I went to the Hanson's place to do homeschooling with the girls this afternoon, a time with them that I am so thankful to have been given. The hours spent over grade 5 language arts and painful science lessons (a subject that is dreaded by all three) are worth the laughs, the moments that things once unknown come to light, and the encounters with God that are inevitable. I am falling in love with these girls so quickly.
We worked for a few hours, and we worked hard. The overall goal, besides the ultimate goal of them having learned something, is to finish classes before March, or at least the majority of the work. March through April are the months of constant short term team hosting, June not offering much time for school work either. And so, we work hard for the few hours we have in a week.
The girls had finished their work for the day, the house now quiet as I began to read, Courtney lounged with her iPod in tow. The sun was starting to set, but slowly, as it lingers in this country more apparently than at home... Or perhaps now I just take time to savour these slow moments. Anyway, the sun was still warming the floors of the house through the maroon curtains, light glinting off the pavement of the driveway, and I heard the calming sound of children laughing outside. I went 10 minutes trying to ignore it, but curiosity moved my feet towards the noise. Meghan and Cami had invited Niao Mai, the toddler from across the street, to play in the hose with them. The days are getting hotter, I'm certain they all loved the cool water on their skin. When I stepped outside I found a naked two year old holding the garden hose upright, spraying the girls and laughing hysterically at their shrill screams and laughter. I loved this moment.
In this moment I saw God moving. I saw love, and compassion, and community at work in a tangible way in my own neighbourhood. I saw that ethnicity, race, language barriers - none of these things played a part in the joy that was so obvious I was nearly brought to tears.
Here's something else that nearly brought me to tears today, in not quite the same way...
There's an NGO across the street from our office called Compasio. They are also working with the Burmese and Karen people in Thailand, with a heart for orphaned and abandoned children. They have 3 orphanage houses, the newest being an infant house that is currently home to 3 babies. The restaurant that often brings Westerners together in Mae Sot is called Casa Mia, which just happens to be right next to the Compasio office.
We all ate at Casa Mia, as we so often do, and in walked the Sustar family, Kelly carrying a 3-month old Burmese baby boy... And one of the cutest babies I had ever seen, mind you. This family has had this baby, Dune, since he was 5 days old. The mother, young and single, was having trouble caring for the child despite Kelly's involvement. Her new plan was to go to Bangkok to sell him. Obviously, they had no other choice but to take him in until the infant house was ready to take another one in.
We asked if after 3 months of welcoming this new life into their family if they had any plans of adoption. Their answer: they've been praying about it, and would love to, but the people they've consulted who have experience in adoptions have told them that without proper identification (which most Burmese refugees do not have) a legal adoption is basically impossible.
I don't understand how a government can allow babies to be sold into slavery, sold into sex trades, and human trafficking, but not allow loving and capable people to care and save children from what seems like the inevitable.
My heart breaks for these nations, these families, these injustices, the systems that keep people enslaved... And the list goes on, and on, and on.
Please pray for governmental identification to be given, somehow, to Burmese and Karen refugees...
Pray that the Sustars will find a way to adopt Dune legally.
Pray against child slavery, human trafficking, and the sex trade that welcome too many every day.
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