Myanmar Mission Trip Journal (Part 2)
Day 8
Today we all woke early (at least earlier than we had been) because it was the first day of full program for the training conference that are helping with. So we had breakfast and then grabbed our lift to the Church. We were there early but as we have been growing accustomed to, they run on 'Burmese Time'. Things starts… whenever people feel like it is about right…
The Bible training for the Pastors started first. Pastor Eugene was late! Because we didn't know things had started and that they were waiting for him. He taught on the big picture story of the Bible (for 3 hours!)
A little while later the kid's gathered and the fun began. There was a little 'puppet' show telling the story of Jesus' birth (like on Day 4). Lots of games were also played. The kids are so easy to have fun with. And they are so energetic. We ploughed through all the games we had prepared really quickly.
After a bit of a break, it all started up again. We shared the story of Levi and how God came to save us from our sins. Then more games. Meanwhile Simon was teaching the Pastors and helping them to think through the process for deep and detailed interpretation of the Bible when preparing teaching resources.
We finished up at about 3 and went back to our hotel for some rest. Then back to the Church Compound for dinner and then a night service. It was very rushed as the Burmese Pastors had a business meeting afterward. Hester shared her testimony and Simon gave the message - humility and prayer are essential to life under God.
We came back to the hotel and then spent some time reflecting on the trip so far, praying and preparing for the days to come.
Thank you God for carrying us through so far. Thank you for the children and the chance to get to know them. Thank you also for the Pastors and leaders here who live to serve you. Bless them, build them up and give them faith.
Day 9
It's Saturday today but it feels like we've all lost sense of time. Today we have ahead of us quite a full schedule. We had the usual breakfast with the usual lift to the Church. Today though the team is split into three groups. Some went to a nearby university to be present at their end of year celebration. The others were at the Church with Eugene teaching the Pastors (overview of Galatians) and those left running the Kids Program (the nature of sin and Jesus' death and resurrection!)
After that was lunch but those who went to the university ate there with the students (Chicken Rice!) When they returned, the team set off to visit another village that had converted to Christ. It was another very, very bumpy ride. But this time 5 of the team went there on motorbikes! Lots of fun, wind through the hair and great views of trees, mud, rice paddies and the mountain…
The village was almost entirely made of bamboo. It was much more run down than the first village we saw. It had pigs, dogs and chooks everywhere though. There were also ltos of kids who were very friendly and playful. Although the village was made of bamboo, they were building a Church building out of concrete! They had to transport all the materials a long way up the mountain to do it… but it was their way of giving God their best.
We chatted to the villagers a little and then handed out little koala souvenirs to the kids. We forgot to bring them along at the first village… Then we took a group photo and headed off to dinner at a local church member's house who had had a thanksgiving worship at their house that day for a new marriage.
We went back to our hotel from there. The 'bikers' were filthy! A little rest, then our usual team meeting and prayer. We practised a song to sing for the next day (Blessed Be Your Name). Some of the team had munchies so we got bread from the bakery downstairs (at 9pm!). Finally it was bed time and we settled down for some much needed rest.
Thank You God for opportunities to see, meet and have fellowship with so many different people. Help us to encourage and love them. Please give us good rest and energy for the rest of our trip.
Day 10
Even though everything here is different to our typical lives in Australia, there is one piece of normalcy here. It is Sunday and so today we are going to Church! It turns out though that their Sunday is a very long sort. Things began at 9am. Most of the team taught Sunday School. It was two classes split roughly between primary and secondary school students. Songs were sung and then the Parable of the Lost Son was taught. At the same time the adults gathered for bible study (which was really a pre-sermon sermon). Simon encouraged the congregation to pray as their means of spiritual warfare.
After that everyone gathered together for their usual Sunday Service. Loud music, then some more traditional things. There were also lots of musical items. Simon preached (on suffering and the glory of God), and the team sung the song they had prepared the night before. The song seemed to resonate quite well!
After that the message was translated a second time into Lahu (it was just English - Burmese at first). The service wound up being almost 3 hours long! We also found out later that afterwards they have women's fellowship and then youth fellowship (which are basically run like services!) but we were not involved in them.
After the service we had lunch together with Pastor Richard and his family and much merry conversations were shared. We still had a few hours till our night engagements so we headed back to town. We walked the city again but this time headed to check out the Catholic Church and the Buddhist Statue. The story apparently goes that the Catholic Church was on the highest point of the town. The government did not approve of this so they built a giant Buddha that was higher than it. The problem though was that lightning kept striking the Buddha's finger which was meant to point blessings to the town. The locals thus began to see this finger as more of a curse than a blessing. The government did not listen to them though and kept rebuilding it.
