Notes from an Akha house

We have had a relatively quiet day today after a very active day yesterday and had a chance to catch up on some of the household chores that just needed to get done (and a chance to email in a blog entry from our phone). We needed to 'rewire' our kitchen - which means extension cords and metal tiebacks (thank God for the leatherman!), sweep / scrub / scrape / burn / and otherwise clean all the surfaces in the kitchen and arrange everything back again. These tasks are significantly increased in difficulty by the miriad of children who flow through our home like a mountain stream.

We also took the time to do the less traditional chores of mosquito net mending (we're still paying for our adventures with the rats) and land planning (portions of the land our home is on are crumbling/eroding away), but both of these jobs will take a few more efforts to complete.

It was great to get some work done indoors and in the shade, because it was hot again today. But after a lot of heat, we finally have some rain this evening (which is adding to our chore list - our thatched roof needs a little tie-down work). Our dirt floors also need some more work, but we will likely have to wait until the rainy season before the village has an excess of water for that job.

We are really enjoying our time with our village, but we are also looking forward to next week when we will be at a camp with Akha youth from all over Chiang Rai.

Tags:

• Akha
• house

New Friends

We just returned to the village on Sunday after picking up A-Wa from the deaf school on Saturday. We were surprised to learn that our roommate (or rather housemate) who was interning in our village has moved out. He graduated a few weeks back which ended his internship and now he's looking forward to a more permanent position. It was a bit odd to come home to an empty house. Luckily our loneliness didn't last long; on Monday morning we woke to find a whole truckload of Bible students had arrived to help the new intern move in. (Incidentally, this was the first we had heard about a new intern... Such is life in an Akha village.)

The new intern is not from Akha Outreach Foundation; he's from another Bible college in Phayao which was started by OMF. He had been to our village several times this past year and we're really looking forward to getting to know him better. We had met a several of the his fellow students at various events and camps as well, but it was fun to spend time with this new crew of students and make some new friends.

Shortly after they arrived, everyone piled back into the truck to go fishing (Akha style) and we jumped at the chance to hang out with these new friends. Also, although Paul has been fishing with the boys in our village, I have never been, so I was itching to see what all the fuss was about! We had a great day fishing and feasting. And to make a great day even better, that evening 8 more friends from Chiang Rai came up to show the Jesus Film in a village near ours. It was really fun, and we even understood quite a bit of the Akha (it might have helped that we kinda knew the story), but by the end of it we could barely keep our eyes open. Needless to say, we slept well that night and were blessed to have gone from an empty house to a house full of friends.

Tags:

• Akha
• village

It DOES feel like 106 Degrees

In Chiang Rai, we are doing the best we can to beat the heat. Although the weather up in Da Ma GoJo Akha was relatively mild, it is hot down in the city. April is the hottest time of the year in Thailand. Lots of sun and not much rain or cloud cover. It's the "Dry Season", but this has been an especially hot and dry March.

This last week has been especially warm, so we have been seeking out air conditioning to stay as cool as possible. While staying indoors and working on the computer the other day, we found a great website which helped us to justify our holing up. Although it was only 95 degrees outside, it felt like 106. That's hot. Other phrases like "Unseasonably hot with sunshine" have further prompted us to stay indoors and not cook. (Which really isn't bad since we can buy our lunches for fifty cents apiece).

In other news, we picked up our Work Permits this afternoon! We are really excited about this step, which will make all our visa processes much easier in the future. Thanks for your prayers in all of this. Please continue to remember us as we continue in all of our applications and the visa process.

Tags:

• weather
• Thailand
• visas

Akha Fishing...

Akha fishing is like nothing you would imagine. In fact, the Akha phrase would literally be translated to something like "fish catching" or maybe "fish grabbing" which are both better descriptions of what we did yesterday.

We arrived at the creek and began walking up stream. After about 10 minutes we came to a place where a small island divided the stream in two, so we began the process of building a dam in front of the right side to direct all the water over to the left side of the island. We used a combination of rocks, tarps and mud to make the dam almost completely waterproof. After the water had stopped flowing to the right side of the stream, we all started searching in the little puddles and under the rocks for all sorts of little fish, shrimp, crabs and edible water bugs. Paul and I were not very good at this task... it takes a trained eye which we do not have! Never the less, we had fun and got better at finding fish as the day went on. After the first section was picked over, we pulled up the tarps, set the water running again and kept moving up stream. We ended up repeating the process two more times before we finally settled down to feast on our catch.

