Do you ever feel like your life is on a roller coaster? There are ups and downs. Sometimes you can see them coming and sometimes they
catch you by surprise. There might even be some loopdy loops, twists and turns.
The thing with roller coasters is that they take you for a
ride, but when they finally come to an end you get off at the same place you
got on.
A year ago I made the decision to move to Thailand to work
with Burmese Refugees. I feel like at that point I stepped onto a roller
coaster... there have been tons of ups, downs, twists and turns, but I haven't
really gotten anywhere.
Each time I got ready to send out a big newsletter to share
my excitement and let everyone know what was going on, suddenly there were
major changes that kept me from sending it.
The latest turns have been kinda crazy. At one point I felt
like everything had been turned completely upside down.
Adventures In Missions is reworking their long term missions
department with the goal of making their staff on the field a bigger focus and
hoping to increase their numbers. The office staff that they have are doing an
amazing job of finding ways to better care for the field staff and creating
better processes to get them to the field; however, after several conversations
and lots of prayer... I decided that this wasn't the best fit for me.
AIM will no longer be my sending organization for my move to
Thailand. I have AIM's full blessing in this decision, and they are allowing me
to keep my support account open until I find a new organization to be under.
Once I have figured everything out they will then transfer the money from my AIM
support account to my new organization.
And here's the fun twist...
My original plan was to spend a couple of weeks in GA
cooking for a World Race training camp. I will now be spending the summer in GA
working for AIM's training department. My focus will be on the logistical and
administrative part of training camps for the different programs at AIM. Pieces
of this job are things I've done in the past and others will be totally new. The
great news is that I've worked for my boss before and love working for him.
I have no idea how I'm getting to Thailand, what
organization I'll be under next, or even where I'll live after the summer (hopefully Thailand!). But I do know I get to spend the summer doing hard,
fulfilling work surrounded by people I love.
Here's to hoping the roller coaster ride is coming to an end
and I will not have to return to this one again. I'd really like to get off
this ride and see what kind of adventure the next ride has for me.
I am pretty passionate about prayer. I know beyond a shadow
of doubt that it works. Throughout my travels and my life there have been
moments when there was nothing else to do but pray. When it was a matter of
life or death, peace or chaos, joy or anger, sleeping on the street or in a
bed... the list goes on and on. I believe that prayer changed what was happening.
The thing with prayer is that it's to be a two way
conversation. I believe that God speaks to us today. He speaks through a variety
of ways, because he is passionately in love with us.
Scripture says that Jesus intercedes (prays) for us (Romans
8).
I'll admit, I'm horrible at keeping a list of people to pray
for. I lack the commitment and frankly I get bored of praying the same thing
all the time. However, I love it when I feel like I am praying the same prayers
that Jesus / the Holy Spirit is praying for people. It makes the prayers feel
alive, real and authentic, rather than religious or empty.
So here is what I would like to do... If you send me your
address (email or snail) to add to my blog subscription and/or to receive my
newsletters... I'll spend sometime with the Lord (prayer) and send you what I
pray and/or what I feel like the Lord is saying. I am not asking for a list of
your prayer requests, because I want to get close enough to Christ that I can
hear His prayers for you and add my amen to them. If you aren't interested in
getting my updates, but want me to pray that's cool too, just let me know. This
is more of an opportunity for me to practice praying and for you to hopefully
reap the benefits of it.
I wrote this blog a few days ago, but hadn't posted it yet. Little did I know that I was going to be in desperate need of a word from the Lord. For me, I know that the Lord speaks as I am seeking Him on behalf of others. As I am waiting on the Lord, I would love to hear what He has to say to you.
And well, my silly internet is to slow to add new photos, sorry friends.
A few weeks ago I mentioned that I was working on a
fundraiser event that I was hoping to share with you.
I would like to announce that I am hosting a Craft Bazaar at
Northlake Christian Church in Bothell, WA on Saturday, April 28th!
If you live in the Seattle area... or know anyone who does...
you should stop by! We'll have a variety of crafts tables selling their
products, a bake sale and I'll be there to share about Thailand and working
with Burmese Refugees.