From there we walked back to our hotel for some rest. We bought bottled water along the way (tap water here is not safe and we had exhausted our supply). At around dinner time we were picked up and taken back to the compound. After dinner there was a devotional meeting with the conference Pastors (they had travelled back to their churches for Sunday Services and had returned for the rest of the program). At least there was supposed to be. We were sitting in the meeting hall when it was supposed to start when we found out that it was cancelled! There was some business that the Pastors had to attend to and so we were free to go! We decided to go back to 'My Cup' (the local yoghurt place from Day 6) where we chatted for a little while before we walked back to the hotel.
When we got back we had our usual night meeting. We prayed together, did some preparation, and then went to bed.
Father God, thank you that you have saved people all over the world. Thank you that in Christ we can have fellowship together even though we do not really understand what is going on! Please help us to continue to build relationships with them. For the sake of your holy name…
Day 11
Our day began a little differently than usual. As usual we started with breakfast but this time we went out to the morning markets to have some special beef ball noodle soup. (Apparently they are so well made that they can bounce like ping pong balls…) Keith was searching for a specific stall but we could not find it so we are at the first one we found. We finished breakfast with Burmese style milk tea that we've all come to enjoy. From there we were picked up and taken to the Church for the days program.
Once again though there were some changes to our plans. School had started again so many of the children were not present. There was only the kindy kids (who had their own teachers anyway) and primary kids whose school was closed for another couple of days. The Kid's Program continued as usual anyway but with less people. This was easier in some ways and this made the age range much tighter. They learnt about faith and the forgiveness of sins through the story of the paralytic and the story of the bleeding woman. Meanwhile Eugene taught the Pastors in the morning session - continuing on in Galatians while Simon taught in the afternoon - overview of Ephesians. Right after the afternoon session, everyone came together to take a big group photo! It was pretty strange for us because as the guests, they insisted that we sat down on the seats in the front row. It was like we were taking school photos or something…
We soon learnt after that that the night devotional meeting was to be replaced by a seminar session so that the Pastors could wrap things up a little earlier. This meant that the team was now free… except for Eugene. He would teach the night session and complete the Book of Galatians. Everyone went back to the hotel to rest but then went back to the Church Compound for dinner.
After that, while Eugene was teaching, the team split up. Some went to town with Nohtoo on some errands while the others hung out with the children (who apparently had no homework). Eventually the team was together again and watched a movie with the children. It was kind of boring, until the movie changed to something animated…
When Eugene finished, we all came back to the hotel. We had our team meeting and prayer, some prep for the next day (which was to be light) and then went to bed!
Thank you Lord for a good day. Thank you for the opportunities you have given us to teach and encourage those who are here. Help them and us both to grow in our faith and godliness.
Day 12
It's New Years Eve! And we started it quite early as it was the 'closing ceremony' of the training conference. It was really just a simple service. The girls sang an item, 'It Is Well', alcapella. They sounded very sweet! Then Eugene preached the message - it is God's fight even we the task is enormous. The only other extra thing was a special 'dedication' prayer for the Pastors.
There was nothing scheduled for the late morning/afternoon and so we spent it with Nohtoo's family and the children. It was time well spent, especially as our time in Myanmar is soon to end. We shot an interview with Nohtoo and played various games with the kids. We taught them to play cricket (so Australian!) and handball. We used a plank of firewoord that we found as a 'bat'! A bit harsh on the hands but still effective.
Dinner was a bit different. A local church member had invited us to their home. So we had a more typical Burmese dinner there. It was saltier and fattier than usual, but still tasty… We also ate a lot of sunflower seeds for the New Year! From there we went to our hotel for some rest but soon returned to the Church compound for night festivities! They had a fire going and were preparing for a Lahu Sticky Rice Cake competition. We joined in. It was crazy tiring! We had to beat the rice into a consistent texture and then mould it into small circles. It was much, much more tiring than it looked… the stickiness really fights back! We ended up coming 2nd last… but we're pretty sure they were just being polite to us. It was still fun though, except now our arms are wrecked.
At about 10 we all went into the Church for a service. It was also a compressed one. Nohtoo preached - on something… After that everyone had congee supper together. Really tasty and just right for the cold night air.
When it was about 10 minutes to 12, we huddled around the fire cooking and eating some of those Lahu Cakes. Naturally when it was time, we counted the New Year in. It was strange to be away from home in that moment. There were some fireworks in the distance, which lasted all of about 30 seconds, which we didn't really expect (we were next door to an Army base). Then it was home time.
