Burma, The Brick Making Village & The Red Light District

During this visit, we were able to cross the border into Burma to visit one of the Life Impact Orphanages, the House of Hope.

Pictured below are two precious kids, brother and sister, who were recently rescued. Lana was showing some visitors "no-mans land" on the Thai / Burma border when she saw a man just about to hit that sweet girl with a metal pipe. Thank God for divine appointments, because Lana yelled out and was able to stop him. She was at the right place, at the right time. After some investigation, she found out their mom was cracked out and it was only a matter of time before these kids got sold to the wrong people. Lana and her Burmese team were able to intervene and Life Impact was able to take these sweet children into custody. Now, they are part of the Life Impact family and so happy. They both just had me hold them and I just prayed over them as I rocked them. 

Below is our team playing Sharks & Minnows with the kids. Complete chaos as you can see. haha!

A couple of the girls put thanaka on our faces. It's a type of makeup / sunscreen / cooling agent that Burmese use on their faces. It's made from a bark. These little girls had a blast putting it on our faces, and they literally slathered it on us.

We were also able to spend time at a brick making village to share the gospel, pass out food and tour the "factory". These people are some of the poorest of the poor out here and are practically slaves. Life Impact has been able to reach the other areas that they've been ministering to for the past few years, so it's time for them to find new villages to minister to. These people have never heard the gospel before and when we went, it was only the second time Life Impact had been there. 

They were so happy and grateful to have us. We came during their lunch break, and most of them came to listen and be blessed. There were so many children who work as brick makers and don't get to go to school so that they can help their families make some extra money. Some of these workers were as young as 5 or 6. It was nice to get to spend time with them. They were so excited to have us there. Life Impact will continue to do outreaches with them on a weekly basis and eventually have a church come in and help too, so that they can establish roots and a strong support system for this village. They will also be able to help educate the children so they can have a brighter future.

Here's the team passing out the food bags to the people.

 

This is a sweet girl that stole my heart. I won her over, because I gave her a lollipop, and  she quickly became my best friend.

Here's some of the children who work at the factory. 

Me and Stacey, one of my friends who traveled there with me. She's also the accountant for Life Impact and an amazing woman. 

It's important that we pray for these people, because they are a huge target for human traffickers, since they are poor and uneducated. That's why Life Impact puts so much effort into their prevention projects like this one.

The night before we left, Lana took us on a tour of the Red Light District in Bangkok. That's where women (and we saw kids too) are prostituted out and are often found in these "clubs" dancing. I felt sick to my stomach the whole time and had to hold back tears. I was scared at first, because you just feel an evil spirit when you are there. But I was quickly reminded of Psalm 23:4

"Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me."

Those girls just looked so dead when you looked at their eyes. Most of them were "pole dancing" but barely moving. You could tell they just gave up. Lana shared with us the process they go through that brings them to the point of breaking, so fearful. Being raped, tortured, beat, drugged and verbally abused, they become too afraid of the pimps to run away. Some girls came on their own will, don't ask me why. But we also saw many young girls who were obviously trafficked. And that's what some of these kids I've met have been saved from - having this terrible fate. I will never forget the look in these girls' eyes.

I know a lot of things I'm sharing in my blog are sad and might seem helpless. But, I want you to instead be encouraged that if we all do a little bit to help others, this world really will be a better place. If you can't go, then give or find out how you can help locally. Life Impact has a mantra, "Change a life, change the world." I love it, because it can often seem overwhelming, all of the people who need help. But, if you focus on using the gifts God has given YOU to help others, you can make a difference.

God bless you,
Amber

Working Hard in Thailand!

A couple of my days here in Thailand required much more physical work. A team of ten people arrived from Illinois on Sunday night, so Ashley and I joined forces with them to tackle a project on the property. There are 7 family style homes built so far and each one has a cement water tank. They all needed to be sanded, primed and painted. So, we got to work! Below is a picture of some of the team I got to work with. They were so much fun, I'm so glad I got to spend time with all of them. 

At night time, we enjoyed praise and worship together with the kids ages seven and up. Then they split into pre teens and teens for groups. The praise and worship is so incredible! A few of the teenagers and a couple Life Impact staff lead it. They pour out their hearts to God and it is so refreshing! When you are on their main property, called The Promised Land, there is such a peace and joy. Seeing what these children have been rescued from and then seeing them here happy, healthy, and praising God; I think it would be difficult even for an atheist to hold back praises to The Lord and Jesus. I am so thankful for the time I get to soak it all in. 

Another day, we went to visit a small village called Gate Two. It's a Burmese slum right on the Thailand/Bhurma border. Life Impact has a program called Supported Projects where they give food and supplies to families or individuals who can't support themselves. A lot of them are single moms who would otherwise be a huge risk for selling their kids if it weren't for the help. There was a large group of women who came to hear about the gospel and most received Jesus in their hearts. While part of our team was sharing with the women, the others were playing games with the kids and one of our interpreters shared a Bible story with them. 

Ashley and me in the village. 

There were a couple more small villages we got to visit to pass out food and minister to the people. It was such a humbling and awesome experience. We broke up into teams and would get to go into an individual's house. If they didn't know Jesus, we would tell them about him, while an interpreter translated. Then we would pray for them. There was one woman in a village that some of our team members were able to pray for. She was blind, but after they had finished praying for her, her sight was being restored. She said she couldn't see their faces when they approached her, but after they prayed for her, she could see their faces. People, God is still in the miracle business. We just need to step out in faith. I am so thankful for the time I got to spend with these people. 

Somewhere in the mix of these days, we got to go to a beautiful waterfall and have a picnic. 

After the water fall, we headed to the dump to pass out some tangerines and minister to people. The Life Impact team has been ministering to and helping the families at the dump for quite a while. So many of them know Jesus. But we were still able to pray for them and share Bible stories with them. 

I don't want to go into a bunch of details about how gross it is at the dump, because that's obvious. Our team was able to get past the smells and focus on what was most important. It definitely puts into perspective how much we are blessed with. Also, something I found really interesting - when I asked people what we could pray for them, not one of them said, "Please pray for me to get out of the dump and get a big house." Instead they asked for prayer for unsaved family members or maybe a health condition. 

Here are a couple of beautiful girls who I got to share with just how special they are to God and that they can pray to Him any time they need help. They are just a couple of the many children who have to dig through trash all day for recyclables instead of being able to go to school. They'll make about 3 cents a day. 

Here's another woman who lives at the dump. 

Below is a picture of Randall. He was with the team from Illinois. He walked down a steep area where some kids were by their houses to give them some food. This man didn't stop at heaps of trash or swarms of flies to reach out. He is a true man of God. It was such a pleasure to serve with this team from Illinois. 

Here's one more of a typical house that they live in. 

Here is the "lake" that they bathe in. It's filled with black snakes. 

I'm not showing you these photos to make you feel sad. I hope that instead it makes you feel empowered to do something to help others. We live such a selfish life in our comfort. You can make a difference by using the gifts that God gave you. Maybe that doesn't mean going to another country. Maybe you're supposed to help children learn to read or visit people in a retirement home. I don't know. But if you don't know, then I encourage you to spend time asking God and seeking out your purpose. You won't regret it. Also, know that this life is temporary. And while these people live in a slum now, most of them have accepted Jesus in their hearts and will spend eternity in the presence of God. 

God bless you all and thank you for your prayers. 

Amber