Return to Myanmar (17/7/09)
The past few weeks have been full of memories, highs, lows, laughter and tears. My mind is almost overloaded with experiences, blessings, thoughts…
Arriving back in Myanmar after a week in Thailand took some adjusting again. I’d spent 7 days with a Christian mission team, which was unplanned, but such a God thing. He knew I needed spiritual connection to refuel, and provided exactly what I needed at the right time.
I had to go to Thailand to renew my visa, and to do banking for ADRA (a story in itself!). In that it was a long weekend in Myanmar, I decided to take the weekend to go up to Mae Sot to visit ‘my kids’ at Future Light, where I’d volunteered for over 6 week. But Thailand’s Tuesday public holiday meant extending my trip an extra few days because I had to do the banking (ie, withdraw $125K and carry it in cash back to the office!! Counting that much money left me with black fingers and sick of counting to 100!).
Not by coincidence, my friend Judah, who was our JEM mission trip connection in Mae Sot (back in January), had to go to Bangkok at the same time I arrived, to pick up a mission team arriving from America. So we connected in Bangkok, and I joined the team. It was such a blessing to be with other strong Christians, to share openly, to debrief, to worship together, encourage each other, and to pray with and for each other. And then taking the team to the Future Light kid’s shelter in Mae Sot, and being able to lead the children in praise and worship with the team, to experience fellowship, praise and worship (and boy can those kids worship!)… oh, it was such a blessing! (And it was also really cool to see their new baby – a 3 month old boy who is dark dark dark! They named him Ah Dam, because he came to them on a Friday, and God created Adam on Friday! They joked that they are waiting for Ye’Va (ie, Eve!) He’s such a gorgeous baby!)
So though I was filled spiritually, encouraged and blessed, it still took a mental adjustment to return: the contrasts between Bangkok and Yangon, between Thailand and Myanmar, plus coming down from a high, and recovering from lack of sleep… But even then, God had blessings prepared, people to connect with, to encourage and uplift. A Friday afternoon swim connected me with a New Zealand missionary couple (which reminded me how small the world is: Stephen, who is a colleague, knows them because his dad brought George, the husband, to know God!). It was a mutual blessing to spend the evening together with Jean and her daughter Felicity. I discovered through them that there is an English church service in Yangon, and also that there was a huge Christian convention running later the next week.
So once again, I have been filled, blessed, uplifted and encouraged, this time through attending ‘History Makers’ convention. I am currently reading ‘A Purpose Driven Life’, and the concept that we are created to praise God so totally resonated with my soul as I was praising and worshiping God with well over 1000 other Christians in the concert hall of the Strand Hotel. The awesome, powerful sound in such a majestic setting took me before the throne of heaven, imagining worshiping God in heaven. I can only imagine. But this is a only glimpse of it! I can’t wait! Dancing, singing, hands held high. I had tears in my eyes singing ‘Hallelujah’, a Burmese worship song I learnt at Future Light that melts my heart every time I hear it. I couldn’t stop from dancing and jumping to ‘One Way’. And tonight, to culminate a 4 hr worship service, glow sticks were thrown to the audience, and the lights turned off. What fun, worshiping God! Last year I struggled with mild depression. But I believe God has set me free, and no one can take away my joy!
Not that it’s all easy. Seeing the struggles of the Burmese can be heart-wrenching. Today I walked back to the office, down the narrow alley, past the rubbish dump that you can smell as much as you can see. And I saw a lady with a plastic bag in her hand, scrounging through the piles of rubbish. Looking for food? Beside her was a dead dog, covered in flies. That brought me to tears. And every day there is the juxtaposition between the rich and the poor, the struggle for life so many face daily.
Yet there’s laughter and shaking my head in amazement and sometimes disbelief at things that surround me. Like riding in a trishaw in the middle of the night, in the middle of the road, cars driving either direction beside me. Like the constant dance of traffic, weaving in and out, negotiating intersectionsthat seem to have no rules about who goes when. Like the bus full of youth returning home after the ‘History makers’ meeting. Nothing so strange about that, except at how ancient the bus was, and how packed it was - and I mean FULL, crowded, sardined. And they’d probably have to travel over ½ hr like that. Of course, it’s always better when there’s someone to share the laughs with! Last night Felicity and I caught a taxi after the meeting to grab dinner (Indian for under $1 each!). We had such a good giggle about all sorts of things: having to use an umbrella in the taxi to stay dry; rusted holes in the bottom of the cars so you can see the road blur past below, (the taxi we were in being a prime example, all the more reason for laughter!); drivers leaning out the window to manually ‘windscreen-wipe’ the glass!
Oh, and the drama tonight! There was a girl who was wooed by a ‘smooth’ guy, who gave her a rose. Then he pulled out an umbrella, and everyone laughed!!! It took me a few seconds to realize the symbolism of the umbrella for Burmese couples (take one guess), then I joined in the cheering and clapping!
It was such a poignant drama, though! A girl walks on the stage carrying a white heart. She sees a guy playing guitar, and wants to join in. She gives him her heart, and he lets her try to play. But her style is totally different to his. He tries to teach her his style, patiently at first, and then with frustration. Finally, he grabs her heart, screws it up and throws it away. She picks it up and tries to smooth it out. Then she sees a girl dancing, and her heart wants to join in. Initially the dancer does not want to let her, but finally she tries to teach the girl her moves. Once again, the girl has a totally different style. And the dancer also screws up the girl’s heart when she doesn’t conform. So when the smooth guy comes along, and tries to woo the girl, she is not easily convinced to start with. But the rose and the umbrella leave her starry eyed…. until his eyes are caught by another. And so this time her heart is thoroughly broken, torn up, ripped apart, thrown on the ground by her ‘lover’. Devastated, the girl tries to gather up the broken pieces of her heart. And that’s when Jesus comes along. He takes her broken heart, and gives her a new one. It’s such a beautiful illustration!
And so God will do for each one of us. I pray He will daily renew your hearts and encourage you, and provide all you need, in the highs and lows, through laughter and tears, sorrow and joy. And remember, no one can take away your joy!
Much love and blessings,
Chelle
