Where do I even begin about Thabarwa? This place is so dark and heavy! Spiritually, everything there is skewed. It’s a Buddhist monastery that we stayed at for free. Meals were provided, as well as housing. Everything sounded good on paper, but the spiritual aspects hurt. I met people from all over the world. They were flocking to Thabarwa in search of salvation and rest.
The first night there I was pissed! My initial thought was that these people are doing what we as believers are called to do, only they’re doing it with the wrong heart and they’re believing and practicing buddhism. However, we, as a team came together and decided to stick it out ,because we knew that God had called us here for a reason. My heart broke every day while we were there.
I signed up to cook dinner and go shopping for vegetables the first night, and I felt like I wasn’t supposed to do anything after that day. I spent 5 days in prayer and in the word. I felt like I was called to be the stone wall for our team and keep us covered by the Word and in prayer. So, that’s exactly what I did. I slept through breakfast every day! Mainly because it was at 6:30am and because I would be awake most of the night praying.
They have a variety of different activities which include patient washing, patient care, diaper party, meditation, Vietnamese project, clinic taxi, and so many more. Every Saturday night/EARLY Sunday morning, they would go to this weekly farmers market and get food donations for the upcoming week. We left around 2am and didn’t return until 8:30am. Seeing the generosity of these locals and their willingness to give from their livelihood made my heart happy, but at the same time it put a foul taste in me as well.
I was born in America, one of the wealthiest countries in the world, and many can’t be bothered to help our fellow man, because it cuts into our own livelihoods. Here, we are in the poorest country in southeast Asia and I witnessed people donating crates and baskets of various vegetables and fruits. Some even went as far to donate flowers and money. In Myanmar, the locals don’t let being generous stop them from lending a helping hand to those less fortunate. We, as a nation, need to take a long hard look at what our country was originally based on and strive to get back to those roots. Being on the World Race for nine months now, has opened my eyes and heart to truly see firsthand at the different cultures and how they care for their own, which has given me time to reflect on how America takes care of their own citizens.
