IMPORTANT MESSAGE: this blog has been edited for safety purposes.
“La0s? What even is La0s… the only time I’ve used that word in my life is to talk about head lice in the plural…”
These are just a few of the thoughts I had when my team and I were told that the rest of our squad would be continuing on to Thailand as planned and that our team of 5 was being re-routed to La0s. My heart dropped. I’m not sure why, I think I was thrown by the last-minute change and sad to miss Thailand, a county I felt drawn to when picking our route.
So as we crossed the border of Thailand to La0s at 5 am by foot a few days later I was hopeful for a heart change. I was hopeful that this county I had never heard of before would prove to be amazing and that we would feel needed and purposeful…spoiler alert…IT HAS AND WE HAVE!
La0s is a closed country and is one of 5 communist countries still around. At first I didn’t know what all this entailed but as the days go on and our hosts tells us about his home land I’m beginning to get the picture…
We are in a Buddhist country where temples and spirit houses (little mail box sized houses in each yard where food is left out for the dead) are as prevalent as Starbucks in New York, they are on and around every corner. 1.5% of the population are Christians; and while they are allowed to go to church it has to be regulated by the government. They decide what is taught, how the people are to worship and even who gets bibles. The alternative is the underground church or as they call them for safety reasons “houses of worship”; these are small gatherings where you will find adults of all ages sitting Indian style on the floor of a cozy living room worshiping, learning and taking communion together.
This church was having to pay someone to guard it overnight to keep trouble makers out…the guards payment was stretching their budget and that’s where we come in! We have spent the last week mixing concrete, setting rebar and laying brick; my team and I are all giant balls of soreness but as we stand back and see our wall we can’t help but smile! Iaaaaaa stands this small Ccccccccc church surrounded by a wall we got to be a part of creating. Not only does this church represent the Ccccccccc faith but it’s also a beacon to this village in this lost country.
How awesome and eye opening has this re-route turned out to be?!
-Megan
