Mark and I are travelling to Thailand in 2 weeks time, partly to see where I grew up but also to consider our own future, and how we might serve. I have been remembering my last trip to Thailand, 5 years ago to the north of Thailand. Following the trip, I wrote three articles (one per month) for the (Gilcomston) church monthly record. In the third article I introduced a young couple, whom we met, living near the Burmese border.
Let me introduce you to :- Jaa and
Sai (pronounced Jye and Sye).
On the day before
we left Maehongson, we travelled with
Toi and Andrew to visit, a group of Shan Christians who live in a valley near
Palaan (where Sheila Kendall worked for a number of years).
We briefly
dropped in to see Nang A, and soon another lady, A Yu arrived, her husband Tun
Aung arriving about 10 minutes later. A Yu and Tun Aung had been encountering
various difficulties in their marriage relationship and Toi stayed behind with Tun
Aung to discuss these things with him, with our hostess staying behind as well. A Yu, his wife,
climbed into the vehicle with us, and we left them to talk, heading out towards
the Burmese border.
It was possibly
the hottest day, so far, in Maehongson,
the sun beating down. A breeze blew into the back of the vehicle as
Andrew drove, but standing out in the sun as near the border as we could get,
heat and humidity hung in the air. After some discussion we drove back down the
road, to Jaa and Sai’s house. (We learn
that Jaa became a Christian after seeing the love shown by Christians, to a
lady called Dim, who was dying of AIDS at the hospital. She then led her
husband Sai to the Lord).
Away from the
road, up a short track, Jaa and Sai’s house is made of wood, with a dried leaf
roof, raised up not on stilts, but on a wooden platform. It is bare, swept
clean, with a wooden floor, some tools hanging from the walls and a mosquito
net bundled up and suspended in the air. Sat on the floor, our feet hopefully
tucked tidily away, Jaa brought out to
us, cups, tea and warm soya milk. Our new hostess, is a young girl in her 20s,
with an open smiling face, dressed in shorts, T-shirt, and head-scarf, her feet
muddy from rice farming. A portable fan balanced on the floor whirred, cooling
the air down.
But there were
other guests, A Yu who had come with us, Jo and Nor (another married couple)
arrived, along with another friend. Bibles came out, questions were asked. They
talked about gossip and forgiveness. Phil shared from 1 John ch 1. More tea and
soya milk was consumed. Now nearly lunchtime, we spilled out, down the wooden steps
to survey the stretch of dusty garden
right next to Jaa and Sai’s house which belongs to them.
Mid- day sun was
striking down, and I found, “touch-me-not” plants scattered about the field.
Touch them with a foot, they fold up. Jaa
re-appeared from her rice harvesting work and she and her husband,
showed Andrew the small field where they intend to construct a church building
for the group to meet in. In the group is Jaa and Sai, along with four new
believers, three of whom were baptised later in September. A mixed group, some
young Christians, along with a Kachin lady and a Karen lady. Pi Jeng (an older
Christian man who works with a church in Maehongson and has a prosthetic leg)
visits periodically. But Jaa and Sai with six-year old son Sam, are being Kingdom- Minded with the little they
have- sharing with everyone.
Soon after we
left, after trying in vain to take a proper photo of everyone, Jaa’s smiling
face hovering near the back. Bundles of garlic lying at our feet in the back of
the van, that Nang A wanted transported back to her home, we waved goodbye,
rice and corn fields again flying past in the shimmering sunlight.
Jaa and Sai are
rice planters, hired labourers, ankle deep in water gathering together green
shoots, transplanting them elsewhere. Providing a nursery for new tender
shoots. Putting down new seeds in rice planting season. Soon to be harvesting,
bending over, picking the ready-to-be plucked plants, working hard under the
unrelenting sun. But they are harvesters and planters of a different kind as
well, the more important kind that is of eternal value.
“Do not be
decieved, God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to
please his sinful nature from that nature will reap destruction; the one who
sows to please the Spirit, from that Spirit will reap eternal life. Let us not
become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we
do not give up. Therefore as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people,
especially to those who belong to the familly of believers.” Galatians ch 6 vs
7-10.
..............................................
Pray for the Shan,
that they might hear the good news of Jesus Christ. Pray for the Shan church,
for small groups like this one, for young Christians and those in leadership. Learn
and pray about the difficult issues that face the Shan church such as the
marginalisation of the Shan as a minority people group but also the tremendous
needs of adequate health care for those suffering from HIV/AIDS. Pray that
Christians like Jaa and Sai will grow in their faith and that they won’t become
weary of doing good but will reap a rich harvest.
