We got to know Mary and her family through Dwight when he first took me to visit her family 8 years ago. She's an awesome cook and came to Bangkok to escape the civil war in Sri Lanka where her ethnic group eventually lost. She hoped that her family would be able to settle in a country where they'd be safe to practice their Christian faith. Long, long story short, she just got deported.
I wish we could've helped more, not necessarily raise money to get better lawyers for her case, but even just to keep her more comfortable during this difficult process. Every missionary or church person has reasons to be preoccupied with other good works. I ignore people on the downtown streets of Bangkok everyday, for instance, and I ignore the poor even in my church who ask for help. Our church has committees for that, right? What bothers me more about this case is not that I knew Mary for a long time and that she got deported, but her most consistent and practical help in the last few years was through a nonreligious British woman.
Pictured above is a meeting organized by Dwight a few years ago to discuss how we can network to help refugees more effectively. I'm not posting Mary's pic out of respect for her privacy.
