2007....

This morning, as with every morning, we woke at 6am (quite often before-depending on how loud the singing and guitar playing is from the boys dorm nearby) and had devotions, breakfast and headed off to Bangkok, dropping a lady off at the specialist hospital in Kanchanarburi on the way. It was a cold morning, but beautiful as we drove the school ute along the bumpy road past sugar cane, banana trees, motorbikes, school children walking to school and monks collecting their morning offerings of food and water. The sun was shining and the smoke from the constant burning off in the mountains and mist filled the air and caused the windshield to glare. I hard to drive slowly so I had time to consider my Maker - and I felt at peace.

Yesterday a lady walked many kilometers to the school to receive medical help….she was shaking and could not walk at all once she got to the school and collapsed. I was starting the schooling with our four children and had to drop that and attend to the lady as our visiting nurse was out visiting elsewhere! The only thing we could do (Colin had the ute in Kanchanarburi taking another lady to hospital) was put her on the back of a motorbike. Dong (one of the student leaders) rode the lady to the hospital and I rode the other bike with one of the other volunteers from Australia (visiting for a while) and the lady’s one year old baby between us. I am still getting used to riding a bike in Thailand – so to have three of us on the bike (one being a tiny child) was daunting! All was well and the hospital in Sai Yok refered her to Kanchanarburi – so we brought her back to the school and she slept in our hut for the night….vomiting for some of the night….but there was no cleaning up to do as she simply made a split in the bamboo floor and vomited through it!

Another special night this week was New Years Eve…when the Baptist church invited the whole school to dinner and to participate in their concert in a nearby village. We took two loads of children over to the party (many were away visiting their own villages for New Year but one load totaled 27 in the ute!) and enjoyed meat!....very, very spicy meat…..oh yeah, there were repercussions the following day from that meal! About 300 villagers came to the concert, the shed was full and the ground…threw up dust all night long. There was a stage with curtains and two guys pulled them shut and opened them again before and after each act. Our family had been asked to sing a song…with me on the guitar. We agreed and had chosen and practiced a song. My family will laugh but we chose the song the five Walker children sang at Col and my wedding! I was already a little giggly thinking of my sisters and brother and how we would often laugh when singing as children. Our family was called to get ready to go on stage and the children from Bamboo School, in order to allow us involvement in their culture coated our faces with baby powder! They do this to make themselves look whiter and protect themselves from the sun. When we stepped onto the stage we positioned our family and nodded to the two young men waiting to pull open the curtain….they were taking their job very seriously! After confirming and reconfirming that we were ready….they pulled open the curtains to a somewhat shocked crowd of Karen villagers. The Bamboo School children were so proud of us and were delighting in us being one of them…they simultaneously broke out in a load cheer. As they began so did the other 300 people. All of this before we had sung a single word. This was enough to get me laughing….I knew Colin standing behind me was ready to crack also…but we held it together….the children better than me and got through the song….we finished and again the cheering started. It was so very cool to join…to really join the villagers. It was honoring to them…but such an honor to us to have been cheered.

I have many more stories…but will leave it here.

Oh , by the way….we received the chicken promised to our family as a result of me helping with the Bessa Blocks! One of the cooking staff..who lives at the school….was thrilled and promptly took it off me acting out (she knows very little English) the slitting of the chickens throat and excitedly announcing the name of some dish she would make with it. The chicken was plucked and then cooked…..the whole chicken….and I was brought a special sample in a spoon to try before everyone else…..mmm.

We had to get the ute fixed the other day....the gear box was having big troubles.....it cost $10AUD. That same day we paid for a friends motorbike to be fixed....that cost $12AUD. Then we got a haircut for Zach and that cost $1AUD. We then paid for a student to have her hair cut into a style she was dreaming about....she is 17 yrs old...and we paid a whopping $2 for the style cut. Hmmm I think we will find it hard to pay Aussie prices for a style cut when we get home.

This has been a crazy week. The children are not really getting much of their schooling done. About 3 hours for the whole week...they are not complaining...but we are going to have to address this situation...!

I have been reminded of how Jesus laid down his life for us. I am reminded also of our instruction to be like Jesus. The example of laying down our lives for each other is hard but very much at the core of Christianity I believe. I am understanding more that it makes very little difference where you are in the world…each of us are asked to lay down our lives for each other and in doing so we lay down our lives for our Maker. Can I challenge you this week to think of those you interact with and ask you to follow in the steps of Jesus and lay down your life for them? This is hard…as it means putting aside your own plans and agenda, putting aside your own interests and seeking to put someone else before yourself. Simple lesson…but so hard to carry out consistently!

Love to you all.