When I returned from my trip it was my privilege to meet with Karen leaders and Minnesota legislative representative staff members (from Senators Klobuchar and Franken and Representative Betty McCollum’s offices). I described my experiences in the camps on the Thai-Burma border. I also presented reflections and recommendations as to what we in the United …
Category Archives: Pastor Bill’s Trip to Thailand
Gallery [1/9]
The Border Consortium, Dr. Cynthia’s Clinic, Ma La Refugee Camp & Dr. Simon
Today in Mae Sot we met some remarkable people. We went first to the border consortium. Chris Clifford told us of the work of the consortium. The refugees organize and operate the camps themselves with help from the NGOs. There are nongovernment organizations from all over the world that assist people along the border. I …
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Gallery [1/8]
Left Behind [Mouse Trap and Spirit House]
We left the camp on roads even worse than our coming to the camp. We were traveling in three vehicles for a couple of bumpy hours and then we were to transfer to other more comfortable vans. The short story is that our first driver misunderstood just exactly where he was supposed to drop us …
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Scenes from the Camp [Gallery]
Baptism
We spent two remarkable days in the refugee camp. I baptized ten of the 240 candidates in the river. We were watched by hundreds along the banks. We celebrated the 20th anniversary of the camp with ten choirs from a variety camps. The roads in and out of the camps required 4 wheel drive and …
Thailand Trip Sermon – Part Two of Two
Below is the second part of a sermon Pastor Bill has prepared for his visit to Thailand. He preached it at First Baptist on December 28th and will be preaching it in the camps in Thailand. Part Two of Two Three quarters of my church members are Karen. Here, today I preach to you in English using an interpreter. …
Arriving in Thailand
We were greeted by Marcia and Duane Binkley and Kyle Witmer in Chiang Mai, Thailand. The Binkley’s have made this their home for many years. We were happy to be done with flying for awhile. We stored our gear in a van and pick up truck and headed south to Hot for lunch, about an …
Kuala Lumpur to Chiang Mai
Yesterday we walked around downtown Kuala Lumpur. It seemed there was a construction crane in every block. Tall glass and colorful office buildings towered over three and four story residences and shops. We ate lunch at a busy Malaysian cafe. It was muggy and hot and the air conditioning of a modern six level shopping …
