Stories from the Thailand team...

drawn into the thick dust on the bonnet of our 4x4 pick up...
- including a personal message to Jesus.

Lei Hao... or... Hi, from Hong Kong!
Well, were back from our Thailand experience... and what a privilege it was... but it's been hard to settle back in at the Hong Kong base, but 3 days on and I think we've all managed to at last... and Christmas outreach has begun (check out "ywamhongkong.org" for COR pics) with our first day of ministry being yesterday the 17th, it went really well for us all, although were split between 2 of the 3 outreach teams, so we're not seeing one another as much as we'd like. It's been great to re-join the Carlisle team as a whole again, we've really missed each other, for chats, prayer and reflection with friends. Time apart really drives home the unity of our team... the 13 weeks back in Carlisle really have grounded us all as a family in faith.

The team.

Those of us who went to Thailand were Richard, Miriam, Jake, Ben, David, Jayce, Jenean, Pip & myself and we landed back in Hong Kong on the morning of the 15th... at 2:30am after a straight 17 hour journey back from Chaing Mai in Thailand... on virtually all types of transport available to man, which was after a bone crunching, neck cricking, head butting of windows & each other... 12 Hour 4x4 journey the day before to get back to civilisation from the refugee camp we had made our home with the help of the "Karen" people for 5 days.
I have to say... the journey was awesome through the Thai mountains, speaking for myself, I half loved it & half hated it... others just loved it full stop as a one off experience... but then they had doors and electrically operated "opening windows"... and "normal" seats... leather ones at that!
For 3 of us however, 12 hours on a modestly padded bench seat with leg room for a small crippled monkey and no opening window or door was... character building!
Pins and needles and zero blood flow past the buttocks was the order of the day for myself, Jake and Ben at least. Richard joined us in the front suffering from dust ingestion! :-)





Hey at least I got a window seat.. thus ensuring a spectacular view of the dust clouds from the 2 trucks in front of us... and close painful proximity to the reinforcement bar against the upper arm and perfect distance for testing the tempered glass with my skull... repeatedly. The glass passed as strong... and made the comical sound of a frying pan each time. Thank God for humour.



Nothing could really have prepared any of us for what we were to experience from the Karen people in their temporary housing in "Mae La Oon" Refugee camp... What amazing people.

Their hospitality and genuine friendliness was really moving... we were there to support a medical team from "Partners" who oversee the care of many children in the camp who are orphaned in some way due to the conflict in their home country, Myanmar... while they were checking every one of the 360 children from about 6 years old up to late teens in school No.2... and administering medicine and advice, we were able to bless them with games, activities, simple teaching of the gospel and encouragement that God is looking out for them despite their circumstances in the camp. There was a strong message of identity and hope in Jesus, and we spent time driving home Isiah 49:16 to the children and young adults, assuring them God is working to bring all things together for good, and that as God works (with His hands) He sees their name written there on His palms and works with them in mind. They all drew around their own hands onto card and wrote their names in the middle with the verse... they seemed to love it.

To all of us, the camp and the rugged, jungle clad mountain terrain it's all precariously perched in, was simply beautiful and inspiring... the work and skill to build these so called temporary bamboo houses on hillsides of nothing but mud at a near 45 degree angle is incredible... (the rainy season brings mud slides and danger to the camp we did not see as its dry season now) but for the Karen, it's not their home, its a make shift no mans land... where they exist as a displaced community and a small part of a persecuted people group, but it's safer than the alternative... on the run, starving & just surviving in the mountains with no food or possessions that they did not carry out with them as they were shot at by the Burmese army! 16 thousand we were told live in this 1 camp alone, although that's the official number... the reality we were sure is a far greater number. In the pic to the right here you can see the football pitch & some idea of the scale... School No.2 is the 1st building to its top left corner... pic taken on a HOT hike up the mountain slope opposite our guest house front door...

And every evening as the sun set in the camp we were blessed with a beautiful sound in the hills... the Karen love to sing... and at dusk, continuing for hours into the evening, young and old would group together and just sing, and sing... and sing. It was awesome and a treasured memory for us all. Candle lit "Karen" carol singing for Christmas!



Among so many blessings and inspiring sights, this was among the most impacting... another day dawned, pretty cold and with the normal beautiful mountain mist, life started every day at about 5am... but by 7am... it was unusually busy out side our guest house doorway... loads of people, children and adults with disabilities and prosthetic limbs running past with a helper...
...there was a competition day starting for all these guys hurt and maimed by the conflict, men and children with only one leg, people blinded... people crippled... either running or being carried by their carer... man it was really moving... these guys just love life... every one of them was grinning and determined!


It's one thing that stands out, it's their strong identity as a people. The Karen (pronounced Koran) are an ancient people with history pre dating the Jews... and a story telling culture passed down the generations by a trusted few, usually by song. The stories tell of a one true God, Y'wa! ...and stories not dissimilar to Genesis Chapter 1 to 3! Incredible being as the ancient Karen never had a bible! God is not limited! Richard, talking to an older man in the community here journaled this powerful statement from him... "I am not Burmese, I am not Thai... I am Karen!" It was who he is... it inspired me and I'm sure others among us to be able to one day say
"I am disciple of Christ" with the same conviction. That is who I am! What a strong identity in their culture and as a people. I felt I have much to learn.



