We all love gifts—especially when they are expensive, rare, or desired by others. Gifts can make us feel special and loved. This Christmas Eve, I received a meaningful gift from my friends in Burma: a list of people affected by war to keep in my prayers.

This life is about Suffering!  In his song, “A Human Touch”, Jackson Browne writes:

You can call it a decision.  I say it’s how we’re made.  There’s no point in shouting from your island, proclaiming Only Jesus Saves!

There will always be suffering, there will always be pain.  But because of it, there will always be love and love we know, it will remain.

And on this trip, I met them. War Widows with young children, Buddhist friends of Believers, Muslim friends of Believers, a poor pastor and his wife and 3 children living in a shack with holes in the floor, 1000 desperate refugees living in the jungle with no electricity running from the army, no jobs, no land, no food, little hope.

It has been a hectic, action packed couple of weeks since our last newsletter. I have traveled to Indy for the “Farming God’s Way” Conference and then Sacramento for a business meeting and then Vegas. Projects include a 3 Wheel Basic Utility Vehicle by BUV that pulls 3000 lbs helping poor famers transport to market, an English Second Language Launch to our Refugee Camp in Burma, and a Crisis Flood Relief project for our poor flooded friends in Kathmandu.

Our dear friends on the river in Kathmandu suffered another flood on Wednesday. My Sister Asangla notified me with these pictures and video. Lover of the Least has been working with these very poor people for 2 years now and we have great love and concern for them.

For the last 25 years, over 1000 Hmong Refugee children have lived at Kathy’s Home while attending the local high school. We feed, clothe, shelter, provide medical treatment and educate them from ages 5 to 18. Over 35 children and teenagers have received college degrees throughout Thailand. One of them is this young man, Ponphet, who was an engineering student when I first met him over 20 years ago in a Hmong village.

Speaking, reading and writing English is a game changer in Burma. Children with English skills get better jobs and have a greater chance of seeking higher education. We are truly blessed to have an incredible servant teaching our children English for the last several months. She teaches our children online and also travels to the camp once per month. In addition, we are currently working on a plan to conduct online training with GOE (Gift of Education) for 12 advanced students.

Today, on this Memorial Day, I think of my father, Lt Col Jack D Yates, Jr. A Korean War Veteran and 4 tour Vietnam War Veteran with 2 Purple Hearts, 1 Bronze Star and 1 Silver Medal.

Do you see the poor? I often miss them…… in my town and neighborhood, at the grocery store or convenience store, on the street or bus stop, even at a church building or a prayer meeting.

In the last newsletter I briefly mentioned the undercover Rock Stars I have met over the years. No, this is not Sir Michael Philip Jagger, who at 80 years old struts across the stage shouting “You Can’t Always Get What You Want!!” But, to finish the lyric, “but if you try sometime you’ll find, You get what you need.”