Save the Babies!

The eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew Himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward Him. (2 Chron. 16:9)

20 May 2012,

Dear Phyllis,

A week ago last Saturday, Paul called me saying they had a serious crisis. Mark had called him saying that 20 babies had been dropped in Mae Kachan, and there was no one there to take care of them. It was a desperate situation, and someone had to go to Mae Kachan immediately. I told Paul, “Sign us up. We will do what we can.” As we talked, we put together a team of three or four of us to go up there and stand in the gap until some help could come from America. Said, “I am preaching tomorrow morning, but we will be available right after the Sunday services We can stay until Wednesday, and you will have to get someone to replace us then.” Paul and Marisa came by at 1:00 to take us up to Mae Kachan.

I was sure the crisis was at Mrs. Lawan's children's home. I had been there several times in years past. At 2:30 we arrived at the children's home only to be greeted by a shock. Mrs. Lawan was out of town at the moment, and when we talked to her assistant, Geng, he acted confused. It was true that 20 children had been brought there the day before. There were five babies in the group, and some were sick. But when we asked, “What can we do?”, he was unclear. There was another American girl, who had come the day before to help out for a week. We asked her what the situation was, and she wasn't anymore knowledgeable than Geng. We had brought a truck load of supplies with enough Pampers and baby formula to last 20 babies for a month. Now no one could find the babies. Paul said, “No one will believe this story.” Paul suggested, “Well, should we go home?” Jessica said there was a lot of need there, and they could use help; so Pammy and I decided to stay for three days.

As it turned out, it wasn't a matter of our going up there to minister to 20 babies, but the Lord had sent two babies (us) up there for them to minister to us. Our time was definitely ordered of the Lord, but we were the recipients rather than the givers.

I have known Mrs. Lawan for 14 years, but this was a first time meeting for Pammy. She was just blown away. We hadn't been talking to Mrs. Lawan for than 20 minutes when Pammy said, “This is not fair. I have one three year old daughter; and that is almost more than I can handle. Mrs. Lawan has 151 children that she is raising by herself and is praying for 1,000”. I said to Mrs. Lawan, “You are just a faucet that God is pouring a huge amount of His water of life out to others.” The problem is that God has very few faucets that size that He can use. Most faucets have tiny holes, and – at best – you only get one drip a minute. Why the difference of the size of the orifice is very clear. It is just a matter of saying Yes to Jesus. Very few people say Yes every time. It is the rare person that the Lord can find to use.

The reason for this is because of three sacred cows that are the most important things in our lives. Our three sacred cows are our Plans, Possessions, andPleasure. Any thing that challenges these three cows is greeted with hostility. Anything that is a disruption of our plans is a severe irritation. We have a lot of things that we want to do. When things come up that demands we suspend our plans to meet the needs of others, we self-righteously say No.

Possessions are self-explanatory. Woe be to the turkey that touches MY THINGS. To have your home and your things to be public property to be used by others is unthinkable. I knew a German missionary who had lived in city in Japan for five years. When he left, he was replaced by a Japanese pastor. The pastor told a friend of mine, “When I moved in that house, I was the first Japanese to cross that door step in five years.” The missionary was very protective of his home and things, and no one was invited into his house. The spoil was very hard in that town. No one was saved.

Pleasure is a huge sacred cow. There are a lot of things we enjoy or dislike. Any infringement – either positive or negative – is a very hostile action. In the order of the three sacred cows, this is probably king. Few things in life carry as much priority as pleasure. In the secular world, pleasure is the driving engine. Unfortunately, we do not leave this engine at the door when we enter religion. To a very large degree, what we enjoy determines a great deal of our tastes and deeds. Things we do not enjoy are either avoided or met with an unpleasant response.

Our attitude to protecting these three sacred cows goes a long ways in determining the size of the orifice of our useableness for the Lord.

With Mrs. Lawan, these cows were all sacrificed at her alter of dedication when she said yes to Jesus. She was 38 when she was saved, and was a school teacher. She was married to a wealthly lawyer. It is no secret that there is a serious discrimination in Thailand against hill tribe people, and the children are frequently seriously neglected. She hadn't been saved long before she was confronted with the needs of a few homeless children. The least she could do was take them in. Soon this demanded that she use her own money to rent a small building to keep them. When I first met her in 1998 she was like the little old lady who lived in a shoe. Her facilities were desperately inadequate. At that time she had 50 children living in a small building with virtually no play ground or play space. She had no organization to fund her, and she was totally dependent on her Father in heaven to provide for the children she had taken in. The situation was so desperate and stressful that no one could live a life like that indefinitely. The best she could do was to say she might make it for one day. The next day was a repeat. To this day it's all she can do – live one day at a time.

