RADIATION In August Tan had her surgery and all of us spent the day in the waiting room as she was operated on. At the end of the day they were able to get the cancer in her sinus area but were unable to get the cancer that had entered her brain. Radiation treatment was scheduled for later and Tan was able to make a couple of trips back to her village in the interim but her time was mostly spent in the hospitals dealing with the intense pain she felt after surgery and then as her face began to swell again.
As we met with doctors in preparation for her radiation treatment, a doctor finally told daughter Nat that the radiation therapy will probably not kill all the cancer cells that have grown beyond Grandma Tan’s sinus cavity and that as the cancer spreads, it will go into her lungs.
This journey started in March and radiation began on August 15, 2012. Tan has been given amazing treatment once she was accepted as a cancer patient and has also been given free treatment and medication. So, in this journey has been both blessing and suffering. We pray that we might all see the goodness of God in the midst of pain and hope beyond hope as we continue to walk this path with Nat and her mom.
The family problems outside Tan’s illness have been such that we don’t know what any phone call from home might bring…from alcoholism to suicide attempts to abandonment to accidents…Nat finds comfort in reading Job and her honest struggles to trust in God despite it all have kept us on our knees, as well.
STRANGERS IN OUR MIDST…In the past, the northeastern Thai made up the bulk of the unskilled labor force in Thailand, but the last couple of years have seen an influx of Khmer (Cambodian) and Burmese workers coming into the country. This group is made up of both legal and illegal immigrants who are here only for a season….Our “wake up” call came at ALC when we found out that one of the kids who had faithfully come to the youth ministry and worship service was suddenly leaving because unbeknownst to us, her mom was an illegal Khmer woman who had to return to Cambodia and she was taking her daughter with her.
As our eyes are opened to the Khmer workers in our neighborhoods, we are asking God how we can reach out to these people whom He has brought into our midst for just a season. We praise God that we have two Khmer Issaan women on our team who can communicate with these people, and that fellow missionary, Ginny Bellamy just finishing her CD of 18 Bible stories in Khmer and accompanying Khmer music to go with them. We feel that God is priming us to befriend these people who are now strangers, but may soon be our friends.
Finally, last Sunday, while I was attending our International church, one of my missionary friends asked me to pray for the guests she brought with her after service. These two 5th graders were Khmer girls who came with their families to find work here in Thailand. They have been going to the Thai public school but after 6th grade will not be able to do so. They wanted me to pray for them that they could continue their schooling in Thailand because back in their villages in Kampuchea, there would be no opportunity to pursue further education.
What is God doing? What does He want us to do? Pray with us as God opens our eyes to the world around us and brings the mission field here to Thailand.
