Laos: Let it rain!
“Yeah guys, we have no budget for Laos.”
Maybe that statement needs some clarification. To clear it up a bit, I will start one country earlier. I am not referring to Nepal in this case, but rather to Thailand, where we spent two nights in Bangkok.
Unfortunately one day is way too little to truly be able to say one has seen Thailand, or even Bangkok, but we filled our time as best we could. After a morning of debriefing Nepal, we hit the streets, looking for a certain famous tourist area in Bangkok. It turned out to be a few hours’ walk from our hotel, but it gave us an opportunity to see a bit of the city. Great place! Our night time boat ride back was well worth the effort! I could go back just for that experience.
The next day we set forth on what would be our first long distance train ride, to the Lao border. We took an overnight train, which meant there wasn’t all that much to see. Luckily our seats were quite comfortable, which made a small bit of sleep possible. Praise the Lord! At the border we were met with two surprises. The first, which wasn’t completely unexpected, was a Visa fee of $20pp. Suspecting a visa fee, however, did not mean we had excess money to pay it with. But I will say more about our budget in a moment. The second surprise, in no way expected, was an additional team member we met at the border.
Our unforeseen addition was Christopher, a 60-year-old Australian born evangelist, who travels the world and, true to evangelistic tradition, tries to convert as many people as quickly as possible. We met him at the border, where he shared stories of many miracles and revelations he had witnessed. He also mentioned that he felt God told him he would meet a group on the border who he would join for Laos. Thus it wasn’t long before he was included in our group and, with the permission of our hosts, was included into our activities as well. The rest of our time in Laos with someone who both taught and challenged us a lot. Although we do not follow exactly the same ministry style, we could learn a lot from him and vice versa.
But let me get back to a previous statement I made earlier. I mentioned that the border fee surprised us a bit, and that we didn’t have excess money. Maybe that’s a bit euphemised. The reality is that we didn’t have the money to pay it, so the fees cut directly into our food budget. Not only cut into it, but erased it completely! Yes, for Laos we now had no food budget at all! This seems unfathomable, but this really is the place we found ourselves in!
It was at this exact place that the Lord started us on an amazing journey of trusting Him to provide. And God provided! We were blessed by different people and in different ways, through meals that were bought for us, financial donations, and dinner invitations to many different peoples’ homes. As the person who manages the financial portfolio for the team it was quite a challenging journey for me, but a very rewarding one.
Our time in Laos was not centred around food (alone) though, and we were blessed to also be involved in a diversity of ministries. Soon after our arrival in the country we were invited to join the local church’s youth camp. An amazing experience! We played, sang, ate and relaxed together, spent time listening to testimonies, prayed for each other, and enjoyed God’s hand in the way He encouraged both our group and the youth who we believe will change Laos. What a privilege!
Back from the camp we could spend a few more nights with the youth doing street ministry. One night we did a treasure hunt. A treasure hunt involves praying for signs or words from the Lord that we should look for in the streets. People heard or saw different things, ranging from a purple shirt to families or some more abstract ones. I, however, did not feel as if I would be joining the group in the same way. Instead, I felt God was calling me to be the team’s intercessor in the streets. Those who know me know that my attention span is not something to brag about, and for that reason I have never really considered myself to be much of an intercessor, because my thoughts would drift away after praying for extended times. That night was, however, an amazing experience! God broke the negative perspective I had about myself by leading me in prayer. Sure, my thoughts still drifted here and there, but God also reminded me that he calls people the way they are, and therefore I was called to be honest before the King, being myself and nothing more. It was an amazing experience! Now I am excited, not scared, by the thought of interceding. God is good!
We also had experiences outside of our planned ministry. Probably one of the most incredible and crazy experiences we had in Laos was the New Year celebrations. The Lao New Year does not coincide with the one we know in South Africa, but is rather held on slightly differing dates in April. We were fortunate enough to be there at the right time! So we braced ourselves for a New Year celebration! Luckily our hosts had given us a small warning about the celebrations, which he said was a bit different to the New Years we know. He mentioned that their celebrations last 3 days, and that there was water involved.
Our experience started with a braai at a home for girls rescued off the streets. It wasn’t long before some of the children who were present let us get our first feel, literally, of the Lao New Year. A few water guns were only a start! The water was held to a minimum until after the meal, after which the dam broke! Big dustbins filled with water were opened and we spared no time in joining the massive water fight! In Laos, water is used as a symbol of blessing, and thus people blessed each other into the New Year. We also had a time where all the parents were seated and individually blessed by the next generation, with words of encouragement and thanks. The rest of our time at the home we continued the “blessing” celebrations with games, dance-offs, icy water surprises and some more sacks. We had a great time!
The celebrations didn’t stop there, however! The next day we were picked up by the host with two bakkies, told to get on the back, and we were provided with a dustbin of water each and cups for scooping it out. As we hit the streets, we realised we had underestimated the Lao New Year! The streets were filled by people dancing, music playing, food grilling, and water flying all over! Ours was one of many bakkies loaded with people and buckets of water, water bombs, and baby powder, which are considered part of the blessing culture. We were taken to a marketplace near the river, where a huge party area had bee set out, with loud music and entertainment booming, and firetruck-style water trucks driving by and spraying water over the dancing crowd. It is truly all too crazy to explain! I love it! If we had as much water in SA as they did in Laos, we could really learn a thing or two from them.
Our time in Laos was, needless to say, quite an experience! In terms of ministry it was maybe one of the more unclear countries, as it seems there were no two days when we did the same thing. Looking back it is now difficult for me to clearly define what we did there. We spent some great times witht eh youth of the church, and especially our hosts, who were young themselves. We also served the church in different ways, with preparations for church services or helping out at the children’s service. We did street ministry in the form of the treasure hunt, playing street football, or praying for people at restaurants. We also had the opportunity to visit a few tourist attractions. One of these was the UXO awareness museum. Here we learned that Laos is still the most bombed country in history. During the Vietnam war, it was seen as an entry point for enemy troops, and the Americans dropped a total of more than 2 million tons of explosives on Laos in what was mostly a covert bombing program, almost one ton per person in Laos at the start of the war. Truly horrific! We were also blessed to see some other museums and famous buildings.
It was a blessed time, but in a way a bit undefined. Nonetheless it was an amazing time, and (at the risk of maybe saying something I have already said and will say again) I would really love to go back! And if I ever do, I will try my utmost to make it coincide with the New Year celebrations! Thank you all at home for your continued prayers and words of encouragement. I really appreciate and treasure those!
Many greetings and blessings,
Miga
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