Establishing Justice on Earth by Bill Gossett
When you take a mission trip with a team of people from your church, you may "kind of" know them: from church on Sunday or committee meetings or community groups, Sunday school, etc. After spending approximately 13 days in really close quarters, overcoming physical obstacles, and solving problems in a semi-hostile environment, you get to know your church friends in a different light.
Steve Hemphill, I have traveled together on mission trips before, so I knew what to expect. No nonsense, pragmatic problem-solving. Intellectual prowess exercised at exactly the correct moments and a powerful strength in doing God's work. Mary Gilliland was able to consistently demonstrate her life experiences to the staff at UHDP and the villagers. She would articulate her life experiences in such a way that they became gold nuggets treasured by the villagers receiving them. Her thought-provoking questions were full of insight. She also has a power that comes from God to do His will.
Karen Rogers is highly organized and kept us on track when we began to fall off. I know how difficult that would probably be having "me" on the trip :). I know Karen travels a lot, but she created a moment that "blew me away." Our team had the opportunity to witness the killing and butchering of a hog for lunch one day. It was done by the villagers who staff UHDP from their passel of hogs. I have field-dressed deer, so I had an idea of what was coming. I will admit killing the hog at close range without a firearm was not what I expected. During the cleaning and butchering process, Karen Rogers stepped right in the middle of the four UHDP villagers working on the hog, grabbed a blade, and went to work with them. Mary followed suit. WOW Karen, WOW Mary, I wasn't expecting that! No, I did not jump in.
Lastly, my experience getting to know Karen Trischler. Rick Burnette and I walked about a total of three hours every day at different times of the day to survey the area. Karen Trischler always went with us. Weeeeell, one day, we had been out over an hour, and suddenly Rick realized we were lost. So after some thought, but not much thought, we began attempting short cuts through extremely rugged terrain and heavy bush. While trudging through a never-ending landscape of mountains, jungle, and bush, I realized why Rick's wife called Rick's walks "death marches." It seemed that way for a while, at least. That whole "lost walk" Karen never complained once. She had worn shorts and was pushing through the bush like it didn't exist. The terrain was difficult. Eventually, we happened upon a farmer that pointed us in the correct direction, and we landed on a trail that was taking us back to the home base. I realized as we were making our way back that I did not really know the Karen Trischler that I saw in church every Sunday, sitting with her beautiful family. Karen is a tough, strong, educated, and brilliant warrior. She is not afraid of anything. Her resilience during our "lost walk" reminded me of this scripture and our work in Thailand. Isaiah 42:3, “In faithfulness, he will bring forth justice; he will not falter or be discouraged till he establishes justice on earth.”
The saying of goodbyes the last evening------A major feast of food from the many different tribes. Everyone's families with lots of little kids running around. It felt like a family reunion. Smiles and happiness everywhere. The exchange of gifts from 2BC to all the UHDP staff and from the UHDP staff to the 2BC team. Several speeches from both groups. The highlight of the final evening was a group prayer. Approximately thirty-five people were holding hands in a circle and praying. We all voiced our prayers simultaneously in our village languages, Thai and English. It was powerful; you could feel the presence of God surging through everyone. Amen