Thailand was always on my “must see” list, but I figured it would be a while before I got to see it. The 20 or so hour flight definitely had me scared, so other destinations became my top priority. But it was always in the back of my mind. “Wouldn’t it be great if I could travel there for free?” I thought unrealistically.
Call me selfish, call me sheltered, but I had never thought about combining volunteering and my travels. It was usually all about me. So when my mom mentioned a mission trip with her church that was already paid in full, I thought, “Why not?” It was the summer after my college graduation and I had nothing better to do. I thought about the temples I would see, the great photo ops, but not the kids I would be working with. Mistake number one.
The wake up call came the day we drove two hours north of Chiang Mai to a tiny village called Muang Na, where the mountains suddenly appear out of the clouds and dominate the view. It is within sight of the Burmese border and is home to Hilltribe, mostly Lahu, and Chinese families.
More often than not, the kids came sporting shiners and scars. I remember what it was like to be that age and I definitely don’t recall looking like I got into a street fight. Some days I felt discouraged that nothing we did would make any difference. We didn’t speak the language, none of the children showed up regularly enough to learn anything and we would be gone at the end of the week, forgotten for another year. I wanted to take these kids home with me, naively convinced they would have a better life with an unemployed American college graduate than with their own Thai-speaking flesh and blood.
Then I came to a realization. As much as we wanted them to learn about God, it was more important for them to learn about love. For me, at least. Most of them just want attention and love, which they may not get at home. Adults in Muang Na must survive by farming or by way of money sent to them from family members in the city and don’t have time to spend with their children.
These kids may not remember anything we taught them in a year. They probably won’t remember our names or what we look like. But they will remember that we came to show them love.
