The Global Disaster Response Team

GRI's southeast Asia Global Disaster Response Team is officially up and running in Bangkok, Thailand. We opened our office last week, and a team of five is now living in Bangkok. This team will manage GRI's disaster response for the Asia-Pacific region, which includes the Pacific Ring of Fire. Ninety percent of the world's earthquakes, and 80% of the world's worst earthquakes, occur within the "ring of fire."

The team was in place shortly after Cyclone Nargis in Burma. This is a disaster of literally epic proportions, made exponentially worse by the Burmese junta's refusal to allow relief organizations to deliver life-saving aid. Would you join us in praying that the junta would stop this madness - that they would allow those who simply want to help to come in and do just that? Would you pray for wisdom for all the aid organizations as they navigate these very sensitive waters? And would you remember the suffering people of Burma in your prayers - some of them pictured above - as they wait and search for hope?

The team (Jaden, Bethany, Steve, Dawn and Kerri)

Don't Forget!

The excitement of the past month in Burma may seem to be dying down - but now is not the time to forget Burma! The people living there are fighting for their lives - literally. The protests did not end - they were silenced with guns. The monks have not gone back to meditating in monasteries - they are in prison. The eyes of the world have been on Burma these last few weeks - something that probably should have happened decades ago. There were protests around the world this weekend, Stallone has a new Rambo movie out - focused on Burma, and the UN met in an emergency session focused solely on Burma.

God has indeed not forgotten the people of this land. He does want to heal their land, but He also wants them to turn away from their idols and towards Him. Would you join us in serving the people of this country? Would you pray that they would turn from their worthless idols to the living God who can heal their land (2 Chron. 7:14)? Would you pray for God to remove the ruling military junta and put in the true elected leader of that country, Aung San Suu Kyi? And would you follow the news and latest developments there? It is so easy to forget about something that is so far away, but please don't let that happen. And finally, would you write a letter to your Congressman, Senator, and/or editor of your local paper asking them to keep Burma on our foreign policy agenda and in the public eye? To stay informed go to GRI's website: www.globalrefuge.org; and the BBC's website: www.bbc.com.

Thank you for taking this journey with us these last four weeks - we have a ways to go yet...

Kerri

Abandon the middle, not hope

So the girls to the right are proof that we should abandon the middle in our walks with the Lord, but we should never abandon hope that He IS moving among the lost and hurting. This picture shows two girls rescued from the bars of Chiang Mai who now work as jewelry makers. They are paid a salary, and they are learning what it means to be a forgiven child of God. The girls in these bars need desperately to know that there is hope for their futures - that there is a God in heaven who loves them and wants what's best for them. And that is where we come in. God has revealed the hope we have in Him to us, and we cannot keep that amazing Truth to ourselves.

This is what we mean by abandoning the middle. Not walking in that safe, middle ground we want to pretend is faith. Faith is stepping away from the worldly logic of safety and stepping into God's will for our lives. Do we really trust Him with our lives, our finances, our children? I know so often I don't (okay, so not so much with the children part), but I want to and need to. I know that God brings hope to the hurting through His Church - and often times that means we have to go overseas and deliver that hope in person. Selfishly, I really want to be that person who gets to bring the hope! These girls in the picture were blessed because someone gave up her career to go and share the hope of Jesus Christ with them.

With all that is going on in Burma right now, I have to ask myself - is there hope for those suffering in that awful place? But that is a topic for my next entry. Thanks for reading and praying for the people of Burma and northern Thailand with me.

Kerri

No. 8

That is all I know her by - the number 8 pinned to her bikini top. She is a pole dancer in a bar in Bangkok, and her face is indelibly burned in my mind. (fyi - this is not her in the picture to the right!) Two nights ago, my last night in Thailand, I went with an amazing ministry on one of their outreaches to prostitutes in Bangkok bars. The first bar my group went to had pole dancers in tiny little suits. Some were so young - they say they are 16, but I suspect a few are even younger. We talked to a few of them, and most told us they would like to have a different job. One 16 year-old and I compared our nose pins, and she told us how she made money for her sick father in a village. And then there is No. 8. She just stood there on the stage, barely even dancing, and holding her stomach as if in a lot of pain. We never got to talk to her, but I will be praying for her and her sad face. And though I don't know her name, God does. He knows the name of every girl in every bar in Thailand, and I know He sees their sad faces.

