The River Trip is an outreach I especially look forward to each fall. It's a four hour drive from home base, another 3 hours up the Mae Gnaow River on long tail boats and then a couple hours hike to a village. Spectacular scenery and an exhilarating experience every time we go. This was a previously unreached area that we opened up with the Gospel about eight years ago. Tremendous fruit has come forth and seven churches have already been built as a result.

Water was dangerously low this year making the rapids impassible... We took 4-wheel drive trucks in instead. Four hours of bone bruising 4-wheeling averaging 8-10 miles an hour. You get knocked, banged and tossed every which way...I jokingly refer to it as "mountain massage." I promised the team we only had an hour walk after the 4-wheeling part, but three hours hiking later we finally made it to the village on a trail that just never seemed to quit going up.
 


Mae Hae Village was our final destination... Pastor Dan Carroll and his team from Water of Life Church made the trip with us. I think the team forgave me but they did seem a bit leery about my travel time estimates after that! We conducted a medical clinic ministering to 240 patients. The clinic along with various outreaches to the children and villagers melted the hearts of the people as the love of Jesus was demonstrated in such a practical way. The outreach gave great momentum to our evangelist's efforts to plant a church in this previously unreached village.
 
Carried out on a pole... In all the years we have been trekking into remote areas I always wondered what would happen if someone got hurt or very sick. This year we had an incident with one of the team members; he didn't quite "bite the dust" but he was in pretty bad shape after becoming dehydrated. No problem....the villagers cut a bamboo pole, strapped this guy on a pole and "ran" him down the trail! They literally ran saying it was easier to carry heavy weight by running rather than walking. We got our man out, revived him and all was well.
 

Refugee Camp School... We have been working the camps since 1995, but I think this trip in was my favorite. First stop was a briefing by the camp commander who oversees the 40,000+ people at Mae La Refugee Camp. We were then permitted to enter the camp to visit our Living Word Ministries School and Orphanage where we care for and provide education for over 500 children.

Our visits to the camp are highly anticipated... the children hardly sleep the night before... They outdid themselves this year with a grand reception ceremony; a 15 minute presentation with drums, dancing and singing. The next four hours our team ministered to the children through a multitude of ways....if a tear didn't come to someone that day I would think they were made of stone! Most of these children were born in the camp and don't know any other life. Many are orphans from the ongoing war inside Burma. This past year over 100 were added to our ranks. Over 40 of the "new additions" were teenagers that we rescued from being conscripted by the Burmese Army to serve as porters and human shields in fierce battles. Now the children are learning the Word of God in the safety of our school and orphanage.

Every bone in my body ached... A trip like this pushes you to the limits, but the rewards are indescribable. Isolated villages, refugee camps along a jungle border, people living at the edge never knowing what the next day will bring. What an honor to bring the life giving Gospel of Jesus Christ to these precious people.

Thank you for partnering with us to make all of this possible... As we have said many times....it is a privilege to represent you in foreign missions.