Sabbath - LaHu Village, Interviewing Bairs, and Sticky Falls

Sabbath January 28

Going to a Lahu village with the team this morning. Have to be ready by 8:30. Jon and James left at 6:30 to go shooting. They took the motorbike. They had tried to take the van, but it didn't want to go in reverse.

Mary Ann and I got our showers before they got back, so they were going to shower and we were going to go to breakfast. I was walking out the door of our room with the leftovers from last night, which Frame had left with us so we could have for breakfast, when the right side of my back completely locked up. James helped me back in and I laid down while they were showering. Chris brought me some tiger balm to put on. Jon rubbed my back for a short time, but we realized we would be late if we didn't eat quickly, so he helped me over to the breakfast building and helped me with breakfast.

Besides the leftovers from Frame, we had fresh papaya and toast. They had instant oatmeal, but we had rice instead. The papaya was so good! Melt in your mouth good!

We finished eating then Jon helped me back to the room and we brushed our teeth. By then the team was there waiting. We got everything loaded finally, and Sarah and Mary Ann pushed the car while Jon tried to get reverse to kick in. Thankfully it did!

James took Luke on the bike so he could run the GoPro. We made quite a caravan, Gop and Frame's little green car, James and Luke on the bike, us in the van, and Bair's in their much more of a van.

It wasn't very far away, just up in the mountain. When we arrived, Suwit and Wanida were here already. It is a beautiful church which I think Quiet Hour built. It was built by locals and finished by a group that came from Southern California last year. It is all decorated for Christmas, with colorful garlands.

Once everyone arrived, they started Sabbath School. We sang three hymns, they chose ones which are in both hymnals and the tune is very similar. Frame told us which hymns we were going to sing, so we could look them up in our hymnals. A sweet lady handed us Thai hymnals, but we used the ones on our phones.

Then Wanida got up and shared a text, Psalms 20: 6,7. It was a very appropriate reminder that God is in charge and can do anything. We trust in the name of the Lord our God.

Then she asked us to sing (no, we didn't know ahead, but it's ok!). Jon, James, and I got up and sang The Road. Mary Ann took the camera and shot it. Something backward about that...

Wanida spoke again, I think sharing the meaning of the song. Once she finished, they separated for classes, taking the children downstairs. The girls went to share songs and stories with the kids. Jon and James went to shoot them.

I stayed in the adult class. Gop was teaching in Thai, so I didn't get anything out of it, except hearing words I recognize, like Phra Jhao (God).

Frame said Lilyann did very well telling the story. She said the kids enjoy listening to stories. I asked her if she translated for the girls, and she said she did. Mary Ann said she really enjoyed it! So glad they had the opportunity to be a blessing. Chris told me later that they told three stories, creation and two others. God blessed and they were a blessing!

Now Suwit is preaching. Gop is translating so some are hearing in English, if they're listening to him.

The dogs bark occasionally, and the rooster crows. Kids are noisy. It's a village. :). Some homes are bamboo, some are wood.

James flew the Mavic, but there may have been too many trees and houses, because it started freaking out. It wouldn't land! Jon grabbed it in midair, which is a risk because the blades are right there! Thankfully he wasn't hurt.

After that we went back to the office and had lunch with the team. They had prepared pad see yew, which is wide noodles fried with vegetables and tofu and/or egg. One of my favorite Thai dishes! And fresh papaya and watermelon too.

While we waited for the food to warm, BawBaw came and gave me a massage. When she was done, my back was so much looser! I'm so thankful!

After we finished eating and talking together, the MissionTrek team went to shoot at Bairs house, wanting to film the kids and Daniel and Tesha to see how some kids live in the mission field and what it's like for their parents there.

After they finished, we left for Chiang Mai. James got bumped just barely by a car when he turned out onto the main road. He was ok and so was the bike.

We were going to go to Doi Suthep, the famous temple on the mountain here. On the way we remembered that we had talked about finding "sticky" falls, which we had never been to before. So we stopped and talked to James. He was following us on the motorbike again. He was willing, of course, so Chris figured out how to get there and we headed out. Thankfully, we had been on the way there already, it was just about 16 miles out of the way. :)

On the way, Luke was shooting the girls telling where we were going. It was too bouncy with the a7s, so we gave him the osmo with a mic on it, the iPhone paired to it, and he did it. It is so great to have such willing helpers and be getting things shot from the kids perspective too. Sarah has been shooting a lot with her a6000 too, so we will have other footage to choose from!

The girls didn't know why it's called sticky falls so they were talking about maple syrup making it sticky. :). They would find out soon!

Once we arrived, we hiked down to the falls. We found out it is sticky because of minerals in the water. It feels like sandpaper and your feet and shoes stick to it. Some areas are still slick, so there are ropes for climbers to use. Mary Ann, Lilyann, Sarah, and Luke all climbed the first section, then came down and climbed the whole thing, then they went down and found Jon and James and convinced James to climb the whole thing with them.

Once they finished it was almost sundown and we still had about an hour and 15 minutes to drive back to the city. They changed out of their wet clothes and we got on the road. It was a bit nerve racking watching James in the dark behind us. The other vehicles on the road follow way too close for comfort!!!

After a long drive, we arrived at Jonathan's apartment building in Chiang Mai. From there they were going to look at another motorbike, so they came a dropped us off, then went to see it. It was a good bike, with low miles, in good shape, so they bought it! It will be Jonathan's so he can get where he needs to be easily.

They finally got home around 10. And Jon immediately began pulling everything out of his backpack and camera bag. I knew he couldn't find his adapter for headphones for his iPhone 7, but then he said he couldn't find the SD Card he shot in on Friday and part of the morning. He looked everywhere. He and James even went back and looked through the car again. He looked in his pants pockets and his shirt pocket. It was nowhere to be found. We were sick about it, especially because it was the girls' camera during the interviews with the media team.

We ended up praying and leaving it in God's hands, going to sleep finally after midnight.