As the final dam was being built, about half of us started gutting and preparing the fish for lunch. The only thing we brought for the meal was a bag of cooked rice, some salt and dried chilies. We didn't even bring any pots or pans to cook in, instead our clever Akha friends found everything they needed from the forest around us. They made trough-like bowls and chopsticks on the spot out of bamboo. They even found wild herbs and greens (which were very tasty I might add) to add to the fish soup. About half of the cooked fish were left whole in the soup, while the other half was mashed up with salt and chili to make a paste (which sounds a little gross but was actually quite good!) For desert one of the guys risked life and limb climbing up the mountain to procure some fresh honeycomb for us! What a treat!

When the day was done, we were not only left with sore muscles and full bellies, but with food for thought. What an amazing experience we've been blessed with! I wonder how many people can say they've been Akha fishing (besides the 1.5 million Akha in SE Asia of course!) We are constantly amazed at the resourcefulness and amazing skills that our Akha friends posses. As one of the girls was teaching me how to gut a 2 inch fish with just my fingernail (is that too gross to post?), I was thinking how I would most certainly starve to death if left alone in a forest; but leave an Akha in the forest with only machete in hand and he'll never want for food! It made me ponder the value of my own skills, like being able to type at 30 wpm or create a nice Excel spreadsheet with linking formulas. They didn't seem so special as I was standing there watching a veritable feast materialize out of the forest. I'm sure there's a very deep anthropological lesson here, but this blog is certainly long enough already so I let you ponder that question for yourself!

Tags:

• Akha
• culture
• food

Six Hours to Nowhere

After driving to Chiang Mai and back with A Ju's Mom and sisters we decided to spend one more night in Chiang Rai before heading up to the village. I had driven for six hours, and all the Akha had been in vehicles for over nine hours yesterday so no one was looking forward to another two hour drive.

We also found out last night that our work permits have come in. We have to come back on Wednesday to pick those up, then we will begin processing our new visas.

In other news, there is a village up near ours that has been wanting to view the Jesus film for some time. It's a great process, the entire village gathers in an open area at night and they project the film (in Akha) onto a large sheet. We are hoping a group will come up in the next day or two to show it. We do not know if this village is Christian or not, but please pray that they will be open to the message of the gospel.

That's all for now, we'll keep you updated as all these stories develop.

Tags:

• travel
• visas

Hit the Mi Tsa Running

After a blur of a trip we are back in Thailand and have hit the ground running. Greg Ressler and a small team from Flatirons Community Church were here for the graduation and we spent some great time with them at Home of the Open Heart, House of Joy and just eating Mangos and Sticky Rice while looking forward to the big event.

And what a big event it was! Although no invitations were sent out, over a thousand people arrived for the graduation and dedication ceremony - all from word of mouth! I saw more Akha Headdresses yesterday than I have ever seen in one place. Fifteen people from our village came down to see our Pastor graduate. It was wonderful to see our friends again! We really missed them, and are hoping to get back to Mae Salong as soon as our schedules allow.

It is amazing to look back a year ago when these students went into their internships; and now they are going into their ministries. We have had the opportunity to catch a glimpse of the hearts of many of these men and women and are very excited to see the Lord release them into the ministries and callings before them. The Akha Hilltribe, even the world, will be impacted by this group.

As far as our lives go: we are hoping to show the Jesus Film in an Akha village later this week and are hoping to unpack and get settled in again in the next few days - we also will be hammering out our schedule for the next two months. The Thai "summer break" is beginning, which means a busy time for us. Youth camps, kids coming home from school, and an enormous water fight are a few of the things we are looking forward to in the next couple of months. Please pray that we can take care of everything we need to before the "summer break" kicks in.

Tags:

• travel
• AOF
• ministry

Bamboo Shoots and Girl Scout Cookies...

Right now America's supermarkets are overrun with cute little girls in green and brown uniforms selling one of America's favorite treats... Girl Scout Cookies! We were so excited to be around during Cookie Season because the year just wouldn't seem complete with out a box or two of Samoa's and Thin Mints.

