Helping more refugees... "Chin" up!

I've been spinning a number of plates the past few weeks....maximum multi-tasking, which I really do enjoy. I've gotten a number of estimates from different construction type companies for everything from re-doing the flooring to replacing plastic stained-glass type windows and going from very old wooden doors to a few hollow metal doors and some more secure wooden doors. I've driven more than 400 miles in the last two weeks, all in Phoenix, helping Karen refugees in varous ways. I could go on, but I'll spare you.

We've had two Sunday mornings at the new time and although it "feels" a little awkward, I believe it is proving to be the good move we thought it would be. For those of you that pray for what we're doing, please keep the worship aspect of the church in prayer. I REALLY need someone to not only lead worship, but to also lead us from doing all hymns read directly out of hymnals, to more contemporary worship using a projector and worship software. I've been working with a few Karen young guys, teaching them songs and so forth, but it just isn't my gift and thus consumes way too much time for me and creates way too much frustration.

This past Sunday a different group of refugees from Burma began using our facility and I believe eventually will become part of our church. The Chin people are also an ethnic minority group that have a rich Christian heritage. They too are on the list for extermination by the government of Burma, (Myanmar.) But, different than the Karen, the majority of them fled south and were living in refugee camps in Malaysia before being re-settled in America. As of now, there are a total of about 70 Chin people living in Phoenix now, and the majority of them are now meeting at our facility. The Lord has blessed them with a pastor of their own too, just like the Karen. Their language is completely different than Karen, but they can communicate with each other because both groups speak Burmese fairly well and as both groups learn English, that will also provide a greater ability for them to communicate with each other.