Kate and Stu Thailand Update - Feeding Widows and Orphans

Hi guys!

We arrived in Mae Sot on Friday night and our friend Rachel met us at the bus station. It was a 6 hour ride and I spent most of the time looking out the window enjoying the beautiful surroundings! Mae Sot is a town on the border of Thailand and Burma. Rachel works with an organization called Compasio (www.compasio.org ). Their focus in Mae Sot is on help the poor including widows and kids who live on the streets. Rachel told us about a woman who had a baby 2 days ago. They live in a little hut right by the garbage dump in Mae Sot. The stepfather is injured and is not able to work and the wife has been very sickly ever since she had her first child (she just had her fourth). We were told she is 28, but she looked well beyond her years. I got to hold this tiny little 2 day old baby - he was so bity and I felt like I was holding only the blanket he was wrapped in. I was told that when the mom went into labor, she had to walk 3 miles to the health clinic in order to deliver him. Please pray for this family - the 3 little boys were so full of life and joy and they smiled and played while we hung out. The baby looked dehydrated - probably because the the mom was so frail. They had run out of food so we went to the market and got a huge bag of rice and some veggies - $30 worth of food that would last 2+ weeks. They live on $30 / month ($1 / day!).

While we were at the market we got to see the street kids that Compassio works with. There is a lady who runs a restaurant and will feed the kids for 10 baht each ($0.33). It was amazing to see the kids flock to Rachel and Angie (another Compassio volunteer). They knew them well and headed straight for the restaurant. We sat there and held babies and smiled with the kids as they filled their empty tummies.

It was so cool to be "the church" - feeding and caring for widows and orphans.

The rest of the time has been a little relaxing - Mae Sot is pretty slow on the weekends. It's sort of a "one horse" town. :) We took Rachel and Mary(another volunteer) out for dinner for Valentine's day - at this really cool rainforest restaurant. Now, we're off to church - an all Thai service. :) We'll write more later!
Love,
Kate and Stu