Rick Harris - Arrival in Bangkok

After arriving late on Sunday evening, February 10, I settled in at the Bangkok Christian Guest House for only a couple hours sleep. We rose early on Monday for a full day planned by tour leader Duane Binckley, International Ministries’ (IM) missionary to the Karens in the United States.

First we visited the headquarters of the Thailand Burma Border Consortium (TBBC), an NGO which tries to provide food, clothing and shelter for all refugees. Sally Thompson, deputy executive director, provided detailed information about the current situation of several thousand Karen and Chin refugees preparing to leave the camps along the border for countries around the world, mostly the United States. Sally impressed us with a video and slide presentation, answering many questions posed by our group, which represents local churches, national mission partners and stateside refugee resettlement agencies.

From the TBBC we took the SkyTrain (a subway in the air) to the headquarters of the International Organization for Migration’s (IOM) Southeast Asia regional office. There representatives walked us through the typical cultural orientation course provided to all refugees as they prepare to relocate to a new country. IOM is a United Nations funded agency.

After a delightful lunch back at the guest house, we were back on the SkyTrain to the administrative offices of the Overseas Processing Entity, part of the International Rescue Committee. This U.S. governmental service provides the official processing of all refugees coming into the United States. Julie Hannah, a casework coordinator, reviewed the typical processing refugees coming to the United States. After a delicious and filling Thai supper at a local restaurant, we turned in very early to try to recover from three days of almost no sleep and a lot of new and exciting information.

Bright and early Tuesday morning, we headed over to the ministry of Jeff and Annie Dieselberg, IM missionaries in Bangkok. “Nightlight” provides alternative employment for about 75 girls and young women who had once been on the streets of Bangkok, working mostly in bars of Bangkok’s entertainment district. Most of these Thai women, who come from rural areas in the Northeast, are trafficked into prostitution so that their poor families have some regular income to survive. They neither chose nor willingly accepted this life. Annie Dieselberg spent nearly the entire day explaining the operations of this successful jewelry distributor that provides a way out of prostitution and a way into a productive, skilled life. The meaningful work provides deliverance from what is essentially a life of slavery for dozens of young women as they learn of the love of God.

These two days have been preparing us to travel tomorrow to Chiang Mai and then on to the refugee camps. We have already been blessed many fold from this firsthand experience with the work and ministry of American Baptists around the world.