Loris’ Third Installment of First Impressions
Saturday:
We leave the village to go to another Ba Kaw Pi, this is the ‘old village’ tomorrow we’ll go to the ‘new village’ (Ba Kaw Suh). Samuel, Rachel & baby Paulo ride along. We stop at an open to the street Chinese restaurant along the way and eat food that is nice but not spicy. The restaurant has a ‘real’ toilet and a sink to wash the dust off my face outside in the back. We ride on to Ba Kaw Pi. This is a very poor village of 17 homes. They butchered a pig for us…I didn’t watch. Two LTC interns (fourth year students) live and work here. I see a little girl dancing/skipping her way up the hill to the church with bunches of flowers in her hands for the alter. Pastor Frank, Shann & I walk down the hill to check out the rest of the village. What we didn’t know is that at the end of the village another (Thai) begins. These people were friendly and offered us whiskey we think. We decline and say ‘hello’ to all we pass. Strange to this rural raised girl to be separated by language with your next door neighbors.
I have another ‘new’ experience. I shower in the neighborhood shower/toilet. The water comes from a hose and is cool. After our walk through this village and the next it feels great. Linda kindly watched the door for me as it didn’t really latch. The ladies on their way to the bathroom didn’t understand ‘No!’ so I and they were surprised for a minute! It feels great to get the red dust off after our long ride in the back of the pickup.
We eat (of course) and rest before the service at the church. About 60 gather including lots of kids. Three children join the interns in singing. The man who has given us his home for the night is playing a keyboard. The children are very serious about their songs and have been practicing. They sound great! The congregation sings ‘My Hope is Built on Nothing Less’ & ‘On Christ the Solid Rock I Stand’ I am amazed to hear the hymns we sing at home in Lahu. This congregation would probably feel the same way to hear us sing ‘their’ songs! Shann shares his testimony with Kitchai interpreting. He is really amazing to watch. The Lahu language is wonderful to listen to…I think if I listen hard enough I can understand it…I certainly get the ‘spirit’ of what is being said….but Kitchai makes it look so easy to switch back and forth between the two. Pastor Frank preaches, children wander around their mothers and a heavy sweet smell of ‘bell flowers’ hangs in the air again tonight. Kitchai surprises me with a Lahu skirt. It’s black with red trim and accents of other colors. I am touched. The man sharing his home with us tells us through Kitchai of an experience with ‘white people’. He is polite but I didn’t get the feeling it was a good experience. He thanks us for coming and talks about our being brothers and sisters in Christ. Most of the church shakes hands with us and tells us ‘u sha bon a pi’ (God bless you).
After church we walk down the hill past where Shann and I watched boys of all ages playing a game with wooden tops earlier in the day. They wrap a string around the top attached to a stick. We saw David’s tops a few days ago. This is a popular game. Our home tonight is a bamboo house on the ground. It has a dirt floor and a bamboo platform for sleeping. Our beds, all our beds, were made for us when we came back from church. Pastor Frank, Terry, Linda, Shann & I took our places with Pastor Frank making no quiet announcement that he was putting in his earplugs! Great idea. Dogfights/drumming/roosters/rest? Would you ever get used to these sounds of village living?
We get up early and then hear the bell (gong) telling us to get up for the early service. We walk to the church and hear ‘Create In Me a Clean Heart’,‘Give Thanks’ & ‘Come Thou Fount’. Shann spoke of the challenges of keeping our focus in Christian living. After the service we had a large breakfast of rice, pork and vegetable dishes and a new spice to me with chilies I like very much. I am given a ‘hint’ that the darker the dish the more blood is in it. I won’t forget and will try to avoid the dark.
I have a new vest to match my skirt. I will give my testimony at the new village and I think they want to be sure I look presentable!
Before we leave we pray for an older woman who has pain in her knees. My knees hurt and I just have to carry myself around. This woman in flip flops has had a life of gardening on hills steeper than the one across from the church!
We arrive in Ba Kaw Suh (the new village). It has 20 homes. We wait for the next service in the home of an LTC student. Thai television plays while we visit. We are offered candy, fried beans and soda. Terry’s back is sore and is given a massage. We walk up the hill to the church to wait for the service to start. 11:00 am is the time but the village has its own schedule.
The choir arrives followed by the congregation. They sing beautifully. An older man is serving as the minister today and will serve communion. I give my testimony. Frank delivers a wonderful sermon and we sing and share communion. The bread is a sweet cookie and the wine is strawberry soda. Pastor Frank is not interested in hearing about changes to our practice at CCCC. The pastor of the church also has a sermon and then Kitchi summarizes the service interpreting for us. We walk down the hill to the home we first came to and have a wonderful lunch (again!) It‘s a good thing we’re walking to church at least with all these delicious meals! May-ja! Delicious! Pastor Frank holds Hpawle (Polly) & Anusit’s baby, Sarah, through the meal reliving his own Sarah. Both are smiling!
We pack up to leave and are joined by Samuel, Rachel & Paulo and now another student from Samuel’s village. Shann and I sit in the back of the pickup with them. Samuel is a very attentive father & husband. He carefully shades his family from the sun. I suggest Shann might make some notes! His English is good enough to point out sites along the way. I’m thankful for his good disposition and willingness to try to understand us. We see the world from the back of the Toyota. We see four cows in a pickup of the same size. Water buffalo, people clearing hillsides steeper than I can believe, buddha’s on hills, and village after village are common sights. We stop for ice cream and another steamed rice bread stuffed with cabbage and meat. I can’t eat the ice cream or finish the bread.
We drop off the students at LTC and stop at Terry and Linda’s so Pastor Frank can upload photos before church tomorrow. Shann works on their water pump, Linda works at ridding her patio garden of worms that are eating her plants and Terry waters their plants. I try to stay out of the way!
Shann & I ride a motorcycle back to Kitchai & Lucy’s. A shower and clean clothes! I watch Lucy cook our dinner of ginger & crocodile. We eat on the patio.
Tomorrow the New Year’s dancing will be right outside the door!
Caleb has been packing a really long roman candle around since we got here and finally tonight he had permission to light it! He shared it with another boy who offered it to Shann. They traded back and forth as it flew off the deck!
What a wonder and blessed weekend! Tomorrow brings new adventures. What does God have in store for us?