Know someone who would be interested in selling their crafts
or other items, I'm looking for vendors.
Don't live in WA, or aren't able to make it on April 28th! Would you consider making an additional one-time donation towards my move to
Mae Sot, Thailand?
Since it's been a little while since I've blogged about me... I figured it was time to do a quick blog and let you know what is going on with me.
I am currently sitting in the AIM office in Georgia. It's always good to get caught up on people's lives and be back in a place I called home. As I'm here will you continue to pray into who should be on my team to Thailand? There are always people who show an interest in moving with me, but going to a specific place with specific expectations has limited the number of people who will fit (plus I really want the team that God puts together).
My parent's house just sold! This is great news as we've been praying for the right buyer, and really believe that God has answered those prayers. However this also means that we now have a timeline of when they have to move... and they are still seeking the Lord on where to move to (they are hoping to make some decisions this weekend). This also puts more question marks in the air for me of where I should live and what I should do as I continue to prepare to move to Thailand.
There are also a couple of major fundraisers that I am hoping to do... I'm in the process of filling out applications for them and putting things together. Please pray that I am pursuing the right fundraisers and support raising strategies. As they progress and are finalized I look forward to sharing them with you.
So basically I could use prayer... and I'm hoping to have fun updates for you in the near future :)
I try to follow the things that
are happening in Burma. Being such a small country there isn't typically a lot
in the news.
However that isn't the case as of
the last couple of months. Burma seems to constantly have little blurbs in the
news. The reason being is there are some changes happening. Over the last few
months the Burmese government has been letting out some of their prisoners,
many of them being political prisoners. There have also been lots of peace
talks, with real movement towards signing of peace treaties between the
military and 'rebels'. There have also been multiple delegates from other
nations who have visited Burma, a rare thing.
All of these things are great
individually... and collectively it's amazing!
The thing that has really stood
out to me in the articles that I have been reading lately is the response of
some of the political prisoners. These men and women have been imprisoned or in
house arrest for years. I would have assumed that they would be fueled by anger
towards their government in their passion to see change in their nation... but
they aren't. Their passion is fueled by a love for their people. When making
public speeches or talking with the press, they have yet to 'bash' their
government or specific leaders. Their speeches are full of optimism and hope,
even towards those who put them in prison. They are able to acknowledge the
negative things that have happened, yet point no blame and speak only of the
positive dreams they have for their nation.
I may not be in Thailand or
working with the Burmese people yet. But I am continuing to learn from them. My
prayer is that I would be more like these political voices of Burma and speak
life and hope in all circumstances, even over those who have brought death, and
that these would come from my heart and not just empty words.
Please be covering Burma in prayer! With so many drastic changes it is a sign of hope, may they not be tempted to turn to the ways of the past or react in anger but continue to strive toward the freedom that they desire.
For current and past news, check out The Irrawaddy news magazine, daily covering Burma and Southeast Asia.
As I prepare to move to Thailand
and begin working with Burmese refugees, I am convinced that creative arts (drawing, painting, photography, and perhaps 'recycled' art) will be key in
counseling people. Over the last 10 years a large part of my missionary life has
been to counsel and disciple people. I've had the privilege and difficult task
of helping people find healing from incredibly painful events of their past. I
want to use the creative arts to help people process their past and bring hope
to their future. To be effective I hope build long-term relationships with the
people that I teach to use the creative arts as art expressions.
My hope is to get people to
donate funds to purchase art supplies in Thailand (I can't wait to see what
these youth could do if they had real canvases to paint on!), have several
digital cameras donated (several point and shoots of the same model and then
even a couple of DSLR cameras), and then a laptop or two donated to upload
their work to. The idea is to give each of the youth a word, for example 'light' or 'dark'. Then after they have finished creating their piece of art or
taken the photo we would one-on-one discuss how their piece relates to the world
and what it means to them. I honestly can't wait to be able to do this with the
youth, to see how creative they can be, to watch them smile with pride at their
artistic abilities, and to help them process their past while giving them hope
for their future.
