A Journey Into the Hill Country
by Parthenia Stout
Siami wanted me to come one more time up to her village to see more of what has been accomplished there. I prayed about it and from my past visit I knew going up one day and coming back the next left little time to see anything. So I agreed to go up on a Friday and come back on Sunday.
It is a brutal trip winding up and around mountain after mountain for 120 miles. We left early about 11:30 AM and arrived about 5:30 PM. We are in the rainy season and it rained night and day with few letups. They catch the rain into cisterns.
I was taken to the same place to stay in a lovely building of pine boards which takes me back to my grandfather who had built all his buildings out of trees that they had cut and built with. Siami said it was pine and I wondered where in all this jungle I would find pine trees. I found out Sunday.
At dinner time I found my friends Ah Tee and the other young man called Tony. Their tribal names are hard to pronounce so I come up with my own version. These two young men in their early 20’s are the back bone of the Children’s Bible Center. After dinner Ah Tee took me around to see the various buildings and who lived in which. All the girls are in one building and the boys in another-- those who are staying through the school year. Some of the staff stay in another. Some children go home for the weekend. To me this is the most important part of the things Siami is doing. She is also helping the farmers in various ways.
As we finished the tour we heard a buzz like those at school. It was a call to the worship center. It is absolutely gorgeous. Very large and Siami said it could hold about 400 adults for a teaching session which she hopes for in the future. The girls came running in and they come to a stop on their knees all in a line on the floor. The boys straggled in and they too were on their knees in a line opposite the girls.
Tony was the teacher tonight and Ah Tee the worship leader with his guitar. Tony was so funny he had the whole group in a joyous uproar. They played a few games and then some songs and some more teaching and then Siami came in and they all turned to me and sang in English “Welcome to Musikee” It was stirring and lovely. Then some serious teaching and more singing and I loved it all. After the main group left there were a core of leaders making plans for the next day to have local children come for the day to have a mini Vacation Bible School.
I slept so peaceful that night in clean cool air. The next morning I heard the girls getting ready for breakfast, washing hands and face and brushing teeth and cleaning the bathrooms right outside my bedroom window. They were laughing and giggling as only girls can-- in the rain.
After breakfast Siami took me on a tour of the area where they are learning to weave. She thinks this age old tradition should be taught to the girls. They die their thread there and it is very tiny thread to work with. Some girls take to it naturally and some have to be --just a part of your learning. Some older folks came in and wandered around, one woman had a nursing baby. We saw the school begin-- boys in an upper room and girls in another building and younger boys and girls about kindergarten age in another. Many of the local children thronged the grounds playing and having a fun day.
We moved on to a building in the process of being built for a dinning hall, to their office and then traveled by car to their store they have going for the locals, and where their main office is located with some computers. They would like all the kids to have computers some day like a regular school. They do go to regular school by the Thai government.
We then traveled on to meet some other needs among the community and to visit Pastor Timothy who lives there when not in Chiang Mai. Right next door to his church that I visited last time. We had some deep discussions of the problems he sees and the needs of the Karen people and what he sees as a solution. He is a very wise and compassionate man of God. He was having a remembrance day for his dad Rev Baw Ney who had died just before I came to Thailand. Esther his wife was in college in Chiang Mai. We visited an older man who was 72 who had been introduced to Jesus by Rev Baw Ney.
We ended up another day with supper and visiting and the night session with the children singing and learning scriptures. They have memorized all of Psalm 35 and all, boys and girls, say it out loud together as the Jewish kids do in Israel, and it was an awesome sight. Ah Tee was alone in leading singing and teaching. I was so amazed at the level of adult leadership in these young men. Afterward when the others have left the core of leadership have their meeting. This night Ah Tee was teaching a small class of pupils English.
The next morning we all got ready to travel. Three men of a local church a pastor and his leaders came with us. The truck was packed and Siami and one of the girls made a cushioned place to sit in the back and gave me the front seat as it has less bounce. I was thankful as we took to some back roads that were all dirt. Not much bedrock so lots of pot holes. We stopped on the way to pray for Tony’s mom. She had been feeling poorly and went to the doctor and he gave her some pills. She broke out in ugly sores that could have looked like small pox that itched and covered her arms and hands and her neck and chest. We all prayed for her. She thinks it is a reaction to the medicine and those around who are not saved think it is her evil spirit. I left her some olive oil to put on the dry spots and some antibiotic wash for the itching. Please join us in prayer.
About 80 miles or so through the mountains. It looked like we skimmed the top of the mountains. That is where I saw some mountains had large amounts of pine trees. In that area not many live as it is not good for growing crops. Sure reminded me of the area Clay and I worked for the forest service. Some areas we had to shift into 4 wheel drive.
Wish you could see where some of these Karen live and work. Their livelihood depends on how to find suitable areas to clear and plant their crops. Most of them are on steep hills and I mean steep. Hard to describe. Some of the villages were occupied by the Mon tribe. Most Karen villages were larger and more advanced. All scattered through the mountains.
We ended up down in the lower valley and all stopped to see some men riding elephants. They told me there was an elephant show at times. The four men got so excited seeing the elephants. I tried to get a few pictures. On we went stopping for some lunch and I was so happy for a smooth paved road and my home where I could take a shower and have some clean clothes.
That morning on cleaning up I stepped on my glasses and they were really screwed up and made me sort of cross eyed. Didn’t help with the bad road jostling up and down so I asked Pastor Jerry to take me to the Mall to get my glasses adjusted and ordered some new ones for reading and computer work.
Sorry this is a long letter have patience. “My tongue shall speak of thy righteousness (and thy grace) and of thy praise all the day long.”
Psalm 35:28
