Our last week in Thailand we moved out of Chiang Mai to the village of Mae Ai, a village north of Chiang Mai. Monday morning we had to be down stairs, all packed up at 8 am for breakfast. After breakfast Emmi gave us a briefing on village life. Reminders to remove our shoes before entering homes, that we would be using bucket showers (our first opportunity), to shower many times a day, and to be careful of how we handed money over and pointed. We were not to preach but to live with the people and wear Jesus on our skin, to love and build relationships.
Three teams (the Love Rangers had left from Zion at 7:30) then loaded into three song toaw with our packs on the roofs headed for the bus station. At the bus station Team Kintsugi left with See Eun for Emmi’s friend’s home where they would be ministering to children. Finally, at 10am our bus arrived and teams Overcome (my team) and Jayu Warriors loaded up with Ting as our translator. Ting is an intern working with Emmi at Lighthouse in Action this semester to practice her English and translation skills. The amount of packs slightly overwhelmed the porters. Simeon and I sat in the front seat with our packs and three guitars. Four hours in a little pack fort watching the winding mountain roads and knitting, I’m loving my life. We only stopped once for water, snacks, and squatty potties.
This is the bus station squatty. Standard in every squatty is the bucket of water to flush and the trash bin for all paper. The style of potty can vary. Some are in the floor. Some are up a couple steps to make them a better level for men. The one in our home was like this.
Mae Ai does not have a bus station so Ting had to let the ticket taker know we needed to stop. The bus stopped in front of a bank, we quickly poured off, and the first few made sure all of our packs were unloaded. I was the last off of the bus and the bus rolled away seconds after I stepped onto the sidewalk. Thankfully we did not have to wait long before Mae Lai came to collect us. She escorted us across the street where Emmi’s dad (Pa Tain but we called him Papa Emmi) was waiting with a tractor to carry our packs to the village. We walked the fifteen minutes and stopped for lunch along the way.
(Photo credit: Beth Crenshaw)
When I hear village I expect country so here I was thinking grass huts surrounded by rice fields. Mae Ai turned out to be bigger and more built up than my home town. The town itself is laid out along the highway and surrounded by homes then fields. Our homes were along a concrete street and each was surrounded by a concrete wall. The homes we lived in are modest but very comfortable and our home was beautiful. The boys lived in one home and the girls were split between two homes. I lived with Mae Lai and her husband and Om, who we think is their grandson.
Mae Lai (May Lie) my host mother. A sweet woman with a great laugh. A wonderful cook and a fun mom.
The first two mornings we worked in the rice fields. The first morning we worked with Mae Jeen (the other girl’s host mom) draining fields to prepare them for planting. She would cut a trench in the wall around the field, and then we would drag a coconut on the end of a bamboo pole to make troughs for the water to follow. I had a lot of fun because this is a game my brother and I would play each spring to drain the gravel area in front of our barn. The second day we went with Pa Tain to his fields to remud the walls. We scooped up mud from the field, packed it on the walls, and smoothed it out. Most of us had a blast playing in the mud! Our final morning we swept the village streets around our houses and picked up trash. Each afternoon we played with children, spent time with our host parents, and had team time.
The walls we mudded and Papa Emmi checking our work.
Ministry looks like standing knee deep in mud, laughing at language confusion with a host mom, and spending time with school children playing ball, picking flowers, or walking among rice patties.
#11n11 #WRFusion #LighthouseinAction
