Last night, my son, Richard and my daughter-in-law, Mandy, left with a group of friends from our church to go on a missions trip to Thailand.
There were three very sad little girls saying good-bye to their mummy and daddy, although I think the main reason they were sad was because their mummy was sad to be leaving them.
Those three little girls, Ella, Violet and Molly, my grand-daughters, are so well loved by so many people. They have grandparents, great-grandparents, aunties, uncles, cousins, great-aunties and a host of people who are their church family who love them. They have regular hugs, cuddles and kisses. They are taken out to all the fun places where children love to go. They get presents, toys, sweets, chocolate, outings, sleepovers, all with heaps of love. And they are appreciative, they have lovely manners and I am not biased at all.
But Richard and Mandy have gone to Thailand to try to bring joy to some other children. Children who have no parents, no people who love them and cuddle them. Children who have no nice clothes, no toys and most of all, not enough to eat.
Our missions team will be visiting a Church that we support in Thailand, and also assisting the attached school with an English camp.
They also will be travelling to Mai Sot, where there are thousands of refugees from Burma/Myanmar. Who knows, maybe somehow they will get across the border into Burma?
There they will spread the love of God, show His love to people who have such enormous needs.
So, although Mandy was sad to be leaving 'her' girls behind, she knows they will have love and hugs and everything they need while she and Richard are away. And Mandy & Richard can devote their time to those with greatest need. The team of 6 people were excited to be going, and we prayed for God to use them in whatever way He can, to show His love in Thailand.
I heard the other day that every second, a child dies somewhere in the world. How tragic.
It makes me think, what more can I do? My heart aches for children in need.
2 comments:
Kathryn,
You ask "What else can we do". Well I asked myself this question many years ago when some section of our affluent, materialistic society was moaning about what they didn't have. I remember having a rant about it and then thought - words are easy, action is the thing. So I went out and put my money where my mouth was and took on the sponsoring of a child through ‘World Vision’. I have sponsored various children for over 25 years now. The cost as a percentage of my income is absolutely negligble and embarrassing considering it is tax deductable (i.e. I should be sponsoring more than one child).
The world is a complex place and there are no easy solutions but the facts are that the trillions of dollars spent on weapons and war annually would feed, clothe and house everyone on the planet.
Mother Teresa said – “ If I look at the masses I am overwhelmed, if I look at just one person and try and meet their need I can continue my work” – It was her words that inspired me to sponsor.
- Alden Smith
You are right. It is up to each one of us to do what we can, to spead a little joy when we can, and to try not to be overwhelmed by the hugeness of the problem.
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