Mary had been having problems with her back and wasn't sure she could sleep on the floor in the camp. She decided to ride in with us and come back out the same day with our driver. He said he would charge 1000 baht ($22.00) for a round trip and we agreed to that amount. It was a hard 3-1/2 hour drive into the camp and Pastor asked us to ride in the cab of the truck. The back was full of our bags, boxes of food and 5 men from the camp who had attended the conference. I was so excited about seeing all my friends again and introducing Mary to everyone. I knew that this trip into the camp would impact her life in a very positive way, as it does mine each and every time I visit. After reporting to the new Thai manned check point inside the camp, we were allowed to go on to section 4 where Pastor and Moo Moo live.

Everyone was lined up at the house waiting for us. We were given a royal welcome and everyone was curious to meet Mary for the first time. My special little girl, Creehatha was shyly waiting for me to notice her. Moo Moo told me she was found in the house after I left last year, sitting in the corner crying for her Pee Pee. She is now 5 years old and doing very well in school. I was able to find a monthly sponsor for her last year and she and her family are very happy to have the little money that comes in monthly.

We told Moo Moo that Mary wasn't going to stay overnight because of her back problem, but she had the young girls helping out at the house make up a bed on a teak platform with a small mattress. They told her it would be very comfortable for her. While I sat and visited with all my old friends, Mary followed Moo Moo and some of the ladies into the kitchen area to watch them prepare the vegetables we had brought. She really wanted to learn how they make Karen fried rice. She had fallen in love with the rice we had been eating in Thailand.

When the house was filled with all the people it would hold, Moo Moo wanted to open the bags of goodies we had brought for them. It was fun to see their faces as we used our knives to open the vacuum-sealed bags of clothes. The women were more interested in getting one of the bags, than they were the clothes! It is so much fun to be able to watch everyone as the clothes and gifts from the zip blessing bags were handed out. I never do any of the distributing, it would be too hard for me to decide who got what and Moo Moo knows the children who are really poor and need clothing.

I had made large laminated posters of about 40 of my pictures and everyone had a great time looking at all the pictures of friends and relatives they hadn't seen in ages. It was so much easier for everyone to just pass the laminated sheets around and not have to keep track of the loose pictures or small albums. So many times when they ask me if they can have some of my pictures, I don't have the heart to say no, so with the large posters I was able to make it to more than one camp with my pictures!

About 2 PM our driver returned for Mary. Pastors son, Saw Moo and his wife, Sandi, Creehatha and I rode in the back of the truck out to the gate to see Mary off. I wished that she could have stayed. I know she would have been so blessed staying 4 days here with these wonderful people.

By the time we walked back home, school was out and children started coming to the house to see me. I got out the index cards and cameras and started taking sponsor pictures. I had no idea how many children would need sponsors, but after taking 2 rolls of film they were still waiting in line. After I took a child's picture, pastor would get the information I needed for each child and write it on the card. I was optimisic that God would bring the sponsors if I had their pictures and family information.

After about an hour, a young man I have known for several years, Htoo Say, came in to surprise me. I had no idea he was in this camp and had looked for him in Mae Sot where he used to work. It was great seeing him again and catching up on news of other young men I knew from previous trips. He told me Lay Moo, a man we had met in 1992 was now living in this camp and had heard I was here. He would come over after the evening meal. Moo Moo insisted that I take a short rest before dinner and asked everyone to come back later. I hadn't realized how tired I was until I laid down. Sleeping on a mattress on the platform was a real luxury!

We had a great dinner of several different vegetables, fried rice and bananas. Just as we were finishing, Lay Moo, Htoo Say and another man came in and started looking at my pictures and talking to me. I kept glancing over at the 3rd man trying to place him. I knew I knew him from somewhere. He finally laughed and said "Pee, you don't remember me do you? I am Dana, one of your students from 1994 in Htoo Wah Loo village." I then recognized him immediately and he told me about where some of my other students were now living. He is now teaching school in one of the camp run schools here in Section 4 and invited me to visit his school the next day. The 3 of us had a great time catching up on all the news. Before long, the house was full of people again and my posters were making the rounds once again.

In a Karen home, everyone sits on the floor unless the family has carried a chair or 2 with them as they were moved from place to place. Pastor had 2 sling back teak chairs that he and Moo Moo usually sat in, but they always offered me one of them. I usually preferred sitting on the floor with everyone else. I took more sponsor pictures until it was time for family worship before lights out. Several people stayed to have worship with us. That is one Karen tradition that I really love. They have family worship first thing every morning and the last thing before bed each night.

Pastor does have a generator, so from 6 to 8 PM each night we have light in the living area. When the lights go out, Pastor runs a fluorescent tube while everyone scrambles to get ready for bed. After telling all our visitors good night, I quickly made up my bed on the platform under a full mosquito net. It felt wonderful to crawl in and stretch out. My back and hips were very sore from the long hard truck ride and sitting on the floor for several hours.

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