I asked Bin Sha to send word out to the children who were to get money. We were going to disburse over $700.00 in that section alone. Most of the children came by before school with one or more of their parents. I asked each child to sign their card when they got the money so I'd have an exact accounting of what was given. A young mother who spoke excellent English came by to see if I could sponsor her son. She saw Bin Sha and I struggling to keep track of children and update cards and she offered to help. It was wonderful to have her there. She is a former teacher and just took over the registration. She got the information needed so much faster and wrote it so legibly that I couldn't thank her enough. She kept telling me, "You do so much for us, I want to do for you". I told her I would personally sponsor her son until a sponsor could be found. To have an educated contact in the camp to help Bin Sha is invaluable to me and will make it possible for us to continue our work in the camp. We registered children, disbursed money and took pictures for over 2 hours.

2 young men came in and shyly shook hands with me. One looked familiar but I wasn't sure who he was. After a few minutes, his friend said in English, "Pee Pee, this is Edward come to see his Mommy."
I couldn't believe my eyes! Edward was 17 years old when I last saw him and he was taken back into Burma. We embraced and tears were running down our faces as he kissed me on both cheeks and kept saying "Mommy, Mommy!"
I had "adopted" him when he was 11 and sent him to school in Chiang Mai. After a few years he came back to the camps and in 98 went back into Burma with a group who had been tricked into thinking they could safely return to their homes. His story is one of abuse, hardship and heart ache and I can't go into it here. Over the past 8 years I have tried to get information about him through my underground sources. I heard he was being mistreated, used as forced labor, forced to porter for the Burmese Army until he finally escaped and went deeper into Burma. Through his friend, I learned some of his story and learned he had escaped many times but had been caught and returned to inside Burma, but this time he made it all the way across the river and made his way to Mae La refugee camp where he started trying to figure out how to find me. It had taken him 3 months of walking and hiding from soldiers to make it to the border. We held each other and cried. Bin Sha understood what was going on and just went on without me and let us sit and catch up. After a while I asked him to eat and then everyone started talking to him. It was so great to see him laugh and carry on with the others. Later he held both my hands he poured out his heart to me and told me of his deep longing to talk to me in English. I told him I would pay for him to go to the Special English Program that had been set up in the camp and the lady helping us register assured me she would look out for him and see he took the classes. I have to admit, I had given up ever seeing him again on earth. There were times when I feared he had been killed and I was filled with despair. I am constantly amazed at how God uses others to show us His great love for us!

We took lots of pictures and I slipped him a little money. He excused himself and said he'd be back in a little while. About a half an hour later Edward came back with a package. He had bought me a Karen top and asked me if I would put it on and have my picture taken with him while I was wearing it. The tears started again as I slipped it on and posed for pictures. If I never saw another old friend in camp the rest of my trip I wouldn't complain. I knew that our reunion was the most important thing that had happened to both of us in many years. I dream of someday bringing him to the US to live with me. He is now 25 years old and ready for a real family.

After about another hour, we finished with the last child and Bin Sha said he had made arrangements for a private car to take us back to Mae Sot. I would pay 1500 baht for it. (That is roughly $40.00). Bin Sha told me he would travel to Mae Sariang with me and into Mae Rah Moo refugee camp, but I knew he would be taking a great risk trying to get through the check points with no Thai ID. I told him I would be fine to go by myself and I'd like him to stay with his family. He finally agreed and he helped me pack my bag. He said he would ride into Mae Sot with me, buy some food and come back with the driver who lived in the area. Several men, women and children walked out to the main gate with us to see me off. I was sorry to say good bye, but anxious to start the next leg of my adventure. There were many people waiting for me in Mae Sariang and Mae Rah Moo refugee camp.

After getting back to the hotel and taking a hot shower I discovered that Bin Sha had forgotten to unload my small bag from the back of the truck. I called him on his cell phone and he confirmed he had it. I get so used to the Karen doing everything for me that I got lazy and didn't check to see that I had everything. I called Winsleigh and he said he could take me back to Mae La to pick it up in the morning. I had a quick bite to eat and to bed early.

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