Not One But Two

We have been working with Sayama ever since we came to Mae Sai. She is managing several children’s homes and orphanages in Burma. When we took Tina into our home, it marked the beginning of our ministry to the orphans and abandoned children. She began asking us to help her in by “adopting” the younger children who come to her.

So we were not surprised when one day, she called us up and told us that a Pastor came with a little girl from a remote village in Burma. And although she wanted to take care of her, the orphanage had no room for another child.

We had been very selective in adopting children. Our experiences had taught us that we could not just take every child who comes to us. We had adopted children before whom we thought do not have parents or next of kin. Only to be  surprised that after a year,  people claiming to be their aunties came and took three of the children away from us. We felt cheated.

To make sure that we were not getting another child who might be claimed by a relative later, we asked Sayama to give us the child’s background story.

Her story goes like this. The little girl’s mother has died. The father has remarried and moved out of the village. The little girl was left behind to the care of the neighbors. Sayama said the neighbors took turn in providing food and shelter for the child. The girl even though she was only four years old was asked to do menial chores in the neighborhood. Her main responsibility, however,  was to go to the jungle every day to gather firewood. This was what she was doing when the Pastor saw her in the woods.
Narlin and I knew when a story was made up or true. This story at least for us, sounded true. But we did not want to appear very enthusiastic about all this. We set a date with Sayama to see the girl first and only then we would decide if we would “adopt” the little girl.

We met Sayama at the border and saw the girl. But lo and behold, there was not only one girl but two. Sayama had found a way to “trick” us to consequently take not only one but two girls. (The other girl was almost a year older.) She knew beforehand that we were hesitant to even take one but she put us into a position where it was impossible for us to say no to both. “They have the same story".” She quipped. It didn’t matter anymore to us that time. We cared for the children more than we believed her.

The girls were dirty but beautiful and relatively healthy. At first glanced, they looked strikingly similar but upon closer examination we saw their individuality. One has round dark brown eyes and hair while the other has jet black China eyes and hair. I guess because they had been together a long time, they now have each other’s look. It made sense to us then that they need not separate, we had to take them together.

Pia and Kristi with the other children during Pia’s birthday.

The girls had been with us for almost a year. We changed their names to Kristi and Pia. Kristi has a cute sense of humor, full of life and laughter. If you happened to be with her, she will just talk to you and tell her story. It does not matter if you understand her or not, she will surely make you laugh. Pia was very quiet when we first saw her. But that did not last long, because now she also learn play with the other children. She has already won a coloring contest in the school.
They are both doing well in the school. Every morning I drove them to school, I watched them go down from the truck and run to the school happy and laughing. We thank the Lord that we have the opportunity to take them under our care. By God’s grace, we already had saved these girls from child labor and perhaps we had saved them from child trafficking as well.
Please pray for Kristi and Pia. Together with the other children, they need your love, support and prayers.
This a repost from Missions Beyond Borders.

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