good life

Three years ago, my family started sending care packages to kids through the Free Burma Rangers. They have a program called the "Good Life Club" - kind of like a portable Vacation Bible School that FBR teams put on for villagers all over Burma.

John 10:10 says this: "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full."

That's the point of the GLC: building up instead of tearing down, fullness instead of emptiness, life instead of death.

Two years ago, sitting the floor of a kitchen during a taco party in Chiang Mai, I got to talk about GLC with Hosanna, one of FBR's finest. She helps run the program. After her descriptions of the songs and games, plays and stories, I sincerely hoped I could join in someday.

Last month, I crossed paths with Hosanna in the jungle. Low and behold, she and Karen were in the midst of GLC practices with a Karen FBR team. They invited me into the process. And so it was that I got to direct a remount of "Mosquito Versus Man," the same play I helped put together two years ago at a training in Thailand. I also taught them the Mosquito Song that went with with the play.

It was so much fun. The team was willing to jump in and try anything. They learned the whole play-and-song package in two practices. I was pleasantly surprised to discover that I could communicate effectively in a combination of Karen language and exaggerated mime. And though I didn't get to be a part of the actual GLC program they put on a few days later with the mosquito components I helped them prepare, I trust that it went well.

Life is good!