Kampung life...

Sorry this blog has been so quiet lately. I guess the most exciting post I’ve had since I moved would be the one where there were maggots in my fridge. I’m happy to announce that my fridge doesn’t stink anymore and I haven’t died of food poisoning or some nasty bacteria from my fridge.

Coming back after Chinese New Year was tough. I felt really lonely, and plus that yucky fridge incident really got me down. I felt so tired and discouraged about ministry as well. Things were just going really slow and I didn’t seem to be making much progress with the adults and the children in the village.

Just this last week, God has been answering my prayers. He has been bringing the children to my house…to play games, learn how to play the guitar, to sing, draw and colour, read (more like flipping through and looking at the pictures), and basically just hang out since they are quite free and TV isn’t all that appealing all the time. We’ve also gone out on walks together, which is really nice, cos I get my bit of exercise and I have great company. They are not afraid of acting silly, singing off-key, and just have a really good time without trying at all. You have no idea how it really lifts my spirit when they start singing all the Thai Christian songs we’ve been teaching them…without any prompting from me at all! They never make me feel like a foreigner or an adult…even though they do treat me with respect…I’m just really grateful they are willing to have fun with me. They are really receptive and would do almost anything I initiate or get them to do. I’m so humbled by this experience. God has taught me that while I’m here, thinking that I’m to minister and teach these children…He has also sent them to me…to be my friends, my students...my joy.

This is really different from my experience in Chiangmai where the kids are shepherded by their parents most of the time and don’t get the freedom to run wild and play. Over here, the whole village and the surrounding rice fields…it’s just one huge playground…where they can run around, cycle everywhere, bring their catapults out to shoot at birds in the trees, bring a blue iguana to school (yes, one of the boys had this really scary blue iguana on his bag…or maybe it’s a chameleon since his bag was also blue)…go home for lunch during lunch break at school. This is the KAMPUNG. As much as I miss the 7-elevens, supermarkets & restaurants…all the conveniences the city has, I’m happy where I am now. God has shown me so much beauty in this place and in the people here.

Every night, I can see a startling number of stars in the sky. The insects here are so loud…it’s like a live orchestra. Everytime the sun rises and set, there’s this amazing blend of colours in the sky…and together with the trees and rice fields…it all looks wonderfully amazing. Sometimes, I just wish there was someone else here with me to share all these. So many times, I simply long to have someone to talk to. It’s just really quiet at night…when the children have gone home and almost everyone in the village have gone to bed…and that’s when my brain gets really loud. I can here all my thoughts…they’re bouncing around in my head…waiting to get out…I have to try real hard not to talk to myself…convince myself that I’m still sane…that I should probably go to bed, or read a book or do something so my head wouldn’t keep thinking that it needs to have someone to interact with.

4 more months in this beautiful village just seems so short. I really want to stay here and see what God will do in the lives of these people, especially the children…what He can do through me… And yet, 4 months of being alone…living alone…coming back to an empty house every single day…having no one to talk to at night…it seems so long. I just pray that the next time I come back to this beautiful land…I won’t be alone…

(*ok, for those who don't know, KAMPUNG means village in Malay...I think...we use it to refer to a village in the countryside...)