The LORD is my light and my salvation...

Back when I was in university, before I had decided to listen to God's calling in my life, I went to InterVarsity's Urbana conference in 2006. A lot of really cool things happened there, including me finally deciding that if God wanted me to be a Bible translator, maybe I didn't have to find that such a scary idea. But I also remember listening to many extremely inspiring speakers in the large group sessions.

One of them was from International Justice Mission, or IJM. I don't remember every detail of what she said, but I do remember her telling the story of a young girl in a brothel, who in defiance of her circumstances and the evil of the people who were holding her prisoner there, wrote the opening words of Psalm 27 on the wall of her tiny room.

That's this psalm:

¹ The Lord is my light and my salvation—
    so why should I be afraid?
The Lord is my fortress, protecting me from danger,
    so why should I tremble?
² When evil people come to devour me,
    when my enemies and foes attack me,
    they will stumble and fall.
³ Though a mighty army surrounds me,
    my heart will not be afraid.
Even if I am attacked,
    I will remain confident.

⁴ The one thing I ask of the Lord—
    the thing I seek most—
is to live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life,
    delighting in the Lord’s perfections
    and meditating in his Temple.
⁵ For he will conceal me there when troubles come;
    he will hide me in his sanctuary.
    He will place me out of reach on a high rock.
⁶ Then I will hold my head high
    above my enemies who surround me.
At his sanctuary I will offer sacrifices with shouts of joy,
    singing and praising the Lord with music.

⁷ Hear me as I pray, O Lord.
    Be merciful and answer me!
⁸ My heart has heard you say, “Come and talk with me.”
    And my heart responds, “Lord, I am coming.”
⁹ Do not turn your back on me.
    Do not reject your servant in anger.
    You have always been my helper.
Don’t leave me now; don’t abandon me,
    O God of my salvation!
¹⁰ Even if my father and mother abandon me,
    the Lord will hold me close.

¹¹ Teach me how to live, O Lord.
    Lead me along the right path,
    for my enemies are waiting for me.
¹² Do not let me fall into their hands.
    For they accuse me of things I’ve never done;
    with every breath they threaten me with violence.
¹³ Yet I am confident I will see the Lord’s goodness
    while I am here in the land of the living.

¹⁴ Wait patiently for the Lord.
    Be brave and courageous.
    Yes, wait patiently for the Lord.

I don't think there was a dry eye in the auditorium after this story. (I believe the girl was rescued, in a joint IJM-police operation.) My eyes certainly weren't. Can you imagine?

Fast-forward several years to 2013. My sister and I were invited to disciple some young teenage girls who lived with a friend in Vientiane. We loved having this privilege. The girls were shy but very sweet, and they loved to sing worship songs with us. We were very sorry to have to say goodbye when we left to move to Mukdahan, but we didn't forget them and hoped that they wouldn't forget what we taught them.

That's me, N., my sister Mackenzie, F. (in blue), and our friend R. who helped us teach N. and F., in 2013 at R.'s house. We had just finished watching an animated movie of the story of Joseph, which the girls enjoyed.

Now as you may have heard on Facebook, our friend in Vientiane at whose house F. and N. lived told us last week that F. had been tricked into leaving home for a "job opportunity" in Bangkok. Her mother is apparently heavily in debt, so F.'s mother and an older cousin brought her to a sweat shop where she is now working all day every day, sending almost her entire (meager) paycheck to her mother every month. At the current rate, she would need to work there basically her whole life to pay off her mother's debt and the debt she incurred for being transported there. She is isolated, afraid, and wants to go back home and finish school, according to our friend who was able to find her and visit her. But the pressure from her relatives to work to help her mother is too great for her to feel able to leave. She's also afraid that she'll be arrested if she tries to leave, because her older cousin keeps telling her that's what would happen since she doesn't have proper documentation.

Praise God that our friend from Vientiane was able to find F., spend some time with her, and give her a Bible in her language and also a phone. At least the people who own the sweat shop aren't so controlling that they don't allow her these things. Praise God that F. still remembers some of what she's learned about God, although our friend said unsurprisingly that she was losing hope. Praise God that our friend has been in contact with anti-trafficking organizations (like IJM), and that she's not giving up on helping F. get out of this terrible situation.

We are also so glad that we are able to message with F. now, since she asked for her number to be passed onto us via our friend. Our friend suggested we send her Bible passages. I sent her Psalm 27. And cried at verse 10.

Please keep praying for her.

The little things, part 2

Before we left to come back to the States, I made a list of little things about life in Thailand/Laos that I'd miss while I was here. So it only seems fitting that I make a list of some of the little things I'll miss about life here in Washington. Again, this isn't counting the hugely important people I'll miss: my family, my local friends, my church. These are just the small things that make this home - or I should say, one of my homes.

Some sounds that I missed while I was in Thailand, that I'll miss when we get back:

-Airplanes flying overhead multiple times a day, from Boeing or from Seatac Airport
-Robins, sparrows, chickadees, red-winged blackbirds, bald eagles, and other native Pacific Northwestern birds
-Soft, steady drizzle of rain that can go on for hours (not a tropical deluge)
-The distant sound of a train whistle
-The furnace coming on at intervals throughout the day
-English-language songs on the radio, and playing in the background in stores
-The specific sound our front door makes when it opens or closes
-The sound of driving over that one stretch of I-5 in Seattle that has all the expansion joints in it - preferably at the rhythm you get when you're going about 65 mph in the HOV lane
-The tide coming in or out, at the various Puget Sound beaches I love

Some scents that I'll miss:
-Evergreen conifers
-Cherry blossom trees

-The ocean (mostly the Puget Sound)
-Burning dust when the heater comes on after having been off for a while
-Laundry fresh out of the dryer
-Freshly-mowed grass - it smells different in Thailand
-Fallen leaves

Some sights I'll miss:
-Mount Rainier, on clear and partly cloudy days
-The Cascades and the Olympics
-The Seattle skyline (there's none I love better)
-Autumn leaves, and bare trees after the leaves have fallen
-Tree-lined streets and hiking paths
-Frost-covered branches, and falling snow (not that we got all that much of that this winter ... and yes, I know that much of the US got too much!)
-Spring flowers

Other sensations:
-Long sleeves, jackets, sweatshirts, sweaters, coats, socks, closed-in shoes, jeans almost every day, high-heeled boots, scarves, fleece pajamas, flannel sheets ... all those clothes, etc. that go with colder weather
-Coming into the warm house from a cold day
-The comfort of holding a hot beverage in cold hands
-Less time spent sweating
-Sitting in front of a fireplace or warm stove
-Dishes fresh out of the dishwasher

That's just a small sampling; I'm sure there are others I'm forgetting at the moment. But at the same time, I'm getting more and more excited to go back to my other home!