Thailand: Around the World on God’s Business

 

By Linda Mason

 

 

Bangkok, Thailand – People often ooh and aah when they hear about the work I do with Children of Promise. I admit there is a certain mystique about traveling around the world to be greeted by shouts and screams of delight. Who wouldn’t want a job that brings joy to thousands of people? The “work” is reward enough to endure 20 hours of flying with a good 10 hours of airport transport and layovers. Why do I do it? For the children – it certainly is not for the thrill of sitting in the economy section of the plane!

 

Wendy Weeks, a core member of our volunteer network from Racine, Wisconsin, is my co-worker on this mission.   Eighty sponsored children and 29 children who are waiting for sponsors eagerly greeted us in six locations around Thailand. With Bangkok as our base, our journey took us back into the air about eight hours after our initial flight. We flew to Chiang Mai in the northern part of Thailand and, after spending the night there, we eagerly set out for Khun Yuam near the Myanmar border.

 

The Church of God in Khun Yuam has struggled as of late, but now they have a young pastor with new vision. Our first “customers” were not so sure about us white ladies. The children were quite comfortable sitting with their peers in two groups, a girls' group and boys' group. One by one they sat across the table from each of us to answer an array of questions. They mostly spoke in Thai language; we were especially grateful for our interpreters Acharn Srinuan, director of Children of Promise in Thailand, and her daughter, Jan. Before long, the children’s smiles and bright eyes danced when they told us about their favorite past-time, and we learned about Tra-Kro, played with three players on a team and involves hitting a ball in the air with a bamboo stick; Petong, a croquet-like game that involves an iron ball; and Footsol, an indoor soccer game utilizing few players on a smaller field. They shared stories about their families, most were just eking out a living, but they still dreamed of becoming teachers, soldiers, doctors, and policemen. We asked about their health and learned about a kidney disease and dengue fever. Some things in this life are not fair; children-in-need with rare illnesses is at the top of that list.

 

From Khun Yuam, we either drove, flew or both to reach Mae Kong Pae, Hanka and Nang Rong. We learned much about the culture as we crisscrossed the land. Most of our child sponsorship sites are in the rural areas of Thailand and all were based around a Church of God congregation. The children appeared to be more robust and stable in communities where the churches were strongest. There were more children whose families were more intact. Conversely, we discovered that many grandmothers were raising their children, just like so many do in America. In Thailand, though, there is no government program to come to their aid. About half of the sponsored children came from divorced homes, homes where one or both parents were deceased, or where one or both parents abandoned the child.

 

Anuwat, a 15 year old boy, is completely alone in this world; he even lives alone. If it were not for his pastor checking in on him, he would be without direction completely. I cannot think of anything more devastating than to be alone in the world. I am thankful that God, our Abba Father, watches over him day and night, providing for him and protecting him from the evils of this world.

 

Sae La Pau, a 20 year old girl, goes home after school every day to help take care of her four younger siblings because her parents work the land. When pressed about her favorite pastimes, she simply could not think of anything she does for fun. Again, I pray that God, our Abba Father, will teach her to keep her heart open so she will one day experience what it means to have desire, reigniting a passion in her heart for life.

 

Then there is “The Farm” at Hanka. How do I describe The Farm? It is a 95-acre rural patch of land with a handful of buildings on it. Most everything looks “vanilla” like the brown dirt that covers the road. We could hear laughter as we approached the chapel. There was an eagerness in the eyes of the children here which was a bit surprising considering that the residents of The Farm were orphan children. These children eagerly searched our eyes for connection. The typical Thai greeting is “Sawatdi” which is spoken as one folds his/her hands together and touches his/her forehead, bowing the head. The Farm children dispensed with this greeting. They had a more important mission: getting to know us.

 

Each child took their turn being interviewed. Story after story broke our hearts. Maneerut shared with Wendy that her family “disowned” her because instead of quitting school and getting a job to help the family she stood her ground and said that she could best help the family by finishing high school and going to college to become a nurse. The Farm family embraced her. She was eager to practice her English and tell Wendy all about herself and her dream of one day becoming a nurse. I wanted to shout, “Yea, God. This daughter did not let the enemy of her soul steal her dreams. Thank you, Abba Father.”

 

In only one of six areas we visited the children seemed somewhat normal in size. In fact, there were about five children who were very small. Family genes accounts for some of the smallness but the facts tell us that malnutrition is the real culprit. We have all seen pictures and TV clips of malnourished children; nothing can prepare you for seeing that in person. There is nothing that prepares you to meet a 16 year old boy who looks like he is eight years old. Nothing. And I am grateful for God, our Abba Father, who holds this dear child in his hands and gives him strength for the day.

 

I remember the children at Mae Kong Pae. These children were truly ingenious. Two boys had invented a way to turn crushed leaves into a fuel source to cook rice. No wonder one of these boys won his district’s Science Fair and later met the Princess! One young girl was known throughout the village as one of the fastest and best at winding thread between five poles; these “threads” formed the base fabric platform to weave fabric. A group of girls took turns working the loom weaving fabric, while the others chatted and wound thread from a ball onto spindles. Another boy painted an original scene of young children in a church yard; he labeled his picture, “The Future Church.” And yet another boy built farm animals, plows and people from clay. The creativity in this one village was staggering. Just think about how these children might change the world for Christ in the midst of a people who follow the Buddhist traditions.

 

Yes, traveling is glamorous but not for the reasons you would think. In the end, traveling will wear you out. But traveling with Children of Promise energizes you because you get a front row seat to witness one of God’s grandest stories. You are given the opportunity to see God at work reclaiming, redeeming and renewing young lives for eternity’s sake. 

 

You may think, “Yes but what about all the poverty?” Poverty is not pretty no matter how you look at it.  I remember a story that former missionary Ann Smith told about a very wealthy person and her dog. This person owned the Hope diamond. She loved the diamond and her dog very much, so much so that she began hanging the Hope diamond as a necklace on her dog. Then Ann paints a comical scene about the dog eating Alpo and slobbering all over the diamond. “’Yuk!’ or ‘What Nonsense!’” you might say. True, it doesn’t make much sense to cover one’s Hope with Alpo but the rock was still the Hope diamond. The same is true of each child. He or she is still one of God’s little ones no matter how many layers of poverty covers them. If we would just look past the poverty, we would see who they truly are. 

 

Now that I think of it, sitting in a coach seat for 20 hours to go on this safari was well worth the trip! I would not trade it for the world. 

 

Thank you for making sponsorship possible for the Thai children and others around the world. Because of you, your child has a Hope for the future. Child sponsorship is all about Hope, with or without Alpo.