Yesterday I found a document that I've been searching for for several years online, and ironically I wasn't actually looking for it when I found it. The Migrant Student Data Report (MSDR) published an excel spreadsheet with the names and locations of most of, if not all, the migrant camps in Washington State as of 2008. As an advocate for the children in these camps I have been seeking to find more than the 4 camps I've worked in and have been long aware there were others, but haven't been able to find them, and at last I've found a way to do that - right before I move to Illinois.
I trust in the Lord's timing and I can't help but wonder at His reason for not allowing me in all my hours of searching to find a detailed list until this moment, given that it was published in 2008 by MSDR, which I'm very familiar with and even wrote my senior paper on over a year ago. It really doesn't matter now why I missed it, rather it was human error or if there was a reason and purpose the Lord had laid out that I'll get to watch unfold from afar, or perhaps be a part of in years to come. Only the Lord really knows what is going on and surprisingly I don't feel angry that despite my prayers to find a list of camps like this so many times that it's only been until now. Rather - praise God I found it while I'm still here and can pass it on to people who can take it and do something with it rather I get to be a part of it directly or not.
My hope in sharing this is that groups of Washington believers will come across this blog and be moved to check out if the camps are still active and what their condition is and reach out to the migrants where they can be found - especially the kids who are often left without a lot of strong parental involvement and have to deal with violent criminals, pedophiles, and abuse within these camps that they have no resources or help against.
I don't believe that Christians, once they know about these issues and how close they are (there are almost 200 migrant camps of all sizes between Eastern and Western WA), can sit idly by and do nothing.
To get to the document go to: https://www.msdr.org/resources/index_ir.cfm and then scroll down to the "Migrant Housing Project" document and download or view it.
I trust in the Lord's timing and I can't help but wonder at His reason for not allowing me in all my hours of searching to find a detailed list until this moment, given that it was published in 2008 by MSDR, which I'm very familiar with and even wrote my senior paper on over a year ago. It really doesn't matter now why I missed it, rather it was human error or if there was a reason and purpose the Lord had laid out that I'll get to watch unfold from afar, or perhaps be a part of in years to come. Only the Lord really knows what is going on and surprisingly I don't feel angry that despite my prayers to find a list of camps like this so many times that it's only been until now. Rather - praise God I found it while I'm still here and can pass it on to people who can take it and do something with it rather I get to be a part of it directly or not.
My hope in sharing this is that groups of Washington believers will come across this blog and be moved to check out if the camps are still active and what their condition is and reach out to the migrants where they can be found - especially the kids who are often left without a lot of strong parental involvement and have to deal with violent criminals, pedophiles, and abuse within these camps that they have no resources or help against.
To get to the document go to: https://www.msdr.org/resources/index_ir.cfm and then scroll down to the "Migrant Housing Project" document and download or view it.
