Our Thailand visas are only good for 30 days and we will be in Thailand for about 33 days. We arranged to cross the Thai border into Myanmar (Burma) in order to get our passports stamped and to get another 30 day visa. Apparently people have been fleeing Burma, because of the corruption and crime that is occurring there. The Karin people group and Christians have been targeted. They come to Thailand hoping for better living situations and end up in a refugee camp or hiding with relatives in the mountains. This morning we prayed for a man that has cancer. He is from Burma and does not have identification papers, so he is not able to get any medical care.
At the Burmese border we handed over our passports and were allowed in the country until 5 pm. As we walked down the main street it just felt different than Thailand; less advanced. Many men stopped us and asked if we wanted a ride; they were pedaling bikes with seats for two on the front. We turned them down and looked for a place to eat lunch. We stopped at a random stand along the side of the road where a half dozen people jumped to their feet to serve us. They seemed very excited serve lunch to our group of ten. The men trying to give us rides on the bikes followed us and sat down in the restaurant to watch us eat. A man appeared and started talking to us in English. Ray asked him about life in Burma; he had nothing but good things to say. Since then we have been told that he could have been a spy for Burma.
After lunch we took the men up on their offers for a ride to the market. Two of us climbed onto each of the bikes and the pedaled us about 2 km to the market. It felt strange to be riding on the right hand side of the road for the first time in about four months. Many people did a double take as they saw us riding down the road. I felt like I was on a parade as I waved and smiled. At the market we walked around, but did not see anything too exciting. As we walked we prayed for the people of Burma.
A ride back took us to the border where we crossed the bridge to Thailand. A monk stopped Ryan and started talking to him about how rough life is in Burma. He was explaining the difficulties when he said, “Here comes Burma intelligence, I must go or I could get arrested.” Ray said he saw men taking pictures of them and the monk. Everything seemed to be okay in Burma as we walked the streets today. It is hard to believe that things are as rough as we have been told, but I did not expect to see anything that would suggest otherwise.
It was a long day and the sun was hot so we were exhausted when we arrived back in the village. I was in the house for about 30 seconds when I turned around to see a crowd of kids and adults smiling back at me. I wanted to just go to sleep, but they were eager to visit. We looked through pictures, sang some songs, took pictures, and played cards together. I enjoyed the time with the kids and the teenagers, but I am looking forward to sleeping too.
