MAE SOT, THAILAND – Our eleventh day of mission was devoted to outreach, meeting with the Karen people in Thailand, learning more about them and their lives, and how they were brought to Christ through the ongoing efforts of an international community of faith-based, non-government organizations.
Final planning for our visit to the village of Huay Nam Kong took place the evening before, as team members volunteered for the different activities that were planned for the different groups with whom we would work. Some of us had been preparing for these activities for months, and we were ready to go to work.
The village – a community of migrant workers - is set amidst the rolling hills and farmlands on the outskirts of town. Our guides for today’s activities were Nee Doh Chit (‘Andy’) and a staff member from Partners Research & Development’s Mae Sot office.
Upon arrival, we were greeted by Pastor Newton and his wife of the Karen Baptist Church there. Also welcoming us was a church filled wall-to-wall with the children of the village. The children greeted us with music, and we took a turn at singing, ourselves. There was also the much-anticipated return of the Tall City Limberjacks Sextette, and their performance of “Old Man Boonmah,” a Thai variation of “Old MacDonald. Reverend Jerry Hilton greeted the people of the village on our behalf, and offered them words of encouragement.
From here, the children were broken up into different age groups. For the younger children, it was games and storytelling, followed by coloring pictures and English language play.
Meanwhile, older children moved about the village with digital cameras borrowed from the team, and taking photos of their homes, their friends and other aspects of their lives. These photos were printed on-site, and then used by the young photographers to produce documents of their life stories. The team also kept busy taking portraits of all the children, printing them, and leaving them as mementos of the day we spent with the children. In return, many team members were presented with the pictures the children had colored earlier that day.
Partway through the day, the team broke for lunch, provided by the people of the church. Time and again, we have been overwhelmed by the graciousness, the hospitality shown to us by the people we have met in the course of our mission.
Our day at the village concluded with music, prayer and fellowship. There were special prayers and words of encouragement for a teenage girl of the village that is coming to Christ and will soon be baptized. Pastor Newton expressed his hope that she might someday attend seminary. But it has not always been easy for her, we were told. Her parents are not Christians, and there were tears in her eyes as she asked for our prayers.
So much of our activity in recent days has been devoted to people seeking refuge in Thailand, from Burma. After leaving Huay Nam Khon, we headed into downtown Mae Sot and the port-of-entry between the two nations. We stood at a vantage point on the banks of the river, next to the International Friendship Bridge that connects Mae Sot to its opposite number in Burma, and facilitates trade and travel between the two nations. The marketplaces of Mae Sot are filled with wood, gemstones, and other natural resources and products from Burma.
Our work will continue in another Karen community, the refugee camp of Me La in the more rugged and remote mountain country several miles north of Mae Sot. It being Sunday, we will also have a chance to attend church with Karen people there.
Final planning for our visit to the village of Huay Nam Kong took place the evening before, as team members volunteered for the different activities that were planned for the different groups with whom we would work. Some of us had been preparing for these activities for months, and we were ready to go to work.
The village – a community of migrant workers - is set amidst the rolling hills and farmlands on the outskirts of town. Our guides for today’s activities were Nee Doh Chit (‘Andy’) and a staff member from Partners Research & Development’s Mae Sot office.
Upon arrival, we were greeted by Pastor Newton and his wife of the Karen Baptist Church there. Also welcoming us was a church filled wall-to-wall with the children of the village. The children greeted us with music, and we took a turn at singing, ourselves. There was also the much-anticipated return of the Tall City Limberjacks Sextette, and their performance of “Old Man Boonmah,” a Thai variation of “Old MacDonald. Reverend Jerry Hilton greeted the people of the village on our behalf, and offered them words of encouragement.
From here, the children were broken up into different age groups. For the younger children, it was games and storytelling, followed by coloring pictures and English language play.
Meanwhile, older children moved about the village with digital cameras borrowed from the team, and taking photos of their homes, their friends and other aspects of their lives. These photos were printed on-site, and then used by the young photographers to produce documents of their life stories. The team also kept busy taking portraits of all the children, printing them, and leaving them as mementos of the day we spent with the children. In return, many team members were presented with the pictures the children had colored earlier that day.Partway through the day, the team broke for lunch, provided by the people of the church. Time and again, we have been overwhelmed by the graciousness, the hospitality shown to us by the people we have met in the course of our mission.
Our day at the village concluded with music, prayer and fellowship. There were special prayers and words of encouragement for a teenage girl of the village that is coming to Christ and will soon be baptized. Pastor Newton expressed his hope that she might someday attend seminary. But it has not always been easy for her, we were told. Her parents are not Christians, and there were tears in her eyes as she asked for our prayers.
So much of our activity in recent days has been devoted to people seeking refuge in Thailand, from Burma. After leaving Huay Nam Khon, we headed into downtown Mae Sot and the port-of-entry between the two nations. We stood at a vantage point on the banks of the river, next to the International Friendship Bridge that connects Mae Sot to its opposite number in Burma, and facilitates trade and travel between the two nations. The marketplaces of Mae Sot are filled with wood, gemstones, and other natural resources and products from Burma.Our work will continue in another Karen community, the refugee camp of Me La in the more rugged and remote mountain country several miles north of Mae Sot. It being Sunday, we will also have a chance to attend church with Karen people there.
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