I clutched the door handle with a white-knuckled grip. In spite of the seatbelt and my death grip on the handle, I still bounced around in the seat as we jolted up the terrible road to Cana (pronounced Ka-nah-ah).
It’s hard to get there at any time, due to the horrible road that dashes upward at a daredevil angle and balances
precariously between two steep cliffs. During rainy season we can’t get there at all. It’s not a generous road. Only a few inches on either side of the truck separate us from a short cut down the mountain. When you meet someone….let’s just say you hope they can back up.
The last time we were here a tire blew out on one of those crazy tip-tilted sections of road. Paul had to back it down and change the tire while we walked toward the village.
This time we arrived without incident – only with the usual sore arms from hanging on for dear life.
But, as usual, it was worth it all when we arrived. They have no pastor there and are always glad to see us.
Paul preached a good message, wearing his new Lahu vest. The people seemed encouraged and listened with interest as he preached. We noticed that someone had been hard at work to spruce things up. The big termite mound we saw in the building last time was gone and we noticed several repairs. Paul had talked to the members about taking care of their building. It was good to see them taking his words to heart! Afterwards we were served a generous meal in one of the bamboo houses. I still haven’t mastered the art of sitting gracefully on the floor to eat, but all things come to pass, including uncomfortable meals.
Paul took the kids on a hike up to a waterfall while Lek and I did medicine. Then it
was back again down the terrible road. We felt such relief when we at last reached the highway and could ride without hanging on!
The huge jackfruit we have been watching on our tree was at last ripe enough to cut this week. Each jackfruit takes months to grow, but is huge when finally ready to pick. We didn’t get a picture of this one before they cut it, but here are the kids taking the edible part out and putting it in containers to eat later. Believe it or not, the massive amount of jackfruit disappeared within two days.
The rest of our week was work as usual, with a couple of interruptions to look at property. We need a place of our own and have been saving to have money to put down on a place. Most of what we’ve seen has been beautiful but super expensive. Land here is about the same in price as it is in the US. Our lease is up in April, so unless we find a place soon, we may have to be here for another year. That’s no hardship, because the Lord provided a comfortable rent house for us. We are just eager to be settled in our own place so all our ministries can be in one place. That way Paul won’t have to travel so much.
We also want to expand our education ministry to the hill tribes children. We plan to teach our kids at home next school year, which starts in April or May. They will get their Thai education one or two days a week at the “informal school” which is rather like GED classes. The other days they will get a Christian education in English here at home. We want to help more kids, but we need a place to do it. Please pray with us for just the right place at a price we can afford.
And please pray that our plan works out! We have tentative approval from the school, but I will rest easier when they are officially enrolled.
What a comfort it is to know that where God leads, He never fails to provide. He’s good!