Today was a hodgepodge of several things, one of which involved meeting with some leaders from the Karen Baptist Convention. My church (CRC) was able to help their ministry this past year by purchasing a home that they had been renting as a “hostel” for children to stay in while going to school. For the past several years, Myanmar (formerly Burma) has been involved in a civil war which has caused millions of people to flee their homes- I think there are close to 2 million IDPs (internally displaced peoples). Many children have been killed. The Karen people are in both Thailand and Myanmar- the convention in Thailand has sought to help their people with humanitarian aid as well as to protect their children as best they can- as one of the workers shared today, “to give them a future.” People have fled to the mountainous regions to get away from the warring factions. Children stay at this hostel (it is in Myanmar, about an hour from the border with Thailand)- currently 27 children are housed there and they hope to reorganize next year to host more. The leader today shared that many of these children have lost parents in the war. The village school where they study is a one room school house with 127 students and 11 teachers. The teachers are being paid 10,000 Baht (around $200/year). Their greatest challenge is meeting the needs of the teachers and students during the war crisis. But their greatest reward has been seeing the children continue to study and learn, and for many to come to know Jesus as their friend and savior.
The Karen Baptist Convention also has a number of these hostels in Thailand. In the remote villages there are no schools so they must send their children to the larger villages where they can go to school. The couples who run the hostels are trained evangelists and care for the children as they study. The man in charge of the ministry said several times, “We want to give our children a bight future.” I was so pleased to see their commitment to education, especially in Myanmar where war is disrupting so much of normal life.
We also enjoyed dinner out with some former colleagues whom I hadn’t seen in 14 years. I have read their newsletter and prayed for them for all these years and it was really special to get to see them again and hear more of their story. They also served in the Big Country (my sister and BIL did too) and have transitioned here to Thailand recently. Hopefully they will be able to continue to connect with my sister and BIL. It is always nice to make new friends on the mission field.