I wish I could write more on behalf of each of us on the team, we all saw so much and were impacted differently, I don't feel I can do their experiences justice in this short account, but I hope to give a flavour of our time there and leave you wanting to ask questions of us when you get the chance... remember to ask us about the FBR's.

the last day saw us loading up early, surrounded constantly by children playing with the baloons we'd brought along with us...





We we all saddened to be leaving these people, especially the children and teenagers we'd spent some time with. But it's clear, The Lord has His hand on all.









Our last night in Chaing Mai... we found ourselves compelled to re-visit the "night Bazaar"...

hmm... however it proved comical... I was greeted by an in your face, manic - "Hello how are you I am fine do you want to buy something?" with no pauses... I was left in helpless laughter as were the others, Jenean, Jayce and David... Then came the watch buying challenge for Pip's birthday gift... her battery had gone flat on her watch, and being a loving husband and a romantic I figured it would be easier to buy a new watch from a lookie lookie man. We corporately & carefully selected our watch dealer with Godly discernment... and approached with the unique boldness of a small pack of tourists... while I carefully inspected the cheap "tat" before me with great interest and well hidden disbelief... David was in for the kill (a Barrister in training) ...

DAVID "are any of these any good!?" WATCH MAN "yes, yes all good..." DAVID "these are good!?" (YEAH RIGHT! passing through his mind and hiding his grin) WATCH MAN "oh no no no... these are bad" (perhaps a misunderstanding had occurred?) DAVID "just to check... so these are bad... " WATCH MAN "ummm yes" DAVID "what about these... are any of them good quality?" (sweeping his hand accurately over the more expensive looking tat to the rear of the stand with Pips high quality gift on his mind) WATCH MAN "Umm... no no... all bad." (a small grin appears across his face) (laughing seemed to be the order of the moment for all involved...) (I was trying hard to stay reasonably focused on my important task at hand... and choose one that looked un-broken before I touched it! I'd already pulled one nob off) (Jayce and Jenean were well involved in the conversation by this time...) DAVID "so, how much is this one?" (out of morbid interest and curiosity) WATCH MAN "1500 Bat" DAVID "what... why?" (a sound question I'm sure we were all thinking) WATCH MAN "but it's OMEGA!" (huge grin comes across his face as we all simply loose it!) ALL of US "BUT THEY'RE ALL FAKE!" (in disbelief and laughter) WATCH MAN "well, no... these are... same, but not the same!" (He's just laughing along with us all now) (time passes as we gather our thoughts and our breath... I had found one that looked promising, I had it in hand, amazingly it was still ticking... and it was pink!) LEE "How much?" (firm negotiator's look across my brow... or "you try it on mate and I'll walk..." Biblical shrewdness in mind) WATCH MAN "some ridiculous number..." (he didn't literally say that!) (witty negotiation ensued... it was a wonder to behold.. for all who know me, i excelled myself...) Meanwhile Jenean asks... "are you Karen?" (out of the blue!...) what made her ask that... everyone looks the same. WATCH MAN "Yes... I am" answering in surprise. JENEAN "wow... cool... are you a Christian?" WATCH MAN "Yes I am..." (stunned silence hits the other 3 of us... then the laughter hits again, clearly the Godly discernment all landed on Jenean...) DAVID "we thought you were strangely honest!" :-) LEE "man I'll pay you just for the comedy factor!" "forget the watch!" :-) "I offered a final price... it was... err, modest) WATCH MAN "let me ask my boss" (all of us unaware he wasn't the boss in the first place!... he was right behind him though... (awkward knowing all we'd said) JAYCE "That's your boss!?" (in a Floridian accent... ) (oops) :-) WATCH MAN "yes yes... its fine..." ALL of US "so he doesn't speak English then!?" WATCH MAN "NO... he has no English!" (Laughing loudly with us) "OK... PRICE IS FINE" LEE "cool... £6 ish... (£600 if Pip's reading! :-) dare I ask how long will this last?" (not expecting a serious answer I just wondered what he'd say) WATCH MAN "I don't know... I didn't make it!" (laughing with us again) So we left... watch in a quality "zip seal bag" and all those involved satisfied, financially... and with our senses of humour filled to the max... or... if I was David... "enjoying the warm glow of a good workout"

We were all shattered and landed back here into the thick of "pre - Christmas Outreach preparation on the 15th... Pip's 31st birthday!

Oh, and she loved the watch... :-)
Literally only a few hours after arriving back we were learning dances and doing work duties & the lucky ones among us all got to become dancing clowns!

What a contrast to the last 10 days!

Thus proving The Lord has sense of humour!

I (Lee) was one of the lucky ones... along with Jayce... pray for us!
That's Nathan and I above in our quality act though...

Pip, Jenean & David are also in the clown dance after Thailand... they escaped the costume! :-)

Praise Jesus.

More to follow next week... on behalf of all... Lee.