At Mae La and Phop Phra we had visited Baptist churches, but Noh Boh is Pentecostal, or “Hallelujah Church” as it’s called here.
After a brief sit down and an introduction from Christ Htoo (pronounced ‘Kristoo’) we went over to the church for a rather rowdy evening worship time.
The church here is not so well equipped as at Mae La as they get fewer visitors than at the refugee camp. We did wish we’d brought a couple of decent guitar cables with us as there were some terrible buzzes and crackles coming off the ones they had, and the less said about the cymbals on the drum kit the better! The worship time was enlivened by flying insects drawn to the fluorescent lights in the church. Some of them were the size of stag beetles, and we did our best to dodge them as they droned unsteadily around. Term had just ended so many had gone back home and the congregation was down to around twenty. It’s not a refugee camp but a Karen area of Thailand, so people can come and go. It’s very near to the river which marks the border.
Ben preached on fears, and our security in God. At the end of the sermon he split the congregation into small groups to discuss what frightened people. How different are their fears from ours! In the west we fear things like rejection, disease or unemployment. These people fear crossing the border back into Burma because they know they might get captured or shot. They fear the snakes and leeches they may encounter in the jungle the other side. A few of them said they fear the spirits their ancestors worshipped back in animist days.
The Karen musicians we joined with that night liked to play loudly and with great enthusiasm. Ben and Jay had wondered how to introduce the idea of using the occasional quiet song in worship so it was almost a relief when the power went off and we were plunged into darkness. We wondered as to the cause but it turns out the power cut happened at the same time as the earthquake that hit Shan State in Burma. We didn’t feel anything but buildings in Chiang Mai were badly shaken. The Burmese government said nobody was hurt, but that just means nobody they care about. We were to find out more when we got back to Mae Sot. Back in the darkened church at Noh Boh people found their torches and we continued singing, accompanied by a single acoustic guitar which Ben and Jay took turns to play. We finished the meeting at nine.
The late evening was spent on the veranda of our traditional Thai house, still without electricity. It appeared to be built around twenty large tree-trunks set into the ground with store rooms, Christ Htoo’s bedroom and the utilities and ablutions on the ground floor, and the guest area is upstairs. A wooden staircase outside the house leads up to the veranda on the first floor, which opens to a large living area with bedrooms off, and a library. It sounds very nice, and it was – though the windows had shutters but no glass, and there were no ceilings below the roof of cement tiles. The ground floor walls are of breeze blocks but the upper storey seems to be made of teak.
We invited Christ Htoo to our evening devotions. The day had been a difficult and stressful one, and a couple of tempers had frayed, so apologies were made and accepted and relationships repaired.
Christ Htoo told us a little of his story, how he had gone in various directions in his life but only had peace when he decided to come back to teach at the Bible School. He is unsalaried but gets some pocket money. Ben asked him what his hopes were for his life. He replied that he just wanted to store up treasure in heaven.
The candles burned down and went out and most of us went to bed. A little while later all the lights came on again and we had to go round turning them off so we could get back to sleep.
Friday 15th March 2011
At Ben’s suggestion Jay is wearing his flight socks to keep the swelling down, and the rash on his shins is clearing up. But now he has a nasty insect bite on his left arm which went to a blister which then burst. Hazel put a plaster on it but it has become rather swollen.
We had a short worship time in the morning. Sadly Jay wasn’t up to playing saxophone in the heat and humidity so sat this one out. But he managed to lead the first Bible teaching session which went very well. After this we had a short break before Hazel gave her talk based on Isaiah 6. Jackie had been alarmed to hear the night before that people were in fear of spirits so she invited anyone who felt they needed prayer to stay behind. This problem runs deep and everyone stayed, including the school principal. We declared Jesus’ victory over the powers of darkness, read Romans 8:38 and prayed for them as they knelt on the floor.
Christ Htoo became very excited and started saying “Hallelujah” over and over. He is really enjoying our visit and is a real live wire full of joy in the Holy Spirit. We all like Christ Htoo.
In the afternoon we had another “creative” session with the students. Jackie and Jay had stomach problems so sat this one out. It was the usual combination of serious and silly, exploring feelings while listening to music. We announced an open-mic talent show that evening and encouraged people to write songs and sing them there.
Before the evening meeting Christ Htoo took some of us to the border. Across the river they saw checkpoints of one of the factions in the civil war. They were advised not to take any photographs as they might get shot at from across the river. They took the advice.
The evening started with a short time of worship, mainly action choruses, followed by the open-mic time. Nobody ever wants to go first so Ben broke the ice with his now-familiar rendition of Sweet Home Alabama, and that opened the floodgates. We had a succession of beautiful original songs and simple but heartfelt pictures. At the end of the evening we had a prize-giving to get rid of all the musical instruments we had bought in Thailand, and which we couldn’t take home. Everyone who had taken part got something, from a maraca to a recorder. Finally we gave our second guitar to the Bible school, still wishing we’d brought a couple of decent cymbals.
26th March 2011
Amid tearful goodbyes we packed up the car (much less to pack now we had given away so much the night before) and headed back to Mae Sot. We arrived around lunchtime to air-conditioning and showers and that was when we all realised how tired we were.
The trip is nearly over for most of us. We’re leading worship tomorrow morning at Pastor Peacefully’s church at Phop Phra, but after that it’s resting and packing.
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