Prayer for the Refugees

Last week our team served at English camp in a government school in Thailand. The Lord has been showing me how much there is need for His love to be known, and what it means to have our hearts broken for what breaks His.

As I got to know my class of second graders, I quickly noticed a few students who were considerably taller than the rest. One of them, a girl named Sue, shared that she was fourteen, and that her family was from a nearby country. The staff had told us that there were quite a few refugees at the school; they were often held back several grades because they had fallen behind in the process of fleeing their home country and also learning Thai. 

Sue asked me once, "Have you ever had a birthday party?" Surprised by the question, I told her I had. Through a translator, Sue shared that it was her dream to have a birthday party one day, but that she hadn't asked her parents for one "because they work really hard." I assumed she meant that money was tight, which she confirmed by telling me the foods I suggested eating at her future party (KFC) were "too expensive."

This small interaction humbled me. Here was a girl who's dream was to have a birthday party with friends, who had never celebrated one because of her family's socioeconomic situation. 

As much as I knew the reality of these families in my head, it was striking to hear about it from someone so young. In that moment, I felt the Lord remind me clearly that He knew Sue, that He celebrated her each year. I am reminded that the best news I can bring is not the promise of money, but the promise of a God who knows and takes care of his children. I cannot solve the problem of poverty, but God can solve the much bigger problem of belonging.  

Please pray for refugees who have settled here in Thailand. Pray that we would have opportunities to encounter and share with them about the God who knows what it is like to be a refugee; the God who is the good provider. 

Please also pray that God would continue to break our hearts for what breaks His.

-Anjuli

Creative Media Intern, Thailand