Joshua Team

            At the end of July a group of Mien-American youth came to Thailand to learn about their roots and build relationships with Mien living in Thailand.  They call themselves the Joshua Team, because as Joshua led God’s people into the promise land, so they want to lead the way for other Mien-American youth to travel to the areas of their heritage.   

            The Mien people, like the other hill tribe groups of Thailand are minorities in whatever country they live in.  They call many different countries home.  The largest population of Mien lives in China, but there are also significant numbers of Mien in Vietnam, Thailand, Laos and even the U.S.A.  During the Vietnam War, Mien people generally supported the U.S. forces and were often recruited to fight.  Many also fled to Thailand for safety.  Like two of the team members from the Joshua team, many Mien spent years in refugee camps, waiting for a new home.  Many of those refugees eventually found a home in the United States, where there are now approximately 25,000 Mien people.  These people have had to struggle to overcome cultural differences and language barriers to live in the U.S. 

            Mien youth now living in the U.S. are the first generation of Mien-Americans. Some of them were born in Thailand or Laos, while others were born in the U.S.  These youth struggle to maintain their own cultural identity while also trying to fit in to the country that is their home. 

            Approximately one fifth of Mien-Americans are Christians.  Because Mien culture is tied so closely with spiritual rituals and practices, Mien Christians have come to a new understanding of maintaining their culture while living out their faith.  Members of the Joshua team explained that their families do not practice traditional Mien religious rituals, while some of their non-Christian friends in the States still do.  They hoped to learn more about their cultural heritage and what it means to be a Christian Mien youth. 

            The first few days of their time in Thailand the Joshua Team participated in MMF’s Christian Experiential Learning (CEL) Program.  They learned about the history and culture of Thailand and the Mien people from presentations given by MMF staff.  They dialogued with youth leaders from Chiang Rai about shared experiences of living as minorities.  They also did some sight seeing around the Golden Triangle and visited the Opium Hall, where they learned about the affects of Opium on the minority peoples of Thailand.  One of the highlights of the trip was getting to spend time with Mien youth from Laos.  They played games, did crafts and some stayed up until the wee hours of the morning discussing their lives and their faith.  Despite calling different countries home, the Mien youth were all able to communicate in the Mien language, which allowed them to interact with many Mien people both sharing their experiences and learning from others

            The Joshua team wanted to come to Thailand to get a glimpse of where their parents came from.  As we looked out over the Mekong River from the guest house in Chiang Khong, more than one team member remarked that this was the same river their parents had crossed over when they escaped to Thailand.  

            After completing the CEL Program, the group stayed 3 nights in the Mien village, Baan Mai Rom Yen where they were able to bond with the youth from the church and also discover similarities between their churches and experiences.  The students worshipped together, discussed youth programs, played games and laughed a lot.  The team also painted the big toys in the church play ground as a service project.  The MMF staff and the Joshua team parted ways at Baan Mai Rom Yen. At the end of their stay with the MMF, it was hard to say good bye, but the Joshua team went on to build more connections as they bonded with 22 Mien youth in Mae Chan who were living in a student youth hostel.  They had the privilege of living with them for five days, experiencing what a student’s life is like, lived away from their families, who live in far away villages and must send their children to the nearest town for school.

The final experience they had was to meet with a committee of Thai-Mien Christian youth.  They joined together in planning for the first Mien Youth conference that will bring together Mien youth from Thailand, Laos, USA, China, and Vietnam next Christmas in 2007. This will be the very first time such a gathering will have taken place.   

The Joshua team will never forget this experience of returning to their roots.   And hopefully it won’t be long before they return to Thailand once again.