Day four

When evening came on Day #4 I was sleeping under a mosquito net and using a yoga mat as a cushion against the wooden floor. The family had turned off the generator (no electricity) and I was hoping my latest outhouse run would be enough to last till morning.

The day had been long. We'd rode in the truck nearly five hours on roads that weren't kind to my tendency to get car sick. When we were almost at the house the truck got stuck, again, in the mud and this time wasn't budging. So we gathered up all our stuff and walked a mile or two in the dark to the house.

I was already exhausted but we were far from time to sleep. After dinner the family and friends who'd gathered shared some of their stories with us. One woman told how she'd left her nearby village with her daughter, in the cover of night on their small wooden boat, to move here after being forced out because she was a Christian. The others told similar stories of standing firm despite opposition and pressure to turn back.

Please ask that these families will remain strong. They are very poor in terms of our earthly standards.

Here's the house and viewpoints all the way around:

And my favorite, because it has a "Little House on the Prairie" feel and we got some sunshine:

Boat making

This week tons of tourists have invaded the city! It's the annual lantern festival. Lanterns are decorated all over the city and people will release lanterns into the nighttime sky the next few evenings. Some people believe that releasing lanterns is a way to release their sins from the year.

The festival also includes making "boats," or kratongs, to release into the river. The boats are made out of banana leaves and stalks and they're a way to honor and thank the river goddess. Today at the school where I help teach English the children made kratongs and invited us to join them. Let's just say arts and crafts is not my thing and the kids laughed more at my lack of artistic ability than they did offer to teach :)

The boats and lanterns are beautiful. It's a fun festival with lots of food stalls on the streets, fireworks and a parade. But it's still a Buddhist holiday with people putting their faith into lanterns and boats to take away sins and appease gods. Pray that they will come to know the only God, the Living God, who can forgive sins and give peace and joy.

Village life

Last week I made my third visit to a nearby country, and this time to the northern villages. I still can't get over Southeast Asia's beauty:

We drove for hours to get to these villages. Narrow, winding mountain roads that were sometimes more like a dirt or gravel path than an actual road. In one village we met this 83-year-old woman who had moved from her village to a village farther up the mountain in order to share. She moved there with her husband when she was 24, and although most of the villagers hated them because they were believers, they didn't give up.

Upstairs in her bamboo home, sitting
near the fireplace. 

Some villages were completely on the water. Their "streets" were the waterways in between the floating gardens and they had no cars, only boats. If you want to visit your neighbor, you jump in the boat:

In the villages (and even in my city) a breakfast meal often looks the same as a lunch or dinner meal. There's not really special breakfast food. This was my breakfast one morning:

On the way out to the villages you never know what you might find. We had to pull over when we saw a group of workers out in the fields:

More village homes:

The people we met were incredibly kind, gracious and grateful. But most don't know Him and are firmly committed to Buddhism. When they do believe, they're often persecuted by others in the village, including family, and some are forced to leave the village. Ask that He will open many hearts, and that individuals and families will have the faith and strength to stand firm in Him.

The S People

The "S People" are a Buddhist/animist people group of about six million with less than one percent believing in Jesus. They are considered a minority people group in their country and throughout the years have been treated harshly by their government.

The S People live in temporary villages of tin and bamboo shacks and they're scattered across several different Southeast Asian countries. Many have fled their country in hopes of finding work and a better life for their families. Unfortunately, life is usually not much better in their new homes. They often work on construction sites and move from one job to the next. The work is hard, the days are long, the pay next to nothing.

When someone from the S People comes to faith it's not uncommon for persecution from family and friends to be immediate. Some are forced to leave their village, others are beaten and some are made to burn their Bible.

I recently attended a training weekend with others in the city to help us learn more about how to reach the S People. Please ask the Father to open the hearts of S People, so that they will desire to know and worship the one true, living God.

The training site was beautiful. Love this city's
mountain views.  

Happy Birihday

They laughed when I made them wait to light the candles so I could get my phone and take a picture. Note the spelling of "birthday."

Yep, that's how the candles were packaged. No "t" in sight.

Another one for #asia.

