As always the month flew by again! We are currently in Chiang Mai for a debrief. The month ended well working on construction and playing with the children. We finished pouring all the concrete for the rain gutter, and the welders got the rafter’s up. One day we got to construct the brick walls for a sewer system. This was awesome to do because we actually were able to construct something! Over the course of three nights we said goodbye to all the children of the homes as we visited them one last time for dinner. As always it was sad to say goodbye after forming relationships with the children.
For debrief we are staying in a hostel. As I soon found out the first night, we are in the Red Light District of Chiang Mai. Many of the girls teams have been working in these areas of other towns, but this is my first experience. During the day you have nice restaurants, bars, and massage therapy services. At night things change. Everywhere you look you see white men at bars with Thai women hanging off their shoulders. You see bars with lines of chairs with women sitting; waiting to be picked up. Whether these young women choose to be there or are forced to be there, it’s hard to say. One thing is for sure, prostitution is not kept secret on these streets.
Back in the states the END IT MOVEMENT national awareness day was just a couple days ago. Shining the light on modern day slavery. This is real! It is happening in Thailand and it is happening where you live. There have been cases of trafficking right along I-80. So once again I have potentially seen trafficking in process, right outside on the street we walk down each day of this debrief. But like we have seen in Nepal, victims have been rescued and restoration is taking place for many. Even though there are 27 million modern day slaves, individual lives are being rescued and restored! It’s hard to see so much evil, but seeing the smiles of every child that was rescued before harm came to them is a glimpse of hope for the future.
During debrief I was given the keys to freedom. I rented a scooter! It was so freeing to travel around the city and on adventures to Tiger Kingdom with friends, having complete control of where we went! We take our freedom so often for granted. We don’t know how much we love it until its gone. But when we get a glimpse of it back we have hope and strength to face another day. The children we served this month have freedom and hope for a future. They might not know it yet, but one day they will know what God has saved them from by giving them this place to live and grow.
This debrief we are talking about re-entry to the States which will take place in only 3 short months! This year is flying by! So please keep us all in your prayers so we can stay focused on what God wants us to learn in the next 3 months and all of our future plans for after the race. None of us will return the same as when we left and all have big decisions when getting back with the direction God is showing us.
