Arriving at the village and there are a few people waiting for us. The rest will come as they were informed we were delayed by the mud (rains)… We wash our feet in the cleanest mud puddle so we can enter into the church.

The school children were coming for us to minister to and I was assigned to do the teaching for this service… I taught on the Love of God…. As I communicated the pages of my bible to the children and adults of this village, they eagerly receive all that I have to say. I share about the plan for salvation and God’s free gift and at the asking, they all pray to make Jesus their Lord and Savior. The Holy Spirit of God is moving and filling this place. We are prompted to lay hands on and fill all who were in the building with the Holy Spirit of God. It is a glorious time…… and all are blessed.

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Rains had made the roads impassible in many places by landslides. I had never seen sides of mountains give way like this before. Everything was completely saturated. Sections of the mountains would come down like an avalanche… only it was mud and not snow. The region was experiencing rains that had not been in the last century… but we continued on… Getting to the camp village was important to us… As we climbed the mountain, we were amazed that the depth of the mud we were going through… then we were stuck… Moses turned and said, “looks like we’ll need to walk…. Take off your shoes, you might loose them.” Moses flip flops disappear into the mud as he steps and comes up barefoot…

We step out, the warm mud squishes between my toes and I laugh… we walk around a bit and they look at the truck. It is totally stuck. Moses decides to pull the motor bike off the truck. We’ll be riding the part of the way. So here I had a lift via motor bike. I was laughing all the way there.

Arrival at the church and we find a “clean” mud puddle to wash off the mud to enter into the church. Ministry is wonderful.

On the way back, additional rain made it more difficult for the motorbikes, our rides were only part of the way back on the bike, but the mud was so deep, we had to walk the last part of the way.

As I’m walking through the mud, I’m thinking, “I’m on the side of a mountain with brilliantly painted toe nails and I’m going to have the best exfoliation of my feet ever… this is high grade mud that the best spas would evny.”
Know this, it is a hike I will always remember.

For some real humor… PK told me to roll up my pants so they would not get muddy. I laughed even harder… “They are rolled up, the mud is the same color as my pants”. On one step, it was like quicksand and I was wondering if I would find bottom???
Yes, but only after the walk was through knee deep mud…

For those who would never believe without pictures….
The Way….

The first step

The first squish

SPAAAAAAAAAAAAAH Envy

There was an older man that we would see sitting out on the porch as we came and went. He smiled, but did not say much.

In the afternoon, he ventured into the sitting room and sat down. He sat for a bit and then Moses started to interpet for him… Morurid, is Pastor Prupon’s father, he told us that he was a bit shy and would go into another room because his English was not that good. But there was something inviting about us that drew him to be with us. Through Moses, we learned that this unassuming man was a Pastor and he spoke about what he endured as a Karen Christian carrying forth the gospel.

His ministry was not always easy. The gospel was preached in places where they did not want to hear the truth and he’d be stoned. He also had his clothes stolen. They denied food and shelter to sleep… but he kept going. There were many deliverances of those who were oppressed of the devil. There were numerous healings and other miracles that took place as the power of God manifested. There were many who came to know the truth. He went on and blessed us with the many testimonies that he shared. How unassuming and humble of a man he is…… and so full of the Joy of the Lord.

I have never been stoned, but have had clothing stolen and most certainly, I’ve not been denied food and shelter in the way he described…. Makes me reflect on how each of our lives is called to share the gospel, yet we endure different hardships…

It is time to get ready so we can go to the next village… he says, “we’ll talk more tomorrow. “
Once again, Morurid smiles big…and leaves the room.