Third Son

I am staying with a missionary family this week in Thailand. The family has been here about a year and a half. Danny is from America, Sue is from Korea and they have two children, 7 and 10. They are an awesome family and it's been so much fun spending time with them. I've forgotten how goofy little boys can be :) This family is just beginning a new ministry. They are setting up a children's home for tribal teens. The home will be in this city, it will have 12-13 students and it will focus on discipleship and quality education.

These children are from the Kachin tribe. Kachin people are from Burma, a country right over the mountain. Because of the war torn nation, the people have been walking over the border at night, into Thailand. They don't look like the ethnic Thai people and have been disrciminated ever since they have been arriving for the last 40 years!

Their village contains about 100 homes made of woven wood, grass roofs, or concrete. The houses sit on stilts because of both the flooding and insects. The village has trouble with running water and generally these children cannot take a shower, even though the red dirt and dust covers their bodies. The church on the top of the hill,is where we met.

The missionary family and their one staff member (who is one of the tribal people) held interviews to see that the students are ready to leave their families and come live in the city for a better opportunity at life. The schools near this village are very poor and without a way out of their poverty, these students will only follow in their parents' footsteps.

The students were 16-20 years old. They were excited about an opportunity to live in the city, recieve a good education, learn about the Bible, be discipled and have a chance to make it in life. It was amazing to me how trusting the parents were. Because the staff member is a kachin person, I think they are more willing to trust, but still... The parents are so desperate for their children to get a good education and get out of the village, that they freely let their children go to the city to live in the children's home. For the children and the parents, this is a dream come true that has been long prayed for.

Thank goodness this is a strong Christian organization with the best intentions. I can now see though, how easily human trafficking can happen. An organization comes to a remote village, promising education or jobs in the city. The parents are so desperate and excited about an opportunity that they freely let their children go with the unknown group. It's scary how fast and innocently it could happen. Thank goodness for this missionary family's staff member, who is a Kachin that can assure the village that this one is a genuine opportunity.

The most touching interview was of a boy who was only 16 years old. He was one of seven children, the third boy. The older two boys in his family were working in the city at restaurants in order to make enough money for this boy to go to college. This 16 year old is expected to go to college, study something that will get him a good job (even though he had a dream to go to Bible college) and support his family for the rest of his life. The burden was so obvious, weighing on him, deciding his every decision. Sadly, this is reality for a lot of the world. How blessed I am to be able to choose what to major in, which job to take and decide where I want to live.

Two nights I was able to stay in a hotel with the the staff member, who is also Kachin. Through asking questions (of course :)) I was able to hear her story. Her father was part of the rebel military when she grew up in Burma. Her family was chased out of the country because of her father's military agenda. She was only 7 and remembers only bits and peices of the night they fled. She said they rode by horse from house to house, somewhat like the undreground railroad, with people lying about their whereabouts. She then came to Thailand, and has lived here ever since, forced to learn a new language and attend Thai schools, yet being discriminated against the whole way. Though she is well educated and recieved a master's degree from the USA, she is still turned down jobs simply because she is a minority.

I love hearing people's stories. Everyone has a story. Everyone wants their story to be told. I like this quote I read on the way here, "People's stories give us eyes other than our own with which to see the world...enlarge my heart with a story and change me by the characters I meet there."