Click here to view a video that friends
made after our time visiting some youth inside of a Burmese Refugee Camp. All
of the pieces of art that they did, and all of their answers to our questions
about their art were given without any prodding or due to cues from us. . .
imagine what these youth could do with a little direction, and imagine the
healing they could get by counseling them about their artwork.
As you finish making Christmas preparations
and look forward to the New Year, consider clicking on the support link on the
left and support me so that I can make this dream of "art expression" in
Thailand with Burmese refugees a reality.
When I visited a Burmese Refugee
Camp during my visit to Thailand in March, we brought 'art supplies' and each
person at the children's home received a sketch booklet and shared colored
pencils and watercolors. None of them had ever seen watercolors before, but
once they watched a short demonstration, it took only seconds for them to start
creating their own pieces of art.
As they began to draw and
experiment with the watercolors I noticed something... each one was drawing
pictures of their homeland, Burma. There were no unicorns, aliens, robots, or
even pictures of bunny rabbits. They were all working on landscapes.
The next day we talked to them
about their art. First let me tell you that these youth are amazingly talented! They drew what they remembered, as one girl said, 'these are memories' - a
beautiful sunset, fruit trees full of color and animals ('that soldiers cut
down in hopes to starve us'), a village hiding in the mountains (hiding from
the army that is trying to kill them). These beautiful pictures each have
stories behind them... stories that belong to these youth. Stories that have forever
changed their lives, but not stolen their hope.
A head of security for the
Refugee Camp happened to be with us when we let the youth do art, so he
received a sketch booklet as well. His first picture was of a rainbow and
purple stick figures... his second was of a black heart that was pierced with an
arrow... I wonder what led him to go from something so cheerful to so dark, and
what the story is behind his bleeding heart. We didn't hear his stories, but
his pictures began to tell them.
Stay tuned... the next blog is
going to give you a better picture of what the creative arts has to do with my
plans in Thailand.
Have you ever moved somewhere new? Have you ever started up
something new? A new business or ministry?
Whether you are moving or starting up something new you have
to start with a plan. It would be awesome if everything just fell into place
and worked out perfectly, but that rarely happens. Over the next few blogs I am
going to begin to unveil the 'plan' for my move to Mae Sot, Thailand. (I'm
putting the word plan in quotes, because well, things can change... and knowing
what it's like to live in a third world country it's almost a given that some
things will change along the way.)
When we (the goal is to be part of a team, but currently
it's just me) first arrive in Thailand the first two months will be spent in
Chiang Mai. This will give us time to continue to bond together as a team, get
adjusted to life in Thailand, and begin intense language studies (we know of an
amazing Thai teacher who will come and give us one-on-one lessons).
Then the plan is to move to Mae Sot and rent a two or three
story building. We will use the top floors for team housing and as office space.
Then the bottom floor can be used as a Drop In Center.
Why a Drop In Center and what the heck is a Drop In Center? Opening
a Drop In Center is an easy way to meet people and begin to build relationships
in the community. It is also a great way to be able to bless those in the
community that have nowhere to go during the day and nothing to do except get
in trouble. We will open our doors two or three days a week to start. Anyone,
any age, gender, race or religion will be welcomed into our doors. We will
offer a safe place for people to spend the day, and have a hot meal. The hope
is to hire a local Burmese woman to purchase all of the food locally and then
cook for the Drop In Center, this blesses the local economy and makes sure that
the food is nutritious and food the kids will recognize and enjoy. We will play
games, do crafts, teach basic classes (math, English, etc), and as we grow
there is the potential to add more classes (Thai, Burmese, and maybe even
specialized classes like computer skills, accounting, or other skill based
classes).
The idea of having a team move to Mae Sot is so that we can
do a variety of different ministries, each finding something that we are
passionate about and that gives us life as we serve. Opening the Drop In Center
only a few days a week gives us an opportunity to serve the community on a
consistent basis while we try to find the other ways that we would like to
serve. My heart is that each team member will come in ready to work as a team,
but with a dream and a passion of their own to follow while they are in
Thailand.
Yes, there are a ton of ways that YOU can get involved and
things that I need YOU to join me in prayer for... but you'll have to wait for an
upcoming blog for details. For now I hope the excitement is building for what
I'll be doing in Thailand. Stay tuned for more of my 'plan' for Mae Sot!
