Paths Straight

It is fast approaching midnight and I should be sleeping but I have to first tell you about the past couple of weeks.

Firstly allow me to fill you in on some background information. We left Australia for the province of Ratchaburi, not really certain of why. We knew only that there was a Baptist church amongst the Karen villages near the border and that apparently there was not much else there in the way of Christian Aid. We thought that maybe we could come alongside and serve them and connect them to people in Australia who wanted to help also.

To remain in Thailand we needed a job and so we took a teaching job in Photharam. Looking at the map we could see that Photharam was about 1 and ½ hours to 2 hours from the border villages and so we thought this was a good place to start.

We started (after only a few weeks of living here) to develop a sense of urgency about beginning what we had come to Thailand to do – to love and serve the displaced Karen people at the Thai/Burma border. To do anything though was near impossible. We didn’t know the way to the villages let alone where the Baptist church at the border was. We didn’t have any way of getting out there to begin searching. We didn’t have contact with anyone who could take us out there or translate who we were and why we had come to their villages with a bag of jumpers, beanies and blankets! The weather was getting colder and our hearts were getting heavier and more agitated as the days passed. So, one night when the children were fast asleep, we made the decision to travel by bus the next morning to a town about 2 hours away, hire a car, and drive toward the border and….well….see what happened!

Once we had the car we then began what would become close to a 5 hour adventure of driving. Along the way we simply prayed. God and his plan were all we had. After five hours, out of necessity, we said to each other that we would try this last road and then if we found nothing we would have to begin the trip home. Our petrol was getting low; we were tired, hungry and a little despondent. Then approaching a village we saw Karen people, we saw a young man with a guitar and then a Ute full of young people and then a church! ‘There’s a church!’ was the unified cry from our exhausted family.

We stopped and walked straight into conversation with a man, who we found out was the Pastor. Through broken Thai we explained we were Christians, that we had gifts for the Karen and would love to come back for church the following day. ‘Dee jai’ was his reply meaning that his heart was happy to hear such news. After an incredible few minutes of introduction we were back in the car, a little shellshocked, with plans in place for the following day. Weeks before I had gone to sleep anxious but God had woken me in the night with the words ‘Trust in the me with all your heart, lean not on your own understanding, in all your ways acknowledge me and I will make your paths straight.’ I had been comforted by those words then, but now I was living that very promise.

We went back to the village church the following day, were introduced and were welcomed by large smiles and handshakes from the 60 or so people in attendance. Then we headed to the pastor’s home for lunch. There we were able to speak through a young man (Samson) who can speak English fairly well. We were able to explain a little more of our hope to come alongside the Karen, to assist them in any way needed, to connect with them and to hold up their arms as they battled in ministry in this and surrounding villages. We were able to tell them about our many friends in Australia and America who were praying for them, who even though they didn’t know them, love and believed in them.

Three leaders from the church (including the pastor) smiled large smiles and nodded, and at times said they loved us and welcomed us. One very elderly leader gave us bananas as we left, wishing he had more to give. He said that he had never seen English come to his village and was so glad that we were here at last. There really was an eerie (if I can use such a weak word) feeling that they had been waiting for us to come. I chatted to my mum today and she said as she often has in my life ‘Why are we surprised when we see God at work, when we have asked for wisdom and guidance?’ I know I should not be surprised….but I am. God using me and my family…? God directing us…..? God giving us friends who are waiting to hear how they can help….? Truly God is alive and active….? It IS true…we serve a living, personal and powerful God! It is true. Tears are flowing for me now. I must stop for a while.

We went out to the border again this past weekend. We went by sangthew (a ute with 2 bench seats in the back) and buses. This was time consuming and exhausting but it got us out there again. We had another amazing time with the Karen there. Samson has become a dear friend already. He has full Thai ID and has some Bible training. His heart for God and his people is enormous, he is humble and from what we can see an excellent leader and very wise. He shared with us that for four years he has prayed that one day he could build a place where many Karen children from the 30 villages he has contact with could come, live, learn English, learn about the Christian faith, be sponsored for their education and become leaders for their people. We listened periodically glancing sideways at each other and with our mouths agape. We shared with him that we had thought about something similar but that of late were certain we would not begin or lead such a venture. We would come alongside, help fund, help build and help teach and mentor if, and only if, there were Karen in leadership. Finding it hard to speak through the ever widening smile he said ‘this is my plan 100% not 99% but 100%’ he smiled some more and said ‘I have prayed for four years….it seems God is saying ‘yes.’ So…please be praying for wisdom & guidance for us, for Samson, for the church leaders, for your own involvement in all of this.

