A WOW week in Northern Thailand!

Oh man! It always seems like when ever I do something expecting it to be ordinary and low-key, it manages to turn out extraordinary and uplifting. This past week I spent 6 days travelling all over the northern region of Thailand with Dang, La, Waen and our new van driver Amnon. The schedule was quite full each day to the point where we found our self at the Northern-most point of Thailand the last day, and didn't make it back until Sunday. I hope you enjoy reading about these experiences and seeing the pictures of my visits to Hmong, Karen, and Akha hill tribe villages.

Monday we drove to Tak province which we recently visited over Easter for the dedication of a new church in Pakhamai. Our purpose here was to follow up work being done to install a shower and bathroom, as well as make final arrangement for our short term team visiting them in August. We also wanted to make sure we spent time in the Word together and encourage them while we were there. We ate dinner at Ning's house when it started to rain. Our original plan was to have the fellowship in the church, so the kids cleaned up the construction mess, but it got too late so we just invited people to come to Ning's house. It started out with only about 6 adults and 10 children but as we continued on the crowd grew until we could barely all fit into the room! Wow, we were so pumped after that! It was so interesting too because we had all been a little tired and worn out when we first got there, but afterwards it was like our energy was renewed. We stayed in a hotel in Phopra near the Burma border that night as it was the closest too us.

Tuesday we drove to Mae Rim and met with the Pastor of the Hmong student center there. We had some business to take care of concerning our short-term teams, and some construction projects that took place over the last two months. Suphan came also, so we could tell him more about his role in helping with the Hmong projects this summer. Since April, they installed a new roof over the girls pole-barn dormitory. The last one was made of wood and eaten by termites. Now the girls have a nice aluminum roof to keep them dry, and it has a special green netting to help keep the heat down! All the students were at school when we got there, so we checked into he YMCA and met with another local Pastor and his wife for dinner. Afterwards they came back with us to the student center where we got to attend and share at their evening devotion. It was such a blast. The kids are all just wonderful. The girls even hung around afterwards to ask the "American" girl questions and talk P Dang into taking them on a trip somewhere.

Again we came back that night excited about the work going on. Now our driver had come to both occasions and was starting to ask questions about this Christianity. The next morning we began a long drive to the Karen village near Pai. We picked up Wii, a young lady that Dang and La know. She asked us to visit her village and see if there was anything service we could offer to the community. Along the way we learned a bit about her village. She lives in Chiang Mai for school, but got off to go home and help her parents with the rice planting. It was nearly 3 hours to Pai, a outpost tourist town which draws lots of backpackers. To get there it is almost nonstop winding roads. I'm glad we stopped there for lunch, otherwise, I may not have made it to the village! After buying food at the fresh market we headed to a more remote outpost 50km away, and switched to 4-wheel drive truck. From this outpost to the village was 15km in the back of the truck, and it was an incredible off-roading experience. There is no way any vehicle besides a motorcycle or 4-wheel drive can get up there.

Inside the village, it was just incredible. I think what is different about this village is that it's up in the rain forest, so all the houses are tucked away on the sides of the hills and mountains, and there are little dirt footpaths leading every which way, that only the locals know where to. The houses are all on stilts because of the yearlong rain. There are chickens and pigs and dogs all living under the houses, and life is so simple and quiet. When we got to Wii's parents house we sat out on their porch, just looking out over the mountains. Wii and her family later on made dinner for us in their kitchen which uses an open fire. The floor was made out of bamboo that was unrolled and bowed beneath our feet. The weather was cool, unlike most other parts of Thailand, and neighbors and family members slowly made their way in for dinner, showering in the outhouse before coming upstairs. There was just something so neat in their simple way of life. For dinner the rice was sifted using a wide flat basket, all the dishes were washed off the side of the balcony. Wii's brother an Waen shared their music back and forth. As the guests we were served dinner first, that was prepared by Wii and her dad. It started getting dark so we had to leave them and head to the local medical clinic where we slept for the night, on the floor. The next morning we had work to do, and we got an early start with the wake up call from the local roosters. We planned to survey all the facilities that the village had to aid in human care and education. This included the clinic, a local student center, and the school. We saw the student center on the way to Wii's house for breakfast and had a chance to talk to the leader and local pastor who help supervise the children that live there. Afterwards we had breakfast at Wii's house before she took us to the rice fields so I could learn how to plant rice! I told Dang that one of my dreams for coming to Thailand was to learn how to plant rice, so they asked Wii's parents the night before, and they said we could come down as this day would be the first day of planting! They even gave me a pair of knee-high boots to wear! When we got there, I was thankful for having been a kid who always practiced walking on the road curbs, because we had to basically do that or fall into the rice paddy. Here is Dang, La, Wii and I standing on it.We went to where the ladies were and they showed us how they uproot the rice seedlings and bundle them together before they get planted.

After that the bundles get taken to the flooded and tilled fields where they are basically just pushed into the mud. Wii's Dad was so fast I could barely see his hands. All the ladies thought I was quite a sight and even told me that my skin was too white to be getting dirty in the mud. After that I was in high heaven (dirty hands and all)! We went to the school last before we left and met the principal, teachers, and students. The have the most beautiful uniforms that they wear. While we were there, Waen, La and Dang led some music, and I got to teach the kids a few English phrases.

Our hope is to bring a short-term team here in the future to spend time in the village, encouraging the Christians there, and helping the school out with an English camp. Oh did, I forget to mention? The whole village is Christian due to the influence of missionaries 40 years ago! Just think what will happen in all the villages we go to another 40 years from now!

Well, that was the end of our trip to the Karen village. On our return that day, we only made it as far as Chiang Mai. The next day was spent travelling to Mae Sai and the Golden triangle where we are going to start working with a pastor in an Akha village. A Lutheran church in the US is providing funds for their support and has asked us to oversee the projects. In the future they plan to bring this church into the Lutheran system, including having the pastor go through Lutheran colloquy at LISA. This gave us a chance to see firsthand the progress of the church they have built, to encourage the pastor, and do needs assessment for further work with them and their community. We would eventually like to bring a short term team in to work with them too! Our trip to Akha was relatively short compared with the other villages, but it was still worth meeting the pastor and letting him know how we can assist him.

That evening we stayed in a Chinese village called Doi Maesalong, which was inhabited by Chinese many years ago when communist tried to come in an turn Thailand communist. It's an absolutely beautiful trip up to this mountain village. We stopped in a Chinese tea shop where we got to try all these different flavors of tea, and then I bought a tea set, and gift for my God-daughter and nephew.

God is truly blessing us through the ministry here in Thailand. So many faithful Christians are scattered all over the place. It was good to be able to share in fellowship with them and encourage them letting them know that Christians all over the world are praying for them. I hope this blog is helpful in letting you get a brief glimpse into that world, and I ask that you would pray for these people from wherever you are!