Turmoil strands native of Springs
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A Colorado Springs native was stuck in Bangkok, Thailand, on Friday
while anti-government demonstrators held control of the city’s major
airports.
Alison Page, 23, is in Thailand as part of an 11-month mission trip
with a Christian ministry called The World Race. Her mother, Tammy
Page, said Friday her daughter is in no danger. Alison Page was
scheduled to leave Bangkok on Wednesday and arrive Thursday in
Johannesburg, South Africa, her mother said.
The protests shut down air traffic in the city and left thousands of travelers stranded.
Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat said Friday “security forces will
use peaceful means” to end the crisis, the Associated Press reported.
The U.S. State Department on Wednesday advised U.S. citizens to stay
away from the airports and on Friday issued a statement urging peaceful
resolution.
“I was just glad she wasn’t at the airport, because who knows where that could go,” Tammy Page said of her daughter.
Alison Page posted an update to her online blog on Wednesday
assuring readers she and the four other members of her team, 5-Alive,
were OK.
“We are actually located very far from the protest and would be
completely unaffected by the chaos if it were not for our scheduled
flight to South Africa,” she wrote.
Alison Page graduated from Rampart High School in 2003 and from
Western State College last year, her mother said. She later moved to
Crested Butte.
She left on the mission trip June 28 and will return at the end of
May. The trip involves visiting 11 countries. While in Thailand, Alison
Page has been working with a ministry called the Tamar Center, which
offers job training and Bible instruction to prostitutes, according to
its Web page.
On a short stopover in Thailand in September, her blog writing
showed she was deeply affected after speaking with two prostitutes.
“What does (a) white girl from America know about their pain and
loss? What do I know about their lives? I can’t relate to them in any
way at all. God is faithful and created each person in that awful
disturbing place to be loved, just as he created me to be loved. He
created them for greatness too. The reality is, most of them may never
make it out of that place. God is sovereign; I have to trust that. We
all do.”
Contact the writer: 636-0187 or [email protected]