This was a very long day. We left early in the morning before the internet cafe opened so I didn't get a chance to update the blog any more. We drove two hours north of Phang Nga. I'm not really sure where or what the name of the villiage was. It was a place where refugees from Burma have come and settled. I didn't really know much about this, but I learned that the Thai people do not like the Burmese people. They are usually here illegally and do not get any public services such as health care, water, or electricity. They also speak either Burmese or one of the many dialects of tribal lanugages found in neighboring Burma. We went to help with a missionary who is working with a small church of Burmese immigrants there. He has organized a food distribution. With the price of rice and oil getting so high most of these people simply cannot afford any food. What little money they do make would probably go to rent. We unloaded 900 bags of rice, 900 bottles of oil, and 1800 cans of fish. We walked around with some of the church members and helped pass out tickets for the food to ensure each of the poorest families got one.

 

The living conditions were awful. This was an area heavily devastated by the tsunami. Temporary housing had been built and is still being used. These are mostly a one room square that is 12' X 12'. There is no running water and no garbage disposal. People are catching rain water in barrels and using it for cooking and cleaning. They have taken a swamp that has developed due to water being blocked in from garbage and are growing rice in it. There once was a national park in the area, but it was closed down after the tsunami.

 

After we finished delivering the tickets, a time of worship and encouragement. It was very interesting because we had four languages (Thai, English, and two dialects of Burmese). We all took turns leading a song in worship and prayer. Next we decided to give the church members the few evangicubes we had left. Keith got up and showed them how to use them speaking in Thai while one of the men translated the Thai into Burmese. :-) When he finished there was a time of invitation and two men who had come to help accepted Christ! The people were very excited to receive the evangicubes and told us we had blessed them. It was very moving for me.

 

We went to Keith and Traci's house for dinner and had hot dogs! We were all very excited. We talked for a little while after we ate and then went back to the hotel and crashed very hard! It was a great day!