The first time I met Mrs. Lawan, I was with Mark who had stopped there to give her some money. She was so overwhelmed that she showed us her books. They were unbelievable. She had virtually nothing to keep 50 children when Mark stopped by to give her enough to last for a few days. Some months later I was returning back to Chiang Mai from a run up to the Burma border. I was cold and soaking wet, riding my motor bike on a horrible, rainy, night. I just stopped there for a few minutes to leave a little money. Mrs. Lawan still remembers that night like an angel had stopped there to give her money enough for food for three days.

Six years ago, a wealthly man from Holland bought a large tract of land and built a very nice children's home for her ministry. Here they have room to play, individual ten children rooms, a large dinning hall and a large chapel. The children all seem to be happy, but here is a total absence of the three sacred cows.

Anyone who stays or works there can forget about personal plans. When some child gets hurt or sick there is no option except to take care of that child immediately. Mrs Lawan has no salaried staff to help her. There is one elderly lady who travels a considerable distance to come everyday to be the cook. She has had a few volunteers from the states who have lived with her to take care of the children. It is almost true that she is raising 151 children by herself. But, realistically, what happens is the older children take care for the younger ones. The average age is probably about eight as she has children ranging from small babies to some older kids in their mid twenties.

There is virtually no such thing as personal possessions.The only thing each child can claim as their own is a few clothes that they have to wash themselves. Toys, bicycles and things like that are unthinkable. The only thing that Mrs. Lawan might claim as personal might be her desk. She has given her life and everything she owns for the sake of taking care of unwanted children.

As for personal pleasure, I am sure the thought of that has not crossed her mind in many years. Being there was a little hard on Pammy who is clean to an extreme. There are a lot of things that are not what you might wish. Sanitation is impossible. The dishes are well washed and they have washing machines for the children to wash their clothes, but it is impossible to keep the place spotless. Pammy bought some toilet cleanser and brushes; and cleaned seriously needy sinks and toilets.

We didn't know what to do with our dog, Black Canyon, but I decided to take her. That was a good call. She was a hit. Many children greatly enjoyed hugging and playing with such an adorable dog. Annie was also a big hit. She fit right in. Having been raised in a similar children's home, there was nothing new about having a crowd of other children of varying ages all around her. She was just one of 152 other children.

Along with meeting the needs of 151 desperate Hill Tribe children, one of Mrs. Lawan's main goals is to raise an army of soldiers to carry the message of Jesus all over Thailand. The children get Bible teaching and worship along with their daily bread. All these children are well equipped to be outstanding soldiers for Christ. They are getting a solid Christian grounding there being raised in that environment. The thought of the three sacred cows of Personal plans,, Possessions, and Pleasure is just not a factor. These children are tough, dedicated, young people; marvelously well trained to be what is required to be front line soldiers for Jesus.

Staying at that children's home for three days gave me one of the clearest vision of 2 Chron. 16:9 I have ever seen. I can see now why the eyes of the Lord are running throughout the whole earth searching for a candidate of someone He can use. They are extremely rare. Mrs. Lawan is one in a million. Seldom have I seen such a selfless person. Because she has sacrificed her three cows, the size of the orifice in her that God can use is enormous. Major miracles are a daily event. Seldom have I seen anyone that the Lord has stepped forward to shew Himself strong in their behalf, to underwrite, as He does for her. She literally has nothing but God and, consequently, God is everything.

In 1912 William Booth, the founder of the Salvation Army, was nearing the end of his earthly journey. His organization was having their annual conference, but Booth was too feeble to attend. They had asked him to at least write a message to send to his followers. The moment came when the volunteers, which now numbered in the thousands, were gathered. His son Bramwell, who was the successor to his father, was on the platform. He opened the sealed envelope with the message from the founder, and took out the sheet of paper. There was one word written on it – OTHERS.

This is the heart of Mrs. Lawan. She thinks nothing of herself but lives entirely for others. This is why she is a faucet with a huge orifice through which Jesus is able to pour such an amazing flow of His life to others. But she is extremely rare. For most of us, our three sacred cows are like a frog in the line, making it it difficult for the Lord to get much of a flow of His Spirit out.

Lord, be merciful and help us kill those three cows. Oh Holy Father, please clean out the pipe and let Your Spirit flow through us, that Jesus might be honored and glorified. Honto ni (really). Amen.

bill