul lived in a refugee camp for several years and came to know God there. This is his first year teaching with us at Shekinah Children's Home, but from the get-go, Paul was quick to volunteer to lead worship, share the Bible and lead the kids. It is quite common to see him with his hands raised high above his head or clutched in fists near his heart as he leans his head back and cries out to God in worship. His knowledge of the Bible is limited, but he's hungry and eager to learn. Just two days before joining our school, he was married to a beautiful, blue-eyed Karen girl and they are expecting a baby early next year. Praise God for this amazing man of God and the family he will lead.

Pray that Paul will be able to be reunited with his family again, as they have only been able to contact each other twice in the years they've been separated.

Mob and Sunday

I want to introduce you to my dear, dear friend, Mob. "Mob" is his chosen English name, but he is most commonly called TahMawTu. Mob is a teacher at Shekinah, 21 years old, married to a beautiful Karen girl named Sunday, and is expecting a baby boy in November. Mob and Sunday are without doubt my best friends in Thailand. Mob is my brother-- no doubt about it. He actually calls me sister more often than he calls me "Kelsey." If ever I am sad or angry, Mob is always the first to pick it up, and always knows what to do to make me laugh. We've had some crazy adventures and I can not wait to experience life and grow together with him and his family. I can not thank God enough for the huge blessing Sunday and Mob have been to me! I love them!!!!!!!!!

I want to tell you Mob's story of the persecution he witnessed while growing up in Burma. As you read, please remember this is not just some poor, broken soul we should pity, but a living, loving, growing brother in Christ.

Mob was born in Karen State in Burma. He is the oldest of five siblings. His parents are rice farmers-- not growing enough to sell but just enough to feed the family. Their village has been attacked by the Burmese Army many times.
One day, Mob, his father and uncle trekked to some far-lying rice fields for a few days. Between 1-2 am, the Burmese came and arrested his father, hoping he had a gun. When they searched and found no gun, they beat him. They held him down and tied him up, then melted plastic over his bare thighs and let it drip and burn the sensitive flesh. Though Mob was only 10 years old, they made him watch. Mob said he remembers his father crying.
At 5 am, Mob was allowed to go back home while his father was taken to the river and repeatedly dunked and dunked and dunked because years earlier he was a soldier in the Karen Resistance Army. They kept screaming at him to give them his gun, but he did not have one. When Mob arrived home, he told his family that the Burmese had arrested his father. His grandmother (a leader in the village) immediately went to the Burmese soldier base and told them they had no gun, to which they denied touching her son and told her to leave.
Mob's father was tied up and gagged and taken to the Burmese base. Since the office he was taken to was a bamboo hut on stilts, Mob was able to sneak underneath in an attempt to talk to his father through the floor. Mob had to watch his bound father get beaten with bamboo rods.
His grandmother then went to a Burmese Army leader and to ask for her son. Because she was a respected woman, they let him go, and had the gawl to offer her two bags of rice. She replied, "I don't need rice. I need my son."

Two years later, Mob and his father were in the jungle herding five water buffalo. Mob said he was happy because he was able to ride on the shoulders of one of the buffalo. He said they saw the Burmese Army and tried to sneak away back in the jungle. His father told Mob to go first so he could bring the four remaining buffalo, but the Burmese saw Mob and called him to join them. He said there were many, many soldiers with guns trained on him. He was afraid and called out for his father. They took his father and forced him to act as a porter (a human packhorse). After hours of carrying the Burmese Army's supplies, Mob's father was able to return home. It was after this event that Mob's parents brought him to Mae La Refugee Camp in Thailand.

Mob said many times the Burmese Army would come and require money from each house in his village as well as chickens and rice. They would sleep in people's houses and drink alcohol until they were drunk. He said many times his family has fled to the jungle for saftey for days at a time, but do not want to come to Thailand.

