Hmong Hill tribes

Yesterday I got back from a 3 day trip to visit 2 Hmong hill tribe villages in the North of Thailand with our team. I really had no idea what to expect going there, but I must say that just these 2 days in the villages were an experience that I will never forget.

After we arrived in the town of Tak Monday afternoon we looked around, ate dinner and then everyone retired to rest for the trip up into the mountains to visit our first Hmong village.

To get to this village we drove in our hired van to the nearby National Park where we were met by the son of the village leader and two soldiers who work with the Hmong and the nearby King's project. The trip from there to the village took an hour and a half through jungle and really impressive country side. It was so neat I didn't even mind being covered (literally) in dirt from the dry road. We went straight to the daycare where the preschoolers were just getting ready for their naps. We met the teachers and several village leaders as well. We took this time to discuss arrangements for our short-term team that we'll be bringing with us this summer to do some work on the school. Because we will be coming back in August which will be during the rainy season we are going to have to stay in the village as the roads will possibly be rained out and going back and forth everyday will be quite a hassle. I can't wait for this as we will get to stay with some of the Christian families in the village.

After plans were made, we were toured around the village and introduced to some people. Pastor Bob by a Hmong Home, and the village road below.We were then invited to one of the village leader's house were we ate lunch of rice, fish, omelet, and water with some sort of vegetable in it. It was very good and the company afterwards was fun as well.This is the preschool director and her daughter. She is the wife of the son of the former village leader.

This is the former village leader who is now in charge of overseeing all the King's projects in the area.
And this is Pastor Bob showing off the fact that he doesn't have any dirt of him from the trip. He rode in the cab.

Another truck came after lunch and took us to see the King's agriculture project nearby where they are teaching and employing the Hmong in new farming techniques that will cut back on slash and burn farming and yield more crop per year. We finished this day hot, tired, and dirty, yet we were so excited for all the opportunities we are going to have to work here this summer and in the future.

Our 3rd and last day we went to the second Hmong village where we met with Pastors Ning and Suphan as well as many church leaders, and their families. They recently built a new church and Pastor Bob and Diana wanted to visit the finished project to report back to their churches who gave money to have the church built. They did a wonderful job of building the church and everyone at Pastor Ning's house went with us to show it off. I got to spend some time with the children, and absolutely loved every minute of it. This little boy Jaw was shy around me at first, but by the time we headed back to the house we were best friends. He's so cute. I also got to meet his sister and her friend who told me that they have never seen snow, so I promised that when I visit them next month I'll bring them pictures of snow. For lunch we ate traditional Hmong style, meaning that as the guests we ate with the men, while all the other members of the family ate separate. Afterwards we were joined by everyone and Pastor Bob led us in prayer before we headed back to Bangkok and he thanked God for the special people there, for the work that continues and the Gospel that is being spread. Really, it was so neat, as Pastor Bob said that we represented several different cultures and languages, but we all shared one heart which is Jesus Christ. I can't wait to go back in April and again in August to work with them some more and continue to share Christ's love with them.

Here are the pictures from the whole trip. Enjoy!