Dear Family & Friends, Below is an updated letter from Jim. I also have links to photos from their church service and a video of Tom singing with the children. Please let me know if you have trouble with the links - and I'm sorry but I think you will have to copy and paste (not sure how to do the direct link thing) http://www.facebook.com/photos.php?id=1196427976#/album.php?aid=10891&id=1196427976
http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/video/video.php?v=1065369033239

Sunday, November 02, 2008

Dear Family and Friends:

No rain today. Flooded low lying areas and plenty of mud remain, but the streets are dry!

We had an uplifting and productive day.

This morning we joined Love God Church in Mae Sot during their first service at 8:00. The church meets in a ghetto store front, while mangy dogs, interested spectators, and dis-interested bystanders loiter nearby to the open store front. We were greeted very warmly. We had the opportunity to witness to the worshippers and sing together with them. It was exciting to hear worship songs we know well, being sung in the Burmese language. Alex preached on 1 Peter and appealed to them to prepare next generation leaders for the tasks at hand.

We drove about one hour and passed through two Thai military checkpoints to reach the Mae La Refugee Camp. Temporarily the team split up to participate in worship at two separate churches in the camp. A lunch meeting with an astute local pastoral group in the camp gave us the opportunity to understand more concretely the needs of the refugees. It was encouraging to see the good judgment shown by this leadership team. We identified that the primary areas where we can contribute, revolve around teaching conflict resolution, teaching water purification techniques, and distribution of medical supplies. We plan a return to the camp on Saturday to tackle these tasks. We will save a description of the camp experience and conditions for our letter to you on Saturday.

After leaving the Mae La Camp, we made a scouting trip to the Khwe Ka Loc Orphanage. This location will be our work and teaching site for the next three days. The Orphanage conditions and facilities are rather bad. Open wells, nearby to live stock, animal waste, and garbage, are not sanitary but are used for washing and bathing. The only protected well is inoperable. They spend about 22,000 Thai Baht per year ($800/year) to bring in bottled drinking water. They are attempting to grow some vegetables but rely heavily on local donations for foodstuffs.

We are becoming well known at a local eatery named Krua Canadian which has been our home for several meals already. Within a few days, the proprietor should be able to predict our individual eating habits: Alex enjoys white rice for desert?! – Jim insists on no ice in his drinks despite heat and humidity!! – Jerry and Sylvia enjoy all foods American sounding J – and Tom continues to expect rat meat as a meal option on the menu??

We ask you to pray for energy and productivity in the coming days.

Working to bring comfort to His people,

Alex, Jerry, Sylvia, Tom and Jim