Christmas with the Bru

Christmas was very different for us this year. We knew we would miss our family and they too would be very aware of our absence. Our first Christmas related activity was our church Christmas service on Sunday 20th. It was a lovely service with many of the children and young people taking part. The family atmosphere highlighted the fact we were away from home and we wished we could be spending the next few days with our family.

On Christmas morning apart from opening some gifts we didn’t do anything special. We planned to join the Bru church for their Christmas celebrations the following weekend so decided to break up our journey to the North East over Christmas and Boxing Day. Leaving after 11 am we headed over to a place called Dan Sai. The drive was outstandingly beautiful. Our journey took us through lots of mountains and round many bends and we arrived at our hotel as the sun was setting. What a place! It is in the country, nestled among the hills and very tastefully laid out to resemble a North Eastern Thai village. The room we stayed in was fairly conventional. Across from that building was a lily pond and a few buffalo wander round the grounds. To the other side of the water little houses in traditional grass roof and bamboo style were dotted across the hill. Although simple looking from the outside they were finished to a high standard, including air conditioning!

It was a very pleasant atmosphere and we relaxed right away. Our only regret was that we hadn’t allowed ourselves more time to enjoy the surroundings there. It was a lovely way to spend Christmas night. After breakfast we resumed our journey through more beautiful scenery, the Phu Rua district was particularly pretty. Cooler than the rest of the country this area is especially suitable for growing flowers. In an unbelievable display of colour, flower gardens and vendors lined the sides of the road mile after mile.

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We made it to the village just after dark. Clark, Mary and Nathaniel (Aspinwall) had arrived just before us. Over the next few days we enjoyed fellowship with them and with the Bru believers, and visited many other friends in the village.

On Sunday morning we had a Christmas service with just about everyone taking part in some way. I had the opportunity to share the Christmas story. Later we all ate together and had a gift exchange. We had other opportunities to fellowship and eat with some of the believers. On Monday evening one family went to a lot of trouble to prepare a beautiful meal for us. Their love and generosity never ceases to amaze us.

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Another feature of the celebrations was an afternoon of games. Everyone took part, from the very youngest to the very oldest! They started with tug of war and let the old folks go first. We could hardly believe some of the elderly folk who took part and were relieved that none of them got injured! Anyhow they thoroughly enjoyed themselves and laughed so much. After that they moved on to the greasy pole challenge, thankfully none of the older ones tried that! After numerous attempts someone made it up the 4 metre slippery pole to retrieve the little gift bag at the top. And so the afternoon went on with many more hilarious activities. What a joy it was to not only praise and worship the Lord with these believers but to see them enjoying each others company and having such a good time together.

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As we were leaving the village on Tuesday morning someone arrived to see us. When we lived in the village E Phet was like a little daughter to us. She had no father and her family was poor so she spent much of her time with us, playing with our children. A few years after we left Thailand E Phet’s mother died too. In the twenty years since we last saw her she has got married and has an eight year old daughter. They have only recently returned from living in Bangkok. It was an emotional reunion for her and us. We were delighted to meet again and look forward to seeing more of her in the future.

On the return journey to Chiang Mai we had many things to talk about and process in our minds. It was a Christmas of mixed emotions but we would not have missed the time we spent with the Bru, the Lord encouraged our hearts and gave us some very special blessings.