Ra Pi served us an amazing meal of French toast this morning. We later learned that she had spent most of the night at the hospital with a sick child. Pastor and Ra Pi serve many people by taking them to the hospital, visiting them when they are sick, and helping them with random needs. I am amazed by their willingness to serve and by the strength of their faith. They have lived in 6 different villages where they helped to put in sewage systems. While they lived among the villagers they shared their faith; sometimes they were turned away or even threatened with a gun, but they persisted in faith.
After breakfast we walked down to a stream where we looked out into the mountains and rice paddies. Ray explained that the weather for the past three years has been bad for the crops in the area and as a result the Karin people have suffered financial losses. Many people cannot afford to buy food, so they buy it on credit. Their debts are growing as the interest increases. We prayed for the Karin people and for their crops that they would not receive too much rain.
I got to ride in the back of the truck on the way to town to pick up supplies and food. The breeze felt so good on the hot and humid day and I could not get my fill of the scenes that we passed. Village huts, mountains, mopeds, shrines, open-air restaurants, a hospital, and schools entertained me along the ride.
Ra Pi got food for our dinner then we went to pick up building supplies. Our team decided to help to pay for the ceiling for the church, but Ra Pi asked us to stay near the car. “If they see Farang people (foreigners) they will charge more. You stay here and I will come tell you how much to pay.”
Back at the church we were pleased to find about a dozen local people already working away. Many times on The World Race we have done projects for churches and none of the members helped out. It was great to see their community dedication to the church. Before we were allowed to start working we sat down to a traditional Karin dish. The previous day I asked Ray what Karin food is like. He replied, “It’s basically just a bunch of bushes and shrubs that they find in the jungle with a lot of hot spice added.” I thought we was exaggerating and expected to enjoy the meal because I love fruits and vegetables. We were served a soup to go over rice that pretty much seemed like hot spicy bushes and shrubs. The twig-like pieces were flavorful (at first they tasted like fruit-loops), but they were tough to chew and swallow. Some of the pieces were actual bamboo shoots; not the soft bamboo shoots that come in Thai food, but actual tough bamboo shoots. The leaves in the dish were not as tough to chew, but did not have as much flavor.
I don’t think I have ever sweated as much as I did this afternoon as we painted tiles for the church ceiling. Plenty of people were around to help and the work was not tough, but it was so humid.
We heard thunder in the distance and I assumed that the rain would cool things off, but it only seemed to intensify the humidity. After several hours of work Tana and I headed back to the house to “take a shower”. Our showers were actually bucket baths. In order to take a bucket bath you must pour cold water over yourself using a bowl. It takes some getting used to, but uses much less water than a normal shower. This bucket bath had an added challenge; I am a little taller than the average Thai person. I was not able to stand up in the shower/bath room. After an amazing dinner of “chicken fried”, rice, and fruit, Tana and I got rides back to our house on mopeds then went to bed.