Mob's family is Buddhist but God has begun a great work in them. Mob was the first to be baptized and it has been AMAZING to watch him grow and desire to tell others about Jesus. Now his sister, aunt, uncle, cousin, and grandmother have been baptized and forsaken Buddhism. This coming March, Mob and Sunday plan to go back into Burma to tell his parents about the saving grace of Jesus. "I think they will become Christians," Sunday says. "Maybe they can start a church." It is an all Buddhist village and the risk in going back is high, but God has saved them and they are filled with His peace.
Pray for this young couple as they continue to grow in Christ, grow closer together, and begin their family.

 

Mob cooking frogs after a successful midnight hunting expedition.

 

 

Sunday in the back of a pick-up on our way to Mae La Refugee Camp.

I Want To Shout It Out!

Good. Faithful. Perfect. Pure. Holy. Sovereign. Just. Loving. Merciful. Patient. Creative.
And every other word that describes the Savior of the world, Jesus Christ.

God is so GOOD. He is SO GOOD! I have been constantly and overwhelmingly drowned in His goodness.
My mind just cannot grasp the fact that the Creator God-- the one who established galaxies and universes, and mountains and oceans-- cares about me...
It is a completely staggering thought. This little rebelious, selfish, prideful girl, not only is saved from an eternity of seperation from God, like I deserve, but I get direct access to His Spirit? I get to stand in His presence? I get to make requests of God?
How amazing... how humbling... how ridiculously awesome that God did not only make me, He made me in His own image, He loves me, He pursues me, He blesses me, He listens to me. He accepts my meager and pathetic attempts to thank Him.
My Jesus.
My God.
You are too good to me.

I cannot wait for the day I enter the throne room of heaven. How unworthy am I to see my Savior face to face. He owes me nothing, but gave me everything.
Whatever is left of my life, Jesus, please, take it. I am yours. Take all of me. This world is not my home. You are my home, Jesus. You have my heart.

You are so GOOD, God!
You are SO GOOD!

Worthy is the Lamb who was slain! Worthy is the Lamb to be praised! (Rev. 5)

Forever and Ever! Let us shout His Name and scream of His goodness!

Let's Get Down to Business

Ok. So I've been thinking, I've been praying, and this is what is going on:
I want to move to Thailand. God has given me a love for the Karen people. My heart is ready to become one of them-- to fully submerse myself into their culture and lifestyle. I know this is where God has me and for months I have been thinking about all the things I am going to aim for when I come back next year.
But with my Thailand Visa expiring in August, a new idea has come into my head and my heart. After talking it over with my parents and "bosses" we all feel it is the best course of action. I need to return to the U.S. in August.
By returning to America, I can accomplish many things I can't accomplish here.
1) I can get a 1-year Visa. This will allow me to avoid any more trips to Laos every 4 months (each costing $300+) and allow me more freedom and time doing actually ministry.
2) I can meet, thank, and inform all the people who have been supporting me financially and in prayer and answer any questions (hopefully) that you have about what your heart is investing in.
3) I can make a budget and explain needs that I will have. Example: I want to build a bamboo hut to live in (there are a gazillion benefits to this; feel free to ask questions). I need an Ipad to keep people updated (an ipad would allow me to get internet access even at camp). I may need a form of transportation.
4) There may be more people joining the ministry, New Vision For Life, which means my role may change. I have started to get well connected in the area though and would like to continue in outreaching to the surrounding villages as much as possible. My absence will help my "bosses" decide what they want to do with me-- since I'm able to go and do whatever they need.

I'm sure there's more but I'm so excited to "get the ball rolling" that I'm probably leaving stuff out. This place feels like Home. I can't wait to start living like it.

I'm hoping to fly out on August 9 and return in mid-October. Please pray that all the plans and applications, etc., will go smoothly!  And if you have any questions, please ask!

God bless and I'll see you soon!

Kelsey "PawMuWah" Erickson

Questions? Email me:
erickson.kelsey@gmail.com