Loris’ Fifth Installment from the Thailand Team
Tuesday: We wake up early but not as early as our hosts. We prepare/review our lessons. We eat a nice breakfast of vegetables, chicken and rice. Kitichai & Lucy’s boys attend two schools until 9pm. They speak Lahu, Thai and now Chinese. They also understand more English than they let on. Kitichai wanted to show me how they butcher pigs…I wasn’t excited and he must have sensed that because the pig is in two large pans, clean and ready to go..I’m thankful. Shann & I head off to LTC on the motorcycle. I forgot the book of pictures I brought from home so back we go. At the school they are singing as we walk in..’Jesus, Lamb of God’ with Samuel playing the guitar. Beautiful! Now they’re singing it in a round…wish I had a recorder. Can I hold this beautiful sound in my heart?
The room is divided with girls on the left and boys on the right. They usually wear a uniform but this is a special time just after the New Year holiday so they are wearing t-shirts, flip flops, cotton slacks and Lahu skirts. A puppy wanders in listening to ‘You Alone Are My Hearts Desire’ and falls asleep underfoot. Babies come to class with their momma’s breastfeeding while they sing. Where will God lead these babies? What a good start they are getting in ministry.
Andrew speaks impromptu because Kitichai isn’t here yet…probably late because he had to butcher a pig this morning. Other students follow Andrew. Being a pastor means sharing at a moments notice and these students are off to a good start.
Chickens cluck and crow outside the classroom. The students laugh at a story. I wish my interpreter was beside me so she could tell me what he’s saying.
Terry teases the students that they’ll be speaking in English to us so one by one they go around the room and tell us their names. We get acquainted just like we would at home.
My interpreter is Thai and hasn’t done this before, she gets nervous so another teacher who is fluent in Thai translates into Lahu. This translating chain takes more time from English to Thai to Lahu. Linda speaks them all so she hears my talk as an echo! It is time consuming but fun. We can’t understand each other but women who can laugh together can enjoy each other’s company anyway.
I didn’t really understand what I needed to prepare to speak to these women when I was at home. I carefully typed what I wanted to share. This morning God brought another script to mind so I scratched it out on my notebook. It was right. I asked the ladies if they had questions. They were shy at first but later asked personal questions. One of the ladies said she would be praying I would come back because she was ‘impressed’ with me. I could have cried.
We have a short break and the men & women meet together to hear Pastor Frank speak about keeping yourself pure.
Lunch time! My new friend and interpreter is leaving so we hurry to the house to give her a small gift. I also have a cross for my 2nd helper. I’m glad I have something to send with these dear ladies. When we get back we’ve missed lunch. They had dog. J
We ate a rambutan fruit with Terry and Shann and I join him in a tour of the school. Students are here…Pastor Frank has gone to Terry and Linda’s to call Gail. It’s 10:00pm in Idaho…he wakes her up and gets to talk with her for the first time this trip.
The second half of the day with Pastor Frank teaching is well received by the students. Daniel is the topic and being men and women of God. Shann looks tired. Probably the sweet fruit for lunch. A student brings coffee! Shann will be a better student.
The students sing ‘Rock My Soul in the bosom of Abraham’ with motions. It is obvious they are very fond of one another. They encourage each other to speak and lead prayers. They clap for each other. I am having trouble matching names to faces because the pictures are so serious and in person the faces have huge smiles!
There is a board on the classroom wall of the five 4th year students we visited in the villages. They have a picture of each one and a list of prayer requests. The 1st-3rd year students pray for them each day. These students can have a huge impact on the Kingdom of God. They can go into China and Burma. What a miracle it is that we get to be a tiny part of it!
Samuel asks if we’d like to watch him feed the school’s pigs. How can we say no? After school each student goes right to their chores then to ‘football’ (soccer). We go ‘home’, clean up and off to Terry and Linda’s for supper of barbequed prawns, salad and mangosteen fruit. We can hear the students playing football, laughing and cheering. Later, after dark, we hear them singing. Time to go home, go to bed and thank God for another wonderful day in Thailand.