Trip to Burma

One of the hardest things about living in a country that isn't your own, is dealing with visas. I thank God that I am able to get a visa through the foundation that the Barnett's helped to establish while they were here in Thailand. I am able to get a 1 year visa but I have to travel to Burma everything 3 months to get my passport stamped. Tawm likes to go and shop in Burma because you can get knock-offs of everything, watches, purses, dvd's, cd's and other things. They have even started selling viagra. It takes about 3 1/2 hours to travel to the border, so it makes for a long day. Before we were married I had to travel by bus once a month, which took 5 hours one-way, so I am thankful I don't have to do that anymore.
Everytime we go I am thankful for the opportunity to live in Thailand. Although Thailand is a developing country, Burma is still a 3rd world country. As soon as you cross the border kids are there begging for money, you heart goes out to them. However, I have a problem with the way the beg, moms with small babies will hit their kid when you aren't looking to make them cry so that they can get more money. On one occassion I gave a boy about 7 or 8 years old some change and as soon as I gave it to him, he ran and gave it to the monk that was walking down the street, trying to gain some merit. Burma is another country that is mainly Buddhist and is in desperate need of the gospel.