Out of Fire Comes Compassion

Around 11:00 A.M. on May 18, 2005, a fire began in a house in the impoverished Wat Phraya Krai Community, Yannawa District, Bangkok and then spread quickly since all the homes in the area were 90% wood.

After learning of the disaster, many local initiates visited the Community the next day, bringing cooked vegetarian fried noodles in boxes to the victims. The food was distributed quickly to the extremely hungry residents, who were told that the initiates would contact them again to see if additional aid was needed.

On May 20, the sisters and brothers returned to the fire stricken area as promised and spoke with the Community's leader Mr. Sakorn Pongpun and other district representatives to get more information about the fire. The Wat Phraya Krai Community had consisted of 37 wooden row houses, of which the fire destroyed 34, leaving 150 families (400 people) with nothing except the clothes on their backs. Many victims had to stay in tents provided by the local government, and some were able to lodge with friends or relatives in nearby areas.

After speaking with Mr. Sakorn, the initiates bought bread, jam, sweetened sterilized milk and fruit and distributed the supplies to the community members. To comfort their souls, the brothers and sisters also hung a plastic poster of Master in front of the food distribution area and promised that they would come back to visit the victims again in the future.

Then on May 24, the initiates called Mr. Sakorn to see if other organizations had provided food for the victims, and he said that some groups had distributed food during the day but there was nothing to eat in the evening, when the victims were also hungry. Furthermore, many people had donated instant noodles, but the victims had no electric thermoses to boil hot water to soften the noodles. So the following evening the initiates supplied bread, butter, milk and fruit for breakfast in the morning, and two thermoses for public use. 

On May 26, the sisters and brothers cooked vegetarian food for the victims' lunch and from that day on called from time to time to see if their situation had improved. The people of Wat Phraya Krai replied that they were deeply grateful to The Supreme Master Ching Hai International Association, and invited the initiates to visit them without bringing material aid so the sisters and brothers again promised to visit soon. In this way the victims responded to the true love and compassion shown them when they were in a difficult situation.

While conducting the relief effort, the poster of Supreme Master Ching Hai in front of the food distribution area emanated God's loving energy very strongly, making the victims feel calmer, more peaceful and less pressured, as everyone who saw Her photo was immediately uplifted. Also, through Master's unconditional love and blessing, other private and public organizations donated items needed by the victims. Thus the Thai initiates would like to thank Master for the care and concern She bestowed on them and the other citizens of Thailand during a very challenging time.