I've been back from Thailand for a while now, & although I posted pictures, I haven’t written about my trip.  I would love to tell the story behind each picture, but I’ll spare you.  I was in Chiang Rai from July 23-August 6.  The orphanage at which I stayed, Baan Immanuel, is amazing.  It's all about loving each other & Jesus. Through God, the missionary/founder, Ron Miller, has created a wonderful environment for the children.  Without Baan Immanuel many of the children would be victims of human trafficking.  The decision to go to Thailand wasn’t easy, especially since I traveled alone.  I prayed, cried, fasted, and even had visions.  My mission was to teach English, but honestly, I didn’t know why I was going.  I just know that when God tells you to go, you GO!  Also, I learned that on a mission trip, you get back so much more than you give.  I thought I’d come back with awful stories about human trafficking; however, staying at Baan Immanuel I saw the happy ending that many children in The Golden Triangle won’t get.

I did get a glimpse of some children who aren’t victims of human trafficking…yet.  One Sunday we worshiped at a Christian Hmong Church.  Only a handful of the children came with their parents.  Most of the children came on their own, & I learned that sometimes the parents of those children take them away from the church.  I remember one little girl in particular.  She sat on my lap in a way I’ve never experienced.  She couldn’t get close enough to me.  She hugged me, she laid on me, she put her hands on my cheeks & stared at me.  She wanted love.  All of the children there wanted love.

My story is this--I saw the dark side of Thailand, but not in the form of human trafficking.  It was in the form of demonic worship.  Most of the people in Northern Thailand are Buddhists & practice Animism.  The most disturbing part of my trip took place as we were driving through a hill tribe area.  Two men were building something on the side of the road.  The missionary told me those men were building a sacrifice to appease the spirits. By the time we were heading down the mountain, the sacrifice was built & the men were gone. This is the best way I can describe it--it was like a little shack with colored ribbons hanging from it.  In the middle on a pedestal was a bowl of rice with a pig's foot in it.  In Thailand, Spirit Houses are everywhere, but this was different.  It made me cry.  Before I went to Thailand, I believed that there is evil on Earth, but I didn’t think much about the supernatural.  For example, being from Louisiana, I’m familiar with Voodoo.  I thought of it as nothing more than a silly tourist trap in the French Quarter.  I had to see it for myself to believe, & God opened my eyes in Thailand.  It’s hard to imagine such awful practices taking place in such a beautiful country.

So, what can we do with this information?  The obvious—pray.  The people at Baan Immanuel are true prayer warriors, & they taught me a lot about praying.  I can make a long list of other ways to help, but I encourage you to do one thing—Ask yourself, “What would Jesus do?”.  To get the answer, dive into the Scriptures.  Many of the children at Baan Immanuel know the Bible better than I do.  Social injustice is everywhere, even in America, where we are rich in so many ways.  Wherever we are, be it Thailand or our own home towns, there is work to be done.

Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few...”

Matthew 9:37

(The tiny girl in the pink shirt & black skirt is the one I'm referring to in this post.)