Also note the icing-free cake. Best kind.

Hold your breath

Although driving over here is totally different than in the States, as crazy as it sounds, it now feels quite normal. Driving is often compared to a river and you just have to "go with the flow" (I really don't like cliches, but this one seems to fit). Although there are no "rules" there are plenty of unwritten rules, and because everyone knows the "code," it just works.

For example:

• If a highway has more than one lane the far left lane becomes a parking lane. So if you just avoid driving in that lane you'll be much less frustrated about having to go around people who "had the nerve" to park in the middle of the road. Because, to them, they actually didn't park in the road...

• If you see an open space, it's for the taking. If there's a slight gap (meaning you think your vehicle can fit, not that it actually will) then go for it. People will stop for you. In America we'd probably say that someone pulled out in front of us and call it rude. Not here. Over here we just call it letting people into the flow of the river. 

• Know the peek and creep. If you keep inching out bit by bit and stick the nose of your vehicle out far enough, eventually, someone will let you out onto the road. In America the peek and creep would get you, at the very least, some ugly stares. Not here. Over here we call it "showing boldness," and without that you'd never get anywhere. 

• Beware the bikers. Bikers are everywhere and they think they own the roads. It's annoying because most of them don't even look when they pull out in front of you. You just pass them soon as you can, which is possible even with a car coming from the opposite direction. Then, remind yourself that without the bikers we'd have more cars, which would make the river more crowded.

And lastly, you learn to "think thin." Or, you hold your breath in tight spaces and pray that somehow you get in, out, around or whatever the situation might be. 

This is probably my closest call yet and I don't think I'm ready to repeat!

Good job, Gracie

Chopsticks, mountains & celebrations

Today I returned from a trip to East Asia, my first time in this particular East Asian country. Of the different Asian cities I've visited, this one was probably the most unique, and also the hardest cultural adjustment. The city's population is primarily one specific people group, but a Muslim-background people group with Central Asian roots also calls the city home. Which means you can be on a main city street one minute with views like this:

The mountains are stunning!

And then turn down a side street the next and see this:

Warm bread-so good!

Boiling the eggs. 

In my country, fruit is cut into small slices and
placed in bags. Here, you just eat a
slice standing on the street.  

The Muslim population also means views like this:

In my Southeast Asian city we don't use chopsticks that much, but here, it's all they use. The people I was with thought I didn't particularly like meat because I didn't eat much of it during mealtimes. Truth is, I have yet to master the art of chopstick-eating. So even if I wanted to try the meat, sometimes I just couldn't quite manage to get it on my plate:

That's tea in the little bowl. It's a staple at every meal.
But if you ask for water, it will be hot. They don't usually
drink cold water. 

Meals are done family style, meaning the group orders
a bunch of dishes and everyone shares. 

Which then means you have to get the food from the middle
of the table onto your plate, with the chopsticks. I did get
 better as the week went on.

Dinner at a nice restaurant which included a fork
and spoon! Although everyone else, minus
the foreigner, still used the chopsticks. 

Lamb stew. The potatoes were really good. 

Milk tea is a popular drink. No need for spoons, you just pick the bowl up and sip (or slurp!)

I tried figs for the first time. Actually quite tasty. They flatten and then stack them:

One afternoon we went to an old cemetery. It really seemed like we were in the middle of a desert:

While I was there the city celebrated an important Muslim holiday when every family had to kill a sheep. They would then spend the day cooking the meat and being with family and friends.

The thing is, the sheep killings took place right on the streets. It was everywhere, and they did everything involved with killing and skinning the sheep. After awhile I couldn't look, it was too "graphic." Here are some tame photos:

Sheep for sale on the street.

Man trying to coax his sheep to get up.

Another ornery sheep. People used wagons, wheelbarrows
and even car trunks to carry their sheep home.

As we walked the streets that morning we prayed. So many people believing that the sacrifice of an animal would cover their sins. So many people not really even understanding why they had to kill an animal, just doing it because it's what you do on this holiday.

"But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed." 

"He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth;
like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent,
so he opened not his mouth."

-Isaiah 53:5, 7