Pai

Well, being in Pai by myself isn't as bad as I imagined it would be. I have a long holiday from Sat-Mon so I decided to venture out here on my own.

The moment I dropped my stuff into the guesthouse's room, I felt like being in a desert. There is seriously no other guests at the hotel except me. I looked forward to swimming in the pool but it turned out that they haven't cleaned it for so long that it turned green and yucky. I pondered my choices whether I should stay until the next day morning and leave or wait to see if I would change my mind. I decided to hear God out.

I was greeted by a warm afternoon sun when I wandered down the street. Pai in the summer is desolate. I have only been here only in rainy and winter seasons thus I was a bit shocked by what I saw. Shops and stalls were closed. No crazy white people with mohawk and pierces. Streets were quiet. I spent my afternoon in a coffee shop where I had lime frappe and iced chocolate drinks plus a plate of club sandwich. Yah, I was starving. Then I went out to rent a bicycle...only to ride it back to my guesthouse.

I'm so thankful there's an ac in my room or I'd die. It's really hot here. Period. But God blessed my evening with a group of Karen people. I was sitting in my room writing notes to people when I heard some noise down by the pool. Curious, I peeked out to see that the owners' friends with their sons came to visit. They were lounging by the pool. What crazy was the two karen boys were swimming and diving in the pool! I was like...this can't be true. So I decided to go down and joined the party.

When I walked down, the father was squatting by the pool with one hand grabbing his youngest son's arm. I wondered why he did that so I asked. He told me that the little boy's legs don't have strength and he can't balance himself well either in the water or on the floor. So, as crazy as it may sound, I went up and changed into my swimming suit so that I could be with the little boy, Tee, in the pool and helped carrying him....that was the only reason I went into the green nasty pool.

But God is good! I had as much fun as the boys did. After we came up from the pool, we were sitting on the floor eating sticky rice, chilly paste and some pork on the sticks. I learned a good deal about Karen culture and laughed at the boys' jokes. Sometimes the blessing of God come unexpected when we aren't looking for it. :)

Today is Sunday and I woke up feeling like my shoulders are gonna come out of their sockets. When you're in the water, everything seems so light...a 7-year-old boy was like a feather...but the truth was for a half and hour I was carrying the 30-kg boy in my arms. No wonder I have shoulders pain at the moment. But I decided to get dressed and went to church. I wasn't sure why I did except that i figured i had nothing to do anyway.

The Associated Churches of Pai was consisted of 15 people or so when I stepped in. I went in feeling a bit out of place but was escorted to sit in the 3rd row of blue chairs. After 10 minutes, i really wanted to walk out. But God held me to my seat. Then out of no where, I began to realize an important truth - that I'm here as a body of Christ. There're many churches all over the world and I am a part of the body wherever i am. When I saw that we function as a global church, a global body of Christ, I was beginning to see a more complete picture of His body on earth.

Anyway, as I was sitting there listening and praying, a man from the congregation went up to lead the Lord's Supper. But he stopped by my chair and asked if I could translate the ceremony into English for a farung man beside me! The 1st thought that came to my head was how did he know I speak English?!?!?! Was it written all over me that I could translate? I couldn't find any sensible reason but that it must've been the Spirit's providence. Thus I was obliged to translate although I didn't want to. For maccaroni's sake, I am on vacation!

But God did this on purpose. And I'm glad He gave me the opportunity to do so. When life is about others, my fleshly desires don't matter that much. However, I'm also thankful that this trip is about me as well as about others. And He's doing a great job at making things balanced here. I'm getting to sit under the sun and enjoy a glass of fruit shake. I get to sleep in an ac room and not sweat my butt off. :) I also got to meet a group of Karen people...and learned more about their culture. God is good.

Now I'm going to turn the computer off, change into my bathing suit and go swim...not at the hotel's pool, of course, but at another place. :) Tomorrow I'll be heading back to Chiang-Mai and will look forward to going to work on Tuesday.

Wherever you are, may the God of peace reign in your heart.