And funny enough, it was a "shaking" - LITERALLY that started our weekend!!
Thursday night Ray and I went out to catch a movie. We were sitting on the 5th floor of a mall here in Chiang Mai when all of a sudden Ray looks over at me and asks, "Do you feel that shaking?"
I looked around to see if someone down our row was shaking to the chairs, but the people were looking to me for the same answer. I then turned to see everyone in the theater looking around. I looked back to Ray, he said, "That's an earthquake, lets get out of here!"
We took out of there and sprinted down five stories of stairs!
Turned out a 6.8 magnitude earthquake hit slightly north of the Thai border in Burma - just 156 miles from where we were!
So that's how our weekend started!
The next day, Friday, we left for Mae Sot - a town along the Thai/Burma border. It's situated just 50 kilometers (30 miles) from a large refugee camp. We support a children's home in that camp, and we were excited to see the kids.
Let me tell you a bit about Mae Sot first - better know as the "City of Exiles." There is a such a unique spirit in that place. There is just something there that makes you excited and passionate about standing in the face of the oppression and violence that's happening just MILES away in Burma!
The restaurant we went to that night is run by former Burmese freedom fighters. Men who have seen and battled more than any of us could care to imagine. Yet, they are the most gentle and loving people you could meet. There is a peace in them that could only come from knowing you have survived torture and escaped death.
Our plan is to go back and get some of their stories on camera. They deserve to be heard! Light needs to be shed on this horrible situation in Burma! For too long this issue has been overlooked! Not anymore! This is a story that WILL be told!
Wow! The kids - we finally got into the refugee camp on Saturday, not an easy feat. This camp has been around for DECADES - longer than I have been alive. 60,000 to 70,000 people call this place home. And in the middle of it, sits "The Refuge." A children's home dedicated to giving kids who have come from the violence in Burma a chance to learn, heal, be safe and be loved.
The stories we heard from each of these kids were the same.
"My village was destroyed"
"Our school was burned down"
"We were scared"
"They tried to starve us"
"The military came..."
"We ran"
Yet, ALL of these kids want to go back. They want to become a teacher, a nurse, an administrator so that they can go back to Burma and help their people - the Karen people. The Karen are one of the people groups the Burmese military are trying to kill and destroy - it's genocide!
Can you imagine?? They WANT to go back!!
These kids are a treasure. I don't how else to explain it. They have such an innocence about them, but how is that possible, right? They have seen more death and destruction than any teenage boy or girl should ever have to witness. They are separated from their families. They have moms and dads and brothers and sisters still "behind the lines" in Burma. Yet, the hope and faith these kids carry is indescribable.
They are beautiful.
And I am completely undone because of it.
Somehow, their beauty has penetrated me. I'm not the most compassionate guy, I have a hard time crying - which is a BAD thing. But these kids touched me, they shook me up.
How could ANYONE want to harm them, starve them out, or kill these beautiful boys and girls?
How?
Their stories are coming - get ready.
Their stories are coming - get ready.
brother, i'll do whatever i can to help u spread the word about these kids and their hopes, dreams and callings. "whatever i can" may not translate into a whole lot, but if everyone reading this could do the same, it'll be huge. waiting for the stories to begin. love u, bro!
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