Stories!!!

Story Time!

Since I have been back home from bangkok it has been service, service, service!!
Im not sure if it was the encouragement from the recent convention I received, or the amazing experiences in the ministry, but it has been an AWESOME last two weeks. 

Last Wednesday 

A large group of us headed a little further out of town to walk a territory. As Sharon and I meandered down the road too start the morning we pass a small temple area placed just off the side of the road. A women was inside bent down on the floor bowing to the communal statue, burning incense. She must have heard our chatter because she interrupted her praying, turned to us and asked "by ni?" (where do you go?) we explained that we came to talk to the people that lived here about a positive hope for the future. She got up off the ground and insisted that we walk to her house with her, of course we didn't refuse her offer, so minutes later we were sitting in her backyard with water in our hands munching on a banana she cut off the tree next to us.  We talked for a long time using the Truth Tract to guide our conversation. While she did speak decent english at times she didn't understand, so she abruptly took out her phone and called her daughter who lived in Bangkok that spoke English to translate for us. Sharon took this opportunity to witness to the as well daughter for at least fifteen minutes, how unexpected! 

We met up with others around lunch time. Matthew and Kerri, Sam and Tarra, Cheri and I decided to push through for the afternoon planing on visiting some interested ones. Matthew said he had to go back to one women he attempted to talk to earlier in the morning to clear up some things.....
Apparently this is kind of how the conversation went between the householder and him...all in broken Thai. He told her that he would come back with his wife later to talk to her. She replied (all in thai) "danger, danger!!" What? why would it be dangerous he asked....She said "oh, no no, so dangerous  how old are you?" He replied. She said, "I am ten years older than you, oh so dangerous." oh no, he thought, I dont want YOU to be my wife, I want to bring MY wife back to talk to you. 
Hahaha, oh this is such a classic example of how wrong conversations can turn when there is a language barrier. 

Anyhow, all 6 of us go to see her again, to clear up this little misunderstanding. Passion fruit trees that lined her property were weighed down with all the fruit left on the branches, so she picked a whole plastic bag of them for us while feeding us little dried fruits as we waited...what a lovely lady. In the meantime her daughter pulls up on a scooter and she can speak english, shwew! She asked if we had eaten lunch, we told her we hadn't yet, just on our way to find a place. She said that we could join her at a small restaurant close by if we wanted. Of course! Over lunch she said that she had a son and was seemed happy when we gave her the article in the Awake! about succeeding in school. When we got up to pay and the owners of the restaurant said there was no need, lunch was on them, and it was a pleasure having us there. How nice!!! People are so giving in Chiang Mai, it amazes me. 

The restaurant owner is between me and Cheri, then Tarra, Sam, Matthew, and the Women that invited us to join her for lunch!

After getting lost more than once, a train of three scooters finally found where my call was. She was actually home and invited us in to talk, I left the Truth Tract the first time I stopped by, this time she wanted to go over the second point, 'will war and suffering ever end?' She speaks English well and despite being a Buddhist she teaches at a local Christian school.  She said that she didn't even really understand her "own beliefs" as a buddhist and had many questions about Christians, what heaven and hell was and what the future holds etc. After showing her basic answers to some of her questions from my Thai Bible I showed her the coupon for the Bible Teach book on the back of a meeting invitation I gave her, she filled it out eagerly and handed it back to me! Exciting!

However, durring long days, we tend to get a little crazy sometimes: like Ruth here hehe...

Ruth decide she wanted to create a jacket with matching gloves attached to the sleeves... she's keeping that skin as white as she can while shes out in service! 

Thursday 

I went with Nee on a few of her bible studies and return visits. After checking in with a couple of her calls we were about 45 minutes south of town. I found myself standing in the door way of a shack looking down at women that had to be in her eighties sitting folded up on a weaved bamboo mat that gave her little cushion from the concreate floors beneath her. Her jaw was bouncing up and down as if she had a stroke in the past and the one front tooth in her entire mouth didn't prevent her tongue from flopping side to side. Her cataract covered eyes looked up at mine, and she started yelling in excitement. She insisted I sit on the floor next to her...I did...she put her hand in my lap. Nee said she was really surprised to have a foreigner in her house and she just wanted to touch my "white skin" haha.  While we were there she carried on with her work, I watched her in amazement. She rolled cigarets from a bowl of dried tobacco sat beside her and a stack of dried banana leafs in front of her. She sells 100 of the for 40 Baht. Thats nothing. Not being able to participate to much in the conversation I timed her, it takes her about 2 minutes to finish one, so to make 100 would take her over 3 hours, and thats with zero brakes. So she would make under $1.30 for over 3 hours of work....hard work for her age. I think back to most of the ones in the States that are her age, plopped in a recliner or bed in front of a tv...and here she is curled up on a concreate floor rolling cigarets so she can live on less than $2 a day, so sad.  Despite her condition of living, there was nothing but smilies on her face. She offered me a cold corn cob, I can assure you it didn't look the least bit appetizing  but she instead to share with me what little she had, how could I refuse that? So there I was, sitting on the floor, with her tobacco covered hand in my lap, eating my corn cob showing her pictures of the paradise from the Learn From God brochure...oh, never a dull moment. 












Next we headed to one of my calls. He was home too! Tyese and I had come to our limit with words we could say to him in Thai...he needed more. Nee was the perfect person for him, she went on using the Pathways to Peace and Happiness Brochure. As I watched him it looked as if he had a "lightbulb"moment he said it Thai "I understand!!" He had many questions he wanted answered, Nee said that we could come back once a week for an hour and answer one question at a time. She showed him the coupon on the back of the brochure for the Bible Teach Book, he wanted us to bring the book back and study next Thursday! 

Afterwards Nee drove me to see her families house and woodshop...on the way I was sitting on the back of the bike, breathing in the fresh air, looking out at the surrounding rice patties with the stalks bowing just waiting to be harvested. Putting my arms out, enjoying the light crisp breezes making the suns rays more bearable on my skin, gazing at the rolling green mountains in the background, thinking this is one of those moments....one of those moments that no picture could capture. Somethings can be so simple but yet so wonderful, and unless you were there, in that moment, no one will ever understand how lovely it was.  



Sunday

Before meeting I have my three little Filipino bible studies...they are so cute! Two are twins about 8 years old and there older sister is 10. They bring their Bible Story's book every Sunday to their Mothers restaurant so we can read together. For their parents being Buddhist, their memory/knowledge of what we have studied from the Bible together amazes me.

Tuesday

Moises, Meriko, Jordan, and I accompanied Matthew and Kerri in their hunt for Lahu Villages today. They are still mapping out were the Lahu villages are for their "territory". We drove about 250 Kilometers total today (a little over 155 miles). Most of the villages are empty because everyone is working in the fields *tis the season* its just the really old ones and the really little kids are home....oh and the dogs, roosters, and pigs. Kerri was saying when they asked someone when would be a good time to find people home they said "January or February" haha....nope, not "weekends, or after 6 p.m." Just the months of January or February  when there's not fields to tend to....well ok then.

However, Matthew found some Lahu Boys to chat at while we were in town for lunch... They drew him a map of another unknown village we can visit, what a great day!   

So Beautiful!