Day Three in Klaw Taw Village

  Mae Sot, Thailand
Sunday, January 11, 2009

 Today was our third day in the hill-tribe village of Klaw Taw. We awoke again to the sound of chickens, pigs, and dogs, and cold temperatures. It was difficult to pry ourselves from the warmth of our sleeping bags, but we had to do so to be ready for the early-morning church service. We enjoyed a quick breakfast of noodles, eggs, and toast (toasted on forks over hot charcoal) with peanut butter and jelly. Then we conducted our first Vacation Bible School (VBS) program from 8:30am to 10:30am. There were MANY children (about 205), and most were ages 10 or younger. We introduced our team, and then had the Karen students (whom we taught yesterday) perform the "Sin Chair" skit. Then we separated the children ages 5 and under into an attached room for a special VBS program more suited for their age. The younger ones enjoyed a flannel-graph story of Noah, and then stuffed their own teddy-bear to keep.

Stuffing Bears

We snapped photos of the kids with their bears

Bear Hug

Bears & Smiles

Tiny Tots With Bears

, and played some games in the field with balloons and bubbles. The older children made a craft of stars with wire and beads, and then joined the others on the field for some games. 

Church

At 11:00am, we all attended a worship service in Pastor Edmond's church. We were asked to introduce ourselves, sing a song. Then Jocelyn shared a short word of encouragement, and Mark prayed for the church.

Inside Church

Church Mural (Inside)

Then we were treated to a yummy lunch of pork stew, fresh vegetables, and French fries. (Pastor Edmond whimsically corrected us to let us know that these were Karen fries, not French fries)! 

Our next VBS program began at 1:30pm and lasted through 3:30pm, and it was very fun! We began with a play in full costume to tell the story of "The Good Samaritan" from the Bible. Then we shared the story of "Creation" from the Bible with our flannel graph, and distributed Play-do for them to create something of their own. We also distributed fresh tangerines (very sweet) as a snack, and then headed out to the field for some games.

Ben & Friend

We played many games all at once, so it appeared to be chaos with LOTS of laughter!

Ken & Friends

We had a giant parachute with lots of colorful beach balls, a rope for tug of war, beading, balloons, bubbles, football,and more.

Mark & Friends

All too soon it was time for us to leave the village. We packed our trucks, and snapped a few more photos. Then we gathered to say our goodbyes. The villagers surprised us with presents of fresh boquets of colorful flowers and hand-crafted Karen scarves and shirts. There were many hugs and requests for us to come back to visit. It was a bitter-sweet moment for us all.

Our return drive was partially in the dark, but was lighted by a beautiful, bright, full moon surrounded by sparkling stars in a clear sky. We made a couple of toilet stops, and even enjoyed some steaming noodles and Chinese tea at one stop to warm us up. Then it was onto Mae Sot to our hotel for a good night's sleep.