This has been an interesting week so far! On Monday, Pearl got word that she needed to go back to the refugee camp in order to get some kind of a number or something from the U.N. She needed to be there by Wednesday. Now, under normal circumstances, this would have meant a very long bus ride for her, but here in Thailand, it is far more complicated than that! She has Thai papers, but they state that she is only allowed to travel in our area legally. So, that means that the bus is out! After talking about all the different options, we decided that the only way she could get there in time was if Travis were to take her by the back roads all the way there. That doesn’t sound too hard, does it? Well, let us also throw into the equation the fact that Pastor Phamor had told the boys that he was hearing rumors that if the boys ever tried going up that road again, they would be killed. That road happens to go through a huge jungle area where there are lots of bad people and drug dealers, and also a lot of fighting with the Burmese. So, I was not all that excited about the prospects of sending Travis and Pearl up there! But, they felt that it would be ok, so we raced into town, bought the huge tires that are necessary on the horrible roads back there, and they were off. I had been praying all morning that if this were not God’s will, that He would stop them.

Pretty soon, they came back. At the first river crossing, they found the water about a foot too deep for the motor bike to cross, and way to swift. So, I knew right then that this was God’s answer for us. Then, Pearl got on the phone, and talked to some people. They jumped back on the motor bike and took off to take Pearl to someone who could take her into Burma legally to try to get to the camp that way.

That evening, while we were having English class, I was sitting where I could just see Pearl sneaking back into the house to surprise everyone. It turned out that when she got into Burma, she found out that because of the fighting, it would have taken her 7 days to walk to the camp. She would have gotten there so late that it would do no good to try it. So, she was home and I was praising the Lord! I had not felt good about that trip from the beginning. (Whenever Pearl is gone, the bible studies come to a screeching halt, since she is our interpreter. This is why I felt that it wasn’t God’s will for her to be gone.)

We don’t know what it will mean for her in the future, but we trust that God knows best as to whether she really needed that U.N. number or not, and it appears that He felt that it was not necessary! It is so comforting to not be the one in charge! We can trust God to lead us in the way that He would have us to go when we commit our ways to Him.