So now that I am home, what do I do with all that I saw and learned? I spent time today just debriefing all that happened, and I was convicted of two things: first, the needs in northern Thailand are great and the people need to a) know God, and b) find safe work; the second thing I learned is that if we keep asking questions and keep serving the Shan and people of Burma living in northern Thailand, God will make our paths straight. How do I know this? Well, He tells us He will in His Word, and I saw Him work out so many details for this trip, and I had so many Providential meetings, that I know He is in complete control (see the picture above - this is Yod, and she is a young Shan girl who works at our guesthouse - I learned a lot from her!). He IS directing our steps and our work in this region. Our role is to keep looking for those open doors and not be discouraged by the closed ones. And for me personally, I also can't forget the faces that cried out for a loving God to rescue them. I pray that we at GRI can be His hands and feet in this task.

But to end on a hopeful note - I also met many young women who have been saved out of an ugly lifestyle by God's people living in Thailand. I will write more on them in a day or so. Truly, nothing is impossible when we submit our plans to God!

Kerri

Burmese Days or Animal Farm?

I do not even know where to begin tonight. Just yesterday I was sitting in a house in Burma talking to three young prostitutes, ages 16, 17, and 24. Their parents told them to go find work in the city, and they are completely alone. This is completely unfathomable to my American mind - a 16-year-old girl leaving home to go find work in a big city, where she has no friends, no family, and no job skills or education. I won't give their names, or put their faces up, but do pray for these young girls.

There are four young Burmese girls who are living in this same city and are reaching out to the prostitutes in the bars. These young women of God are completely on fire and love Jesus so much. They have befriended the three girls I mentioned above, and they invited the girls over when we came. We prayed with them and sang Burmese and English worship songs with them. How exactly did a yuppie lawyer from Haymarket, Va. end up sitting in a room and singing and praying with three young prostitutes in one of the most awful countries in the world? Wow, I (we) serve an amazing God - what a privilege to spend time with His lost and hurting sheep. But I have to admit, I left Burma last night with a heavy, heavy heart. I just kept staring at those girls and thinking about what horrible things they have to endure day in and day out. I think of the children in my family who are doing what "normal" teenagers are doing - learning Algebra and Spanish, watching too much TV and playing league soccer. Our version of normal is completely foreign to them

Thank you so much for your prayers for the details of this trip. God certainly ordained several completely Providential meetings these last two weeks, and He has forever changed my heart for the people of this region. I want to tell you so much more about the four young workers, but I also should let Kelly B back on her computer sometime tonight! But please let me encourage you to pray for these girls - both the workers and those trapped in the sex trade in Burma. And please keep praying for Burma - not too surprisingly the killing has started there again - pray for God's protection...most, if not all, of the dead probably did not know the Lord.

kerri

Current Events!!!

I don't know what the news is showing, but there are massive protests going on in Burma this week and last. The bbc website is covering it really well, so go to bbc.com when you get a chance and read the articles. Our group will travel there this week, so pray for the border to stay open. There have not been any protests in the area we will visit, but this government does not always make sense with its actions.

Thanks for praying!
Kerri

The people you meet along the way...

I (Kerri) have met so many amazing people who love Jesus and love people so much this week. I arrived in Bangkok last Monday and while there I stayed at the volunteer house of a ministry which rescues girls from Bangkok bars. Once a girl comes to them, they are taught from the Bible, and they are also taught how to make jewelry. The ministry sells jewelry made by these women. They start their day off with an hour of prayer and worship, then they head to the office to work. I met many of these girls, and they have so much joy. Some are doing accounting, and, to me, it seems they have self-esteem...something I suspect they haven't had before. I also spoke with the woman who founded the ministry (along with her husband). She said that anyone serving in Thailand must have a great appreciation for the spiritual battle taking place for these girls. Would you join the battle and intercede for these women?

I also met a Harvard lawyer turned ministry founder up in Chiang Mai (where I am now). She left a career in private practice to found a ministry (with her preacher husband) to exploited women in northern Thailand. They also employ vocational training for the girls coming out of that life. And now they are moving to that country to the northwest - opening a home and vocational training center for women in Burma who are coming out of the sex trade.

And then there is the young man from that same country across the border whom I met yesterday - Dakhota. He lost his father, lived in a rebel military camp, became a Buddhist monk (for only a month praise God), went to live in a Christian orphanage, came to know the Lord, and now works with a ministry rescuing exploited children in Thailand. He has such a heart to serve the hopeless - to show them that there is hope! I will put Dakhota's testimony in a newsletter, but I can say this - God calls people from all situations in life - even from a war torn country where just surviving is gift from God. This young man wants to spend this new life God gave him preaching His word and loving people.

Yes, I can truly say I have met some amazing people along my journey here. People who understand that our time on this earth is short, and we must use all of it to love our God and our neighbor - even neighbors across an ocean. I will write more in a day or so...I want you to hear about what God is doing here - it's amazing!

kerri