Give Thanks With a Grateful Heart

Today, we made our first visit to a Karen refugee camp on the border between Thailand and Burma. We didn't know for sure if we'd be able to get in, as the camps are all under very tight security. It's all kind of hit-or-miss sometimes but we had prearranged it with the camp leaders and God really blessed us. Just because you prearrange it, doesn't mean it always works. Especially on Sundays. The camp is closed to the government officials on Sundays, so it was such a blessing to be able to go in and be a part of their real community of people.

Once in, they had us lead the worship service from start to finish. There were over 600 Karen in attendance and when they all stood to worship the Lord with us, there was this overwhelming flood of voices that just overtook the area! It was incredible! Duane made a joke while he was preaching that while American babies come out crying, the Karen babies come out singing! :) They had four choirs and a trio that sang. So beautiful! They even sang some of their songs in English! We sang a couple of songs for them and then Amber, Mike, Matt and Duane spoke.

After church, they served us lunch. The refugee camps are served on rations. Sometimes, they barely get enough to eat themselves, but because they knew we were coming, somehow they had gotten extra food into the camp and cooked us an incredible Karen feast! It is such a humbling experience to be so cheerfully served by these beautiful people.

Afterwards, we went to the Bible school that they've started on base. They were very excited to tell us that the school was named, "Judson Bible School" in honor of Adoniram Judson. Judson is known as the first American missionary to bring the gospel to Burma. These are the people whose lives were directly affected by his ministry and they continue to be very grateful for his willingness to follow the call of God on his life and bring them the gospel!

When we finished there, we headed up to the boarding school/house. We met 52 beautiful children there! They were so excited to see us! As they were singing to us, the presence of God just seemed to fill the room. They were singing, "Give Thanks"....in English. Just imagine 52 refugee children singing that song to the Lord at the top of their lungs! I know that in that moment, the heart of God was truly blessed! Suddenly, I recognized that no matter how much oppression these people are facing, no matter how many governments might turn their backs on them, no matter how many people might choose to ignore them, that God has never turned his back on them! God has not left them, He hasn't forsaken them and He's not going to!

After that, we were able to play with some of the little kids for awhile! We taught them how to high-five and by the end, we had about 50-60 "high-fiving" maniacs running around the camp! They are so precious!

We had to leave the camp in the afternoon so after saying "good-bye", we headed towards our next destination....to see some monkeys! We got out of the car, (some of us were more hesitant than others....I've seen Wizard of Oz! I know what happens!:) and witnessed the first case of monkey child abuse that any of us had ever seen! This baby kept trying to get the mother to hold it, and she was just wailing on it! It was so crazy! But...a few seconds later, the real mom swooped down and rescued the baby!

It's been a really long day today, so to finish up, I think I'll make a journal of some of the non-serious things that I learned today:

~ It is absolutely pertinent that you bring your own toilet paper with you anywhere you go in Thailand! You cannot expect them to provide it for you! :)
~Squid tentacles do NOT taste good no matter what Mike says!
~Duane must be HILARIOUS when he speaks Karen...they always laugh so hard!
~Karen kids can break-dance like none other!
~If you feel out of the loop...just watch Oprah! She'll fill you in!

Thanks so much for your prayers and support!! We appreciate it!