As I was sitting in my history class about 20 minutes ago I was thinking about this blog & the hopes I have for it. I hope this blog gives everyone the answers to the questions they've been asking, I hope it explains everything clearly & most importantly I hope this blog is a clear demonstration of Gods amazing hand at work.
Before I go into the story & details I have to say that I find it extremely difficult to write the story of the refugees & how I reached this point. I often find myself stuck on a word because there's just no word to describe a certain feeling I had/have and I find myself constantly erasing & retyping sentences in hopes that my message will get across the right way. Even when I explain the situation to people I find it hard to get it out correctly, I often worry that people will miss the point behind the story... I have a fear that people will focus on the little things that I am doing and miss all the great things that God is doing. I don't deserve the praise... I am simply doing what I feel I have been called to do, things I love to do, taking advantage of the opportunities I have been given & glorifying Him... God deserves ALL of the glory. It is through Him and Him alone that I am able to do ANY of this.
In May 2008 I started a new job as the receptionist at a paper plate manufacturing company (AJM Packaging). At that time we were hiring about 20 people & loosing around 30 people a week, days were hectic & long... it was just a constant cycle of new hire paper work & termination paper work. My mom moved to Idaho in the beginning of June & shortly after that we finally had reached a point where we no longer had to hire people because the employees were starting to "stick." About a day after we decided we didn't need anymore workers God sent 2 very important people to my desk... Dan & Ko Ko. Dan asked if there were any available job openings & claimed that he had the "perfect people" for the job, he told me he had Karen (pronounced ca-ren) refugees from Thailand who just arrived to America & were in dire need of jobs. He told me they were hard workers, would keep to themselves, always be on time & never cause any trouble... I told him that unfortunately we were done hiring but I would see what I could do. I explained the situation to the new lady in charge & asked if we could try some out, after a lot of convincing she finally agreed and we called in 4 Karen... Ko Ko, Nue Nue, Sate Sate & Moo Khot! We told Dan we would start with these 4 & see how it goes, if it worked out well then we could eventually hire more. A week after hiring those four Karen I left for Colorado with my family, I called work about every other day & checked my email regularly to make sure everything was going ok with them. Even without knowing their story or anything about where they were from I felt a wierdly strong connection to them. While I was on vacation Dan sent me a sermon by John Piper about a missionary named Adoniram Judson, but before listening to the sermon I felt it was only appropriate to learn a little about the Karen. I had NO IDEA my life was about to change forever...
I sat on the computer for at least an hour researching the Karen & Burma. The pictures, the stories, the articles, the videos... I searched for every little detail I possibly could & every bit of information I found broke my heart a little more. I didn't know my heart was capable of hurting so badly, my whole body ached due to this burden that was placed upon my heart. Before reading anymore of this I want everyone to read this article from
Free Burma Rangers, an organization that sneaks into Burma & gives medical attention to those in need. That's a quick (very short) overview of the situation going on in Burma. The night I found all this out I couldn't sleep. I had to leave the room Kaleena & Mikayla were sleeping in because I didn't want my tossing & turning to wake them up, I didn't want them to hear my sniffles & know I was crying. I went to the computer & just kept researching, I researched until the morning & just tried to make sense of everything I had discovered. I tried to sleep & literally just tossed & turned, I cried for a long while & just spent a good portion of the night praying for these people. My heart was heavy & I knew the minute I got back to San Diego I had to become involved with helping.
I got home, went to their church (Grace Church) on Sunday & fell in love with not only the Karen but also the people at the church. It's a little congregation, very traditional & I just absolutely love it. Dans dad is the Pastor (Steve Lamm), his words and sermons continue to amaze me every Sunday. Grace is filled with amazing people who aren't afraid to be convicted, they aren't afraid of the Word, their love for Christ just shines in everything they do. There are about 40 Karen at the church & after spending 5 minutes with them I knew it was something I needed to do. Suddenly the Karen became my priority, everything that I thought was important was thrown out the window & it was so clear that this opportunity came straight from God. I couldn't look away, I couldn't focus on anything... I thought about the Karen 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. I constantly worried about them, I was always thinking of ways to help, the Karen became my number one focus within a matter of minutes.
Before meeting the Karen I was going to school to get my masters & do something in social work.. I thought I was meant to help young children in abused families. I had a plan & I was set on it... I was set on my Bachelors in 4 years & the 1 year Masters program, that was my plan. Now? Now I laugh that I ever tried to plan my life, God has something SO much bigger in store for me, something I couldn't have ever dreamed of. The Karen have completely changed my life... they've made me a better person, they affected every single aspect of my daily routines, they woke me up from this self absorbed life I was living. Never in a million years would I have ever imagined I had such a heart for missions & going abroad, but it's all I want to do now. I can't even imagine staying in the U.S... I can't wait for school to be done so I can go & help & save & spread the Word.
I wish everyone could meet the Karen, I wish everyone could have that privilege. They are an amazing group of people & I LOVE every minute I spend with them. Sometimes it gets frustrating & overwhelming, sometimes I feel like this whole thing is so much bigger than I am & I can't do it. Sometimes I think I need a break & get tired but then I remember this quote from church one Sunday...
"There's no breaks in this life from our obligations, REST WILL COME IN HEAVEN. For now we serve Him and that service is good and satisfying." -Steve Lamm
I'm not saying the Karen are an obligation, they are definitely a blessing & a gift from God, but when I start feeling tired I remember that rest will indeed come in Heaven. While I'm here my only purpose is to serve Him & glorify Him. To live every day for Him & show the world His love, to love unconditionally and do my duty.
God has blessed me with something I can't even comprehend. I can't give enough praises, I can't give enough glory... God is good! No, God is great! I can't wait to see what else is in store, what else God has planned.
Now onto the actual trip....
We will be leaving LAX on December 26th, 2008... the day after Christmas. We will be in Thailand for 2 weeks building a medical clinic for the people in the villages. The plans are done, the design is done & once the money is raised the supplies will be in Thailand waiting for us! The Thailand group has gone to Thailand several times over the past few years & have finished a water project & have built a school! God is doing great things through this team & I am so blessed & privileged to be a part of it! We will be staying in a hotel in downtown Chiang Mai but during the day will be building the clinic in Ma Oh Ja (about 20 miles from Burma). To see previous Thailand trips you can visit
Dan's Blog.
I will give more details on the trip in another blog, I'm pretty sure this was information overload. Hopefully this answered some questions, please let me know if there are more I can answer.
I will be sending out support letters on Monday (hopefully) with more details! :) Thank you all for your continuous support from day 1!
All my love,
Nicole
