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Sorry it's been almost a week and a half and no blog post. We arrived in Chiang Mai, Thailand last Sunday evening. We spent the next day briefly exploring the city and going over to Lanna for a prep session before heading into the village. What an amazing city Chiang Mai is! All of the people, both locals and staff with Lanna and ITDP, have been so amazing.
Initially in Chiang Mai I was so excited to take in the culture and way of life. As we walked around, Bryan, Jessica and Jared explained to the rest of us the different cultural practices and what they meant. At first it was so intriguing and interesting to gain understanding of why they do certain things that are out of the norm to us. But the more we went on to find out, the more heartbreaking it really is. Thailand is a place with less than 2% Christians. So as funny as we think it is that Thai people cram 2 "spirit houses" onto their little motor bikes, those little wooden structures represent and prove that sacrifice and idolatry are still very much alive and prevalent. Those things didn't die in the Old Testament. And what a revelation that was. In western culture, idolatry and sacrifice are masked behind materials and pop culture. Here, it is a practice done because people think it is necessary to appease the spirits to survive.
After being in the city for a day, we began the 7-hour drive to Ma Oh Jo, a hill tribe located in northwestern Thailand. Immediately after arriving we went in and set up our rooms in our host huts and got acclimated with their hut family. That evening we met some of the staff here, ate and got some rest, because those roosters like to wake up precisely at 4:30 every morning. And the rest of the barnyard too! There are pigs, roosters, cows, dogs and water buffalo - and they're all early risers.
For the next several days, we worked making bricks, building a water reservoir, building desks and chairs for the classrooms and painting light poles. Thankfully, Sunday is a true day of rest, and we got to spend the day at church in Karen (ka-wren) and time in the Word, both alone and together as a team. In the evening, we got to hang out with the school kiddos in their dormitory and ended the night with popcorn and The Jungle Book. It was the first time they've had a TV! It was so amazing to see their joy and to spend time with them. Many of them have broken English so communicating with the students is a bit easier than some of the adults.
We are in the homestretch of our time here in the village. We leave to head back to Chiang Mai on Wednesday morning, where we will be until our flight home Saturday morning. Serving the people of Ma Oh Jo has been more than incredible, and developing those relationships has been a pleasure. Despite the uncomfortable conditions and monotonous servings of rice, I think the Lord has been doing an amazing work in each member of this team.
More pictures to come when we get back. Thanks for reading. Miss you all, and see you soon! Prayers are always appreciated.