“Frank, would you like to visit a Lahu village for church on Sabbath?”, Judy asked. Judy Aitken is the director of ASAP. I have visited many villages throughout Cambodia, Thailand and Laos with her over the last eight years, filming stories and getting great shots. I especially enjoy visiting the remote ethnic villages that ASAP has a work in, to film worship services in primitive bamboo churches. There is something unique and refreshing about people worshiping God in such a warm and natural setting. I responded with an enthusiastic, “Yes!”. Anything to get out of our cloistered “resort” that was hiding the beautiful mountains that were all around us.
Pastor Phamore drove us the 120 Kilometers out to the village and it was a good opportunity for me to ask him some questions about his life and make a pitch for me to come do a documentary about his work with the Karen refugees. I think that he remains skeptical about the effectiveness of video as he mentioned that he has been interviewed by 3ABN twice before in the past and that it has not brought him any new supporters… No wonder he didn’t answer my email last December when I first proposed the idea but I believe that I now have him on board and we are setting dates for me to come to the camps. We are discussing about whether or not to cross over the river to the Burma side into what he calls, “no man’s land”. This is where it is so remote, accessible only by foot, that the Burmese army rarely comes, and so some Karen choose to live. Pastor Phamore has taken the opportunity to build schools for the children there. The problem is, he said, “If the soldiers come, you would have to disappear into the jungle for a couple of weeks!”. I am afraid that I just don’t have that kind of time! I would miss my shoot in Laos! So, I am thinking that we will probably only go to the camps on the Thailand side.
After almost two hours of driving, we finally arrived at the Lahu village, tucked away in a beautiful mountainous setting. Unfortunately for me, and my cameras, some well-meaning volunteers from Australia had come and built the villagers a nice concrete block church!
Is it wrong to be sad that people have a nice church to worship in? I took off my shoes and made my way into the dark church to do the best I could to get some shots. The video camera did alright in the low light, and the concrete actually made the acoustics great for the various choir groups that performed for us.
The lovely harmony was inspirational!
During the sermon I slipped away to take a walk around the village and as I did I noticed quite a large concrete Baptist Church also in the village. I could see how if the Adventists were going to compete here, they probably needed more then bamboo!
Pastor Phamore, Judy and Dr. Mary Ann McNeilus all too their turn at saying a few words to the people.
After the service was over, we passed out oranges and other treats to the members and the children. They seemed very glad for our visit.
After the crowd had dispersed, we made our way over to the home of the lay pastor who is sponsored by ASAP. I knew what was coming…. the big dilemma of whether or not to eat out in the villages. On the one hand, you don’t want to offend your host who has taken special effort to prepare a meal for you, on the other hand do you want to risk spending the next two days close to a toilet? We had brought some of our own fruit along with bread and peanut butter. The choice would be a last minute decision. When the food was brought out to the small round bamboo table, it looked so delicious that we could not resist. We all took our fill with no ill effects!
This photo was taken after the meal was over and all that was left was a variety of fruit for dessert. It was the royal treatment from a poor family and we were grateful!
After lunch we interviewed the church planter, for possible use on the ASAP video for next year.
In the prayer requests that followed, the lay pastor asked for special prayer for his wife who had been diagnosed with a tumor of some kind in her abdomen.
After prayer, Dr. Mary Ann took the woman into another room for an examination.
While the group continued to visit with the family I slipped away to look for some kids that I could shoot.
All in all, a wonderful day out in the villages!
Pastor Phamore drove us the 120 Kilometers out to the village and it was a good opportunity for me to ask him some questions about his life and make a pitch for me to come do a documentary about his work with the Karen refugees. I think that he remains skeptical about the effectiveness of video as he mentioned that he has been interviewed by 3ABN twice before in the past and that it has not brought him any new supporters… No wonder he didn