A story within the Story
Stories connect. Stories connect because it brings to LIFE purpose, meaning, and inspiration. This is one of the real-life stories we encountered today in Maesot; a city of 150,000 people on the Thai/Burma border:
We've arrived in Mae Sot, Thailand. Our group has travelled well and we're finally here! We just had a great supper with Dave and Lorelie Hanson and their family. They hosted all 30 of us in their home for a home made dinner of yellow curry with chicken and a chicken vegetable dish as well. All served with delicious rice of course! As we sat in their living room after supper, they shared stories with us about their work in Mae Sot. We worshipped together in song and prayer and we've just come back to the guesthouse and completed our preparation for our first Sunday of ministry. Because of the large group, we're doing everything in two groups. Tomorrow we'll be leading church services in two locations. Specifically, we'll be at two Burmese children and youth boarding houses.
Probably the most personal event that took place tonight centred around a two-month old baby named Min Min. His mother came to the Mae Tao clinic in Mae Sot and laid her newly born son on a table and left him there. She never came back. Min Min became an abandoned baby. He is Burmese, has no birth certificate and no family. Thankfully, a Christian organization named Compassio took him in. They persuaded the clinic to at least give him an identification paper with a proposed date of birth and a name. He is approximately two months old now. Without the help of Compassio, he would be utterly alone and vulnerable and maybe even dead somewhere. A few days ago, the team looking after him wanted to go away on a short trip and asked if the Hansons could look after him while they were away. They said they would do it. Tonight, a number of us held little Min Min and watched Lorelie feed him a bottle of milk. What an amazing little baby. With the love he is receiving from so many different people, he will grow up to be a strong, healthy little guy!
The sad truth is that in this region there are a lot of babies and children like Min Min. Through a variety of reasons, they are growing up without parents. Dave and Lorelie are doing everything they can to bring safety, health, and spiritual life to these children. Please pray for the Hansons and continue to support them financially. We learned last week that they have made a decision to stay in Thailand for a second year! - Derek Koch
With all the stories we will encounter and intersect with each other, my prayer is that we connect our stories to the STORY; God intersecting with us in love... whether it is through life camps, raising funds for a water filtration system for a migrant school for Burmese children, Sunday ministries, and/or slum carnivals.... or just making the most of the opportunities given to us just like Dave and Lorelie had with Min Min.