All the above pictures are were taken at a Drop In Center I visited in Northern Thailand.
It would be nearly impossible for
me to give you a full understanding of what has been happening in Burma... and if
I did it would be so devastating and gruesome you wouldn't want to finish
reading it. Instead I will attempt to give you the basic ideas so you'll have
an idea of what life is like in Burma.
Burma is located in Southeast
Asia, near Bangladesh, Laos, China, and Thailand. If you are wondering why
you've never heard of Burma it's probably because in 1989 the corrupt
government changed its name to Myanmar. As a way to show support to the people
and a silent way of taking a stand against the government many people still
call it Burma.
The longest running civil war is
still going on in Burma, all the way back to WWII. They are known by every human
rights organization for being at the top of the list of offenders. It is
estimated that Burma has more child soldiers than anyone else in the world.
There are documented accounts of rape, torture, murder, forced labor (slavery),
genocide (the eradication of entire villages through war and land mines),
political prisoners, and so much more.
Due to the difficult and
dangerous life inside of Burma the hill tribe people are forced to hide in the
mountains moving constantly in fear of the soldiers or attempt to see asylum as
a refugee. Unfortunately with thousands of people fleeing Burma to 'temporary' refugee camps, the camps are overflowing and have entire generations growing up
in the camps (some camps have been around for almost 30 years).
Life in a refugee camp covers
only your basic needs. Space is tight and since they are to be 'temporary' camps, homes are made of bamboo and leaves, which need to be replaced yearly.
With the downward economy, funds for camps have dwindled as well, food rations
continue to change and be cut. Refugees are restricted to the camp limiting
their ability to work and earn extra income. Some refugees decide to move to
another country, as wonderful as this sounds the transition to a first world country is difficult physically and emotionally. It is often the educated and
those in leadership that leave the camp for opportunities in other countries,
leaving voids in jobs that need their expertise.
It seems like most of the dark
and ugly things in the world can be found in Burma. Yet many of the people that
have had to flee their homes desire to return. In the midst of it all they
still have a hope that peace will return to Burma that they will be able to
have the lives that they've only dreamed of. They are a people full of joy,
laughter, hope and beauty.
I have this really bad habit of moving to places that I've
never really spent a lot of time in. The good news is that I've been to
Thailand several times, and I have driven through Mae Sot (I spent most of my
time outside of the city, but did drive in to get a couple of meals).
Before I go into all the details of what I 'think' my life
will look like when I move to Thailand I want to give you some background on
Mae Sot. I want to help explain the question 'why' first.
Mae Sot is located in Western Thailand and boarders Burma (Myanmar). It's about a five-hour drive from Chiang Mai, and I'm guessing it is
a little bit longer to get to Bangkok. Sadly Mae Sot is a stereotypical boarder
town. This includes: black market, refugees and illegal immigrants, human
trafficking, drug trafficking, sweat shops, etc.
It is a real city with electricity, water, internet, and a
variety of restaurants. (I might be surrounded by mountains, but I'll be living
in a city.) There are quite a few foreigners who have lived in Mae Sot for
years and lots that come through to do volunteer work. I like to think of it
almost like a place where original hippies and modern hippies come together ;)This means that there are nice
coffee shops and restaurants with live local music ranging from cultural to
rock. I am hoping that part of my 'ministry' will be hanging out with the
foreigners and helping them to connect with God and each other. I'm also
excited because I am believing that having such a variety of people in Mae Sot
will equal lots of great friendships.
Of all of the places that I've travelled through around the world, Mae Sot was different than anywhere else. I knew that this was a place that I wanted to invest my life into. I want to be there when heaven opens up, people are free to live the lives they were created to live, people are healed, and darkness has to flee because the light has taken over. In my heart and my gut I know that the Lord has Mae Sot in His sight, He has great plans for it, His heart is for them, and He has not forgotten them.
In order for you to fully understand the part of my
reasoning of why I want to live in Mae Sot and work with Burmese Refugees, you
must first get a glimpse at what is happening in Burma. Stay tuned as my next
blog will highlight Burma.