We found the owner of our hotel celebrating in the lobby/dining room. We had gotten to know his children somewhat as they were often at the hotel, so we exchanged greetings in Chinese (they were Chinese). He gave us some cake, and offered us some Australian wine! It was nice to experience that added extra gesture of kindness and friendliness. It felt very homey…
Thank you Lord for the past year and all the things you have taught us. Help us to serve you well in 2014. Also we ask that you give the believers here a fruitful and encouraging year.
Day 13
The first day of the New Year and everyone was a little worse for wear. We didn't really have a very late night but the two weeks on the road has been catching up with us. The 3 who made the Lahu cakes were the sorest! We woke for breakfast and then checked out of the hotel. This time though we hopped into the minibus that would eventually take us back to Tai Chi Lek and the Myanmar-Thailand border.
We went first through to the Church to attend their New Year's Day Service. The team sang 'How Great is our God' for the Church. It was in much too high a key for us… but hopefully it was still encouraging! Keith gave the message - the new life the new mission that God gives to us. From there it was ab it of a mad rush. We left the service before it was technically over because we needed to leave by a certain time. Still we managed to squeeze in the lunch that they had prepared. It turned out to be all too rushed. We said our goodbyes but it wasn't as nice as we would have liked (too quick), especially with the kids. It has hard to leave everyone. We took one last photo with Pastor Richard and his family before we hopped on the van to go. Sadness all round. The girls cried a lot…
We then spent the next four hours sad and on the bumpy bumpy road downhill back to Tai Chi Lek. Not a fun trip, especially for the Cake makers… they felt every jolt! We briefly pottered around the local markets at the border and then it was time to cross back in to Thailand. After a little wait, we got our passports back!
We made our way back to the hotel and then rested a little while. Eugene said that it was New Year's so a good meal must be had… Generously he decided to shout the team. More Thai food… more yums! We thought that some might lose some weight while on this trip but everyone has been so generous that we're pretty sure it's the opposite.
We then went searching for a special mango sticky rice dessert but couldn't find any so we settled for ice cream instead. By then we were very full and very tired so back to the hotel we went, where we had some prayer together before some sleep.
Thank you Lord for safe travels. Thank you for a challenging and life changing time. May you Kingdom and glory increase in Myanmar and Australia… indeed all over the world. Please keep giving Pastor Richard and Pastor Nohtoo strength and faith in their ministry. Thank you for their generosity to us. Bless them in all their endeavours. Thank you Lord also for the kids. Please grow them and teach them. May they trust and serve you all the days of their lives.
Day 14
Our last full day together as a team… Everyone is relaxed but some are still pretty tired. We had a latish breakfast and set out on the trust pick up truck to Mae Sa Long. We stopped at a cute little place called 'Banoffee Coffee'. The owner was very nice and even put a picture of us on his wall! We then set out on the hour plus drive up a winding mountain road to see the Khun Sa museum… some ½ Chinese drug lord. It was interesting learning of some of the history of the area. The bumpy car ride made it a little difficult though as some people got car sick…
We also visited some tea/flower plantations along the way. Very pretty. We stopped in this town for noodles. Excellent! It was interesting though because the whole town was Chinese! Apparently Chinese refugees had settled there in the late 40's and it had continued to hold on to its roots. We also stopped by a tea shop where we sampled a variety of locally grown products. It was very interesting seeing the owner pour tea in the traditional way.
After that we made a spontaneous stop at the local Chinese Church. It was packed with kids because they were there for after school Chinese school. We met the Pastor and his wife and chatted with them a little. The church was quite old, but they showed us their newly finished building which was yet to be dedicated and used. It was huge, 2-3 times bigger than our Church building! It was a really big contrast to their old building… It was built mostly via foreign donors. They had this big chart of donations on the wall with names and amounts listed.
We made our way from there back to the hotel and had dinner at local street vendors. Keith remarked to us that because the trip was basically over, it was now safe to eat lots of vendor food because it wouldn't matter if we got diarrhoea…
Tomorrow we are just travelling out of Maesai and the trip is officially over.
Father God in Heaven, you are full of grace and power. You are a God of unfailing love. Thank you that we have seen so much of your goodness displayed over these last few weeks. Thank you for the things that you have taught us and the experience that we've had. Thank you for keeping us and going before us in all the things we have done.
Help us Lord to continue to remember and be mindful of the things you are doing in this world. Help us to share well the things that we have seen, in order that our church would be encouraged and spurred on in the mission that you have given us all.
Amen.