Really, I mention Cookie Season because it reminded me of a conversation Paul and I had a few months ago. We were talking about what an amazing experience it has been for us to live in an Akha village. The Akha life is so intertwined with the natural world and the changing of the seasons. For example, most of the people in our village earn a living by picking tea, but we observed that at various times throughout the year many opt for other more lucritive opportunites which nature presents to them. One day we found that instead of going to the tea fields everyone had gone to the bamboo forests around our village to harvest wild bamboo shoots (the edible root of a certain type of bamboo) which they sold to someone who came around in a big truck at the end of the day. And just a few months ago, we experienced broom season when everyone harvested wild grasses to sell to broom makers.

As Paul and I were discussing this aspect of Akha life, we were having a hard time finding the right words to explain this phenomenon to Americans. Even agricultural endeavors in America have become a science. Something as simple as planting some tulips can turn into a major research project. Which type of bulb is appropriate to my region? What type of fertilizer is best? When should we plant them and how deep? Can I buy tulip bulbs on eBay? What will shipping charges be? And the list goes on! In the end, we decided that the best American equivilant to Bamboo Shoot Season was Girl Scout Cookie Season.

It does seem a bit silly to speak about Akha culture and Girl Scout cookies in the same breath, but hear me out and you'll see what I mean. Cookie Season is one of the only things in American culture that we don't plan for. Ask anyone (except, of course, for a Girl Scout) when Cookie Season is and no one will know, but almost everyone takes part in this honored American tradition. One day those cookie tables appear in front of the local supermarket and you say to yourself "Oh, it's cookie season again.... They haven't discontinued Samoas have they? Phew! I'll take two boxes!" From our observation, that's how bamboo shoot season comes about. The Akha do not plant or tend this crop, nor do they worry about when it will arrive. One day they see that the bamboo shoots are ready and they take advantage of this God-given harvest.

I can't help but think of what Christ said .

Tags:

• worldview
• Akha
• culture

Video Download and LA Send-Off

We're completing our last stop and are looking forward to heading back to Thailand - and to hitting the ground running! To finish our time in the States, we caught up with *almost* everyone at the Foursquare Missions office today, dealt with some business and just debriefed from the last year.

One of the coolest things was when we saw an Akha village when we were walking out of the offices! One of the churches under Pastor Timothy (Fang, Thailand) was on the television in the office and seeing Akha huts, Akha kids and Akha believers stirred something in us to get back home. If you are interested, you can download that video from the FMI website.

Speaking of things that were stirred in us, we were reminded once again of what struck out hearts when we first came to Los Angeles about Foursquare. It is the cornerstone that Angelus temple is built upon:

"Dedicated To Interdenominational, Worldwide Evangelism"

That's what this is about, this Call, this Christianity. This is what drives us. To give every ear the opportunity to hear the gospel. Beyond denominations, beyond tradition, the Truth of Christ to the world. That's why we love Foursquare. That's why we do what we do.

Tags:

• travel
• Foursquare

Hello Sacramento, Goodbye Sacramento!

Sitting at the Lincoln, CA It's a Grind enjoying the free wi-fi and free coffee (thanks Pinky!) we're able to take a breath after a whirlwind of a time in Denver and Oregon.

Where do we start? The time with family and friends and ministry partners was incredible. It was great to connect again with people with a heart for missions at Salem Alliance. We had an amazing time with our new Pastors Ryan and Mandy Scheller and enjoyed sharing with the people who laid hands on us and sent us out from Hope Chapel. It was a special blessing to share at my alma mater Faith Christian Academy at their chapel - which was also the most nerve-racking of talks! :) Our class with the World-Changers at Faith Bible Chapel was a special honor, and the men, women and staff of that church have continued to be a tremendous encouragement to us. We also were blessed to hear the new vision and direction of Doug Burroughs' new church Hope Boulder and to share with our foursquare family there.

We are now in Sacramento for a very quick "Hello, Goodbye" with some family here then we are off to Los Angeles to catch up with our supervisor's supervisors at the FMI headquarters.

Those of you who we have seen, it has been a real blessing to catch up with your walks, ministries and lives. And those of you we missed, we are sad not to have been able to spend time with you, but appreciate your continued support and partnership. We could not have a better body of exhorters around us in our ministry. Thank you for all your love and support.

Tags:

• travel
• family