Sowing and reaping: Memories of Thailand.

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.