Final update before we return home

River separting Burma and Thailand. Only a few hundred yards from Forgotten Land

Forgotten House

The five Karen girls live at Forgotten House

Aerial view of River valley. The small cluster of bamboo houses behind the house with the red roof and to the left of the dirt road is Forgotten Land.

A student at the school we run on Forgotten Land.

All Smiles!

Karen man hanging out. Good to see smiles :)

Young Karen man on his boat, scoping out a beautiful lady on the shoreline (Ok, its Josh = FF team)

Everyday life

Headed up river to film some shots for our awareness project

Left to Right: Josh Montoya, Jon Justus, A.J. Jackson


God is Love. He has shown us many things on this trip; one being that He is in control and we must try not to control everything ourselves. Many lives are being changed here in Thailand. We are humbled God would use us to work along side the Karen. We provide the gospel, safety and refuge, a community, sustainability, education, medical care, and immediate relief. We do many things and with Gods grace, we do them well. We will be launching an awareness campaign throughout 2011 and making a DVD from extensive film we collected on this trip. Help us help others. Luv

Blessings,

A.J. and the FF Team

News from Thailand / Burma Border

Pastor with Proclaimer in Karen


Pastor Manat jammin out


Karen orphan who lives at Forgotten house


Dinner





Pastor Ninja Stephen


Wipa teaching Karen students

Greetings to all and thank you for you love and prayers! Our team (Josh, Jon, Miles, and A.J.) are all healthy and safe. We are half way through our trip and it is has thus far been filled with joy, adventure, rice, prayer, deep thought and discussions, rice and fellowship.

The people we serve are the Karen and they are highly opressed. The people in Forgotten land our safe, but those still in Burma face (as we speak) murder, rape, slavery, abuse, displacement, and opression. We are doing our best to help the Karen and their children. There is great need for safety and medical attention among the families, education for the children, and hope for all. They desperately need the gospel and love of Christ within them. Through Pastor Manat and Pastor Ninja Stephen and audio bibles (Proclaimers) we have been ministering to the Karen for three years now. We have had but a few come to the Lord, but we will not be discouraged and will continue to press on. The Lord is faithful. These people hurt and our hearts ache for them. One of the girls who came to Lord is only 16 and was kicked out of her house by her family once they learned she became a Christian. The girl, Wipa, now lives in the Forgotten House. After seeing the changes in Wipa's life, her family now is very interested in the Lord and has allowed her to return home if she wants!

We are defining the mission of Forgotten while on this trip and through God's direction, we will continue forward. We are seeing the Karen children as the future and a great need to foster, educate, and mentor these kids. They can be raised up in the love of Christ to help their people, love, give, fight, and give back the hope we can instill in them. Pray for us.

We thank God for the work of Pastors Manat and Stephen. They are faithful brothers and they want only to minister, diciple and love.

It is beautiful here. Forgotten Land, in the village of Metawah, is surrounded by lush mountains and in the Mai river valley seperating Burma and Thailand. Josh, Jon, and I swam in the river yesterday. It is hard to wrap your mind around the fact that just kilometers from where we were swimming, people are being hunted!

I am victim of this more than anyone, but please recognize how good your life in the U.S. is. How much freedom you have. Remember the Forgotten. Thank you again and enjoy the pics!

Blessings,

A.J.

We're here!

Well, we have arrived safely after 27 hours of flying and layovers and another 10 hours of driving in a bus! It has been an amazing time so far with Josh, Miles, and Jon. Pastor Ajan Manat picked us up in Mae Sat and brought us to Maermat, where we stayed the night with a friend and fellow servant of Christ. We head for Forgotten Land today, which is about two hours north. There is a school here that Miles and Manat funded to have built about three years ago. The school is for all the neighboring Karen children, but it currently lacks the support for a teacher, so we are exploring if Forgotten is to be part of this. Please keep us in your prayers and we thank you all for your love and support. Ephesians 4:1-5. A.J.

P.S. The photography is done by Josh Montoya