Our second day out at the border we went to a different village of about 200 people with only 3 Christians amongst them. It was one hill away from the Burma border. Animism mixed with Buddhism was their main religion. Colin and Samson stopped to speak to one man who was carrying a bag (that he was drinking from) full of uncooked blood. Samson (who used to be Animist also) told us that the uncooked blood from the animals is drunk to give them the same strength that had belonged to the animal. As we walked through the village some people yelled out that they did not want Christians in their homes. One family did host us though and cooked us a wonderful lunch. We had gone there with the pastor and Samson. For the past couple of years they had visited the village at Christmas to play games, give gifts and provide special lunch. We were able to add to the gift giving (with our knitted goods) and you will have to wait for a DVD (that we will produce and send to you asap) to gain a deeper understanding of what it was like to be part (as you all are) of God at work on this day.

This is an incredibly long blog …I know and I apologize. However you can talk to God about it if you have a problem with it!!

We love you….thank you for reading, for praying and for really being a part of this with us. There is no way we could do this without you holding up our arms in battle.

Tears on the Street

Regardless of the time in Bangkok the traffic is heavy on the streets. At the end of a work day, as people return to their homes, never is a statement so true. Just yesterday our family, visiting Bangkok for the day, were in a taxi. We were exhausted. We were ready to get onto the bus that would return us to our home an hour and a half away in Photharam. It was already dark and we were stopped at traffic lights. Ahead of me I saw the tail lights coming from four or five lanes of traffic. Then in amongst the cars Mackenzie (who was on my lap in the front) and I saw a young girl. She was selling something at the car windows. As she got closer we could see that she was selling a single white flower wrapped in a small piece of banana leaf. I admired such a little entrepreneur and I decided that I would buy one, when and if, she came past our taxi. It was a while before she did and so I felt the pressure of the pending change of lights when she approached our taxi. I proceeded (in a rushed manner) to wind down the window. But, when the window was down we did not find a sassy little entrepreneur but a young Thai face, about 9 years of age, with tears streaking her brown skin. I saw fear in her brown eyes. I was taken aback. Perhaps she had been forced out into the lanes of Bangkok traffic at the end of the day to make enough money for her family to eat that evening. Perhaps she made money for someone else and would never benefit from the money made. We didn’t know her story. We knew in that instant though that she was scared and sad. I was more panicked now and in my simple Thai asked her how much the flowers were and she was unable to respond. Until now I had not realized that my bag was twisted up in the seat belt making it hard to access. I felt around in one pocket and found some coins, I put them into her small brown hand and she handed me three flowers. I tried to hand back two, but she insisted. The light changed and off we went. I couldn’t talk. Kenzie couldn’t talk. We just sat there overwhelmed. Mackenzie then said ‘Why did you rush mummy?’ I said sadly that I wish I hadn’t rushed but had allowed the taxi to sit there in the traffic while I found a more substantial amount of money. ‘Never… rush… again… mum…ok,’ was Kenzie’s slow, sad and thoughtful reply.

I long to live as Christ lived, yet I fall short so often. I am reminded that Jesus kept his pace slow. He stopped for Zaccheus up a tree. He stopped for the woman at the well. He stopped his teaching and fed the crowds. He stopped for children and brought them to his chest. He stopped for the Centurian, the bleeding woman, the thief on the cross. He stopped for questions, sickness and feasts. He stopped for perfume to be poured on his feet. He stopped to embrace and be embraced. He stopped to cry and listen to tears. There is a similar need for his followers to stop today. There is need for mercy all around us. Be it Australia, Thailand or America. We can’t rush by people. That was my lesson this week….maybe it can be for you also?

Arrived

Just a brief blog to let you know we have arrived. We have taken the teaching job at Photharam which is about an hour from the border. We hope to go to the border villages on the weekends and slowly build relationship with the Karen there. The teaching job is on an initial 3 month contract and this will allow us to obtain the appropriate visas and so on. We are looking at a possible house tomorrow. We will appreciate being settled. We will write again soon.

Mary Valley Knitters

We (the Harrison family) leave for Thailand in a week. We are ready and peaceful. Today we went to Mary Valley Wesleyan where we were able to speak about Connect and were given a bag full of jumpers, beanies, booties and blankets to take to the Karen people in Thailand. We will arrive at the beginning of their winter and so these gifts, hand made by loving hands, will be greatly appreciated by Karen living in Bamboo huts in the mountains.

It is overwhelming to us that before we even know the people we will work alongside in the border villages we have gifts to bring them when we first meet. Thank you ladies for your partnership with us.

It seems that I (Ruth) have a teaching job in Phathoram, about an hour east of the Burma border. This will allow us to obtain visas and initial income. It will also allow us to gain our footing in a new country. The contract will mean I work Monday to Friday and so we will head out to the villages on the weekends for the first few months and we will see from there what doors open to us.

It seems often that God shows his children only a little of the path ahead...and for now we know this much....we leave next week and we have a bag full of gifts....God knows the rest....that is enough for us.

Next post from Thailand soil!