When I boarded a plane for Thailand for the first time six years ago, I didn’t expect anything different than the other mission trips I had participated in all my life. I anticipated a wonderful, heart-filling experience, the “mission high” one feels once they come home, then the dissipation back into the materialistic normalcy we experience as Americans.

My experience was completely the opposite, and it has made a difference in my life. The Karen (Ka-wren) people, a Burmese refugee tribe living in the mountains of northern Thailand, nestled themselves into my heart. I was instantly drawn to their heritage and heart for God. I was also struck by their lack of value in the eyes of the Thai people and in their own hearts. I wanted so desperately to love them and show them the value they have as princes and princesses in the Kingdom of God. Even though I desperately desire to visit other people in various parts of the world, Thailand has become a repeat destination for me.

This past March I returned from my third trip with even more passion for the Karen people. Each experience with them has brought a new depth of understanding for their culture and heritage. It has brought renewed and deepened love for a people dearly loved by God. On my last two trips, I spent all my time with Karen who are living in Thailand with the proper paperwork. The people I work with are part of Handclasp (www.handclasp.org), an organization that, through sponsorship, provides education to children who otherwise would be targets of human trafficking. I have been able to see these children grow, learn and advance in ways that wouldn’t be possible without Handclasp.

On this trip, I went to see the Karen in a very different setting. Through a series of events, I was granted permission to visit a refugee camp on the Myanmar/Thai border. The people in these camps are unable to enter Thailand due to lack of paperwork and unwilling to return to Burma fearing the ramifications of political persecution. As I prepared to go visit these beautiful people, I researched the resettlement program that helps get some of these refugees into third-party countries like the United States. On my way to the camp, I was brainstorming ways I could help participate in this program, get refugees to safety and allow them to start new lives where they could live out their dreams. I was getting fired up about getting involved to save the Karen in bondage to a life of no hope or options. However, my heart changed soon after arriving.

We were taken to a Bible school in the refugee camp, the only section that we were able to visit. We were led on stage before an assembly of Karen students. Dr. Simon, who runs this school that gives young Karen people the opportunity to expand their Biblical and practical knowledge, started to share about the resettlement program but instead of describing the “American dream” as their aim of resettlement, he instead described a dream of joining in the Great Commission. I was instantaneously humbled as my heart sank into my chest. I had gotten it all wrong. I had been envisioning their lives as their own, instead of God’s. Dr. Simon had the proper perspective. He was excited about the prospect of getting to share the good news of Christ, for his life echoed the words of Paul in Philippians 1:21 when he says, “For me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.”

His life focus was not about earthly accomplishments, but fully saturated in heavenly perspective. His life meant more than what he could do with a college degree (something he does possess.) It was about the impact he made on the world through the gospel. It never ceases to amaze me how I get off course from the perspective Christ hopes us all to have. I so easily assimilate with the Western way of independence, selfishness and pride.

Since I got back to the States, I have been asking God to use these people to save the world, instead of being saved from their circumstances. I went to help them, but instead it was I who gained something that day, receiving another heart-changing moment in Thailand. God is moving among the Karen people, and while they need our help to meet their physical needs, we need them to realign our spiritual compass and broaden our perspective.