visiting a Thai Karen village

the view from the road up to the village

not much flat land up here!

Winding our way through small villages on our way up the mountain, it was easy to see why the Karen are called a hill tribe people. Hardly any of the land we passed where small groups of huts and paths were clustered could have been considered flat. Instead, there were many sections of ground that were terraced: the farmed plots stair-stepped up and down the mountainside like a giant stalled escalator. The smoother paved surface of the large road out of Mae La camp gradually became more and more pitted with potholes of graduating sizes. The further along we drove, the more often our driver had to swerve around or crawl the truck through car-long holes of rock and mud. This began to give way to more rock and less pavement, and eventually the road seemed to give up on hard surfaces altogether, becoming only rutted dirt and mud as we got closer and closer to the village. 

The first place we stopped was a larger hut at the outskirts of a small cluster of homes. We weren’t sure what the plan was but we piled back out of the truck with everyone else, game for an adventure. Everyone slipped off their shoes at the bottom of the bamboo stairs (a must when entering any structure in Thai and Karen culture), and we followed the pastor’s wife up to a large sleeping room at the front of the house. **Side note: we decided (even before coming to Thailand) that one of our favorite sites in the whole world is a big pile of flip-flops and shoes at the door to someone’s home; it means that a gathering of our favorite people is going on, and it’s always a good time! The bigger the pile, the more lively and interesting the gathering promises to be.** 

the path to the village church

climbing earthen stairs to the baptism pool

The room’s bamboo walls were hung with laminated pictures of the family (because of the humidity, nearly everyone covers photos in plastic or they will break down quickly), old posters of the king of Thailand, and brightly colored used Christmas tinsel. We sat on the floor and had a small church service with the family. It turns out, according to one of the students, that the family used to be Deist, but became believers several years ago, and the husband completed theology training via old-fashioned correspondence course. They were very sweet, and so happy to see the group and worship together. They sing a lot of hymns here; Josh and I have had to dig deep to our Nazarene roots and try to remember as many verses as we can so we can join in English with the ones we recognize. Turns out, we should have been paying better attention at Sunday evening services growing up.   I don’t know that I have ever heard music more beautiful than that of the Karen singing in harmony; it touches my soul every day. 

girls singing--the girls in the white dresses are the five who were to be baptized 

the boys choir group

Bible school students singing in harmony

We walked from the family’s house down a long dirt path that opened up to what looked like a school field. There were two big bamboo houses on either end, and children were everywhere. On the far end of the clearing was an open structure underneath one of the biggest crosses I have ever seen. The two buildings were dormitories—one for boys and one for girls—for the children to live in while they attend school. The girls all had short, close cropped bobs and the boys’ heads were shorn pretty short; lice has been an issue most places we’ve gone. Since very few white people ever make it up to the village or school, a lot of the kids ran away and watched from a distance for the first while, until they gradually came out and followed us up to the church. The pastor’s wife took us up inside the cross (it was a series of short, steep metal stairways up several stories) to the top, where you could look out over the whole little village. Down below, the children and students gathered around a small cement pool, ready to baptize five girls who had recently given their lives to Jesus. 

final words before being baptized--the girls were very solemn but excited

lots of supporters

two girls down, three to go! :)

We had a sweet time with them. The children sang, a few messages were given, the five girls were baptized and then everyone sang Christmas carols. I’ll admit it: the sweltering heat, bright sun and “Feliz Navidad” (apparently a big favorite!!) sung in a language I don’t yet really understand didn’t really make us think of ‘traditional’ Christmas-time, but in a way it was even better. These kids and villagers get what Christmas really is. There were no long lists of expensive gifts they expected, no frenzied shopping and traveling, no stressful get-togethers, no extravagant meals to be slaved over…just a bunch of people standing barefoot on a dirt floor singing and sharing communion (the Thai equivalent of purple Koolaid and Wonder bread) together. Being fully present in the moment, without thought or worry for what would happen next. It was beautiful and a precious reminder.

headed back to the dormitory for a quick change before another church service

some of the precious girls on the steps of the dormitory

We shared a meal with them (a traditional Karen dish that we’ve had several times while here): there’s a mixture of squash, sometimes potato, spice, curry, and a meat of some kind, all eaten with rice. In this dish, the meat was chicken. How do I know, you ask? Oh, because when I looked at a different bowl toward the end of the meal, there was a great big chicken foot sticking up into the air…talons and all. Luckily, I was just about finished with my portion. And to think that I used to be vegetarian. My dad and brother would’ve been proud. 

our great Bible school friends chow down after a long morning of singing

look closely...yep, those are feet. big ones. mmmmmm.

The ride home was a long, but quiet one. We chatted a bit with the students, but pretty soon they all fell asleep (not an easy feat in the back of a truck moving very quickly down a VERY rough road!). Our drive stopped at a few viewpoints on the way back to Mae La camp. This is a beautiful place and it's easy to see why our friends love it here. 

not a bad rear view for the drive, right?

packed in!

oh, the ever-popular peace sign...always cool.

the experience and the view were definitely worth the crazy drive!