“We are a displaced people. An oppressed people. We are displaced, and this is our story.”
An old man, walking with a bit of a bend in his back, dressed in colorful hand woven garments is led into the small shack in the jungle covered mountains that form the border between Thailand and Burma. He is led by his people and his church members, someone on each arm to guide him to a place on the floor. His face is kindly, wrinkled, and weathered by years spent in the elements. I am reminded immediately of a shepherd surrounded by his flock, and though we don’t all jump up, I don’t think there is a person in the room that does not feel they should be on their feet until this man sits. Such is the respect his mere presence renders. Firmly grasped in his small but strong hands is a bible that looks almost as weathered as it’s steward, from which he later preaches a message to my team and I. Through his translator, William, he first reads Deuteronomy 31:8 “The Lord Himself goes before you and will be with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.” Closing his bible, he begins his message, “We are a displaced people…”
Those first words grabbed my heart and squeezed hard. In that moment I could have dedicated the rest of my life to living and ministering with these people. Still could. I often wonder at the backwards ways that God delivers His message to His people. The son of the creator of all there is or ever was is born not in a royal palace but in a filthy home for animals with a food trough as his bed. As He reveals Himself to be the messiah His message is not one of how He will overthrow those that oppress the Jewish people, but a call to love those enemies, treating them as you would yourself. Instead of a life of ruler-ship He was rightly entitled to, He lived a life of poverty and service. And then He laid down His life that His children would be truly freed from the bondage of sin. So here we are, ready to pour into a people that have been forced from their homes into a foreign nation, a people who have so little by worldly standards, and we’re given a message of God’s provision and guidance. It is a message these people have lived since being forced from their homes. A message of God’s ever loving ways, of His undying wisdom and faithfulness to His people, especially through trial. A message of a shepherd.
“I am displaced, but I am not misplaced. I thank God that in the kingdom of my gracious Lord we are never misplaced.” William said this to me as he got into the back of the pickup weighed down by over 20 men women and children of Karen and Korean origin to be returned to their homes in the surrounding area. He didn’t even try to swing, let alone hit the nail on the head, but there he was hanging off the back end of a pickup, since after helping everyone else get in there was absolutely no more room inside for him. He was completely displaced by the number of people in the truck – but exactly where he needed to be to help his people. Please be in prayer for the Karen people, and for William’s ministry there – he’s in need of blankets and food for the children he looks after, and we’re working on a way to meet that need.
PS Sorry for the lack of pictures, our connection is slow here and I can’t upload, so I’ll have to re-post with pictures when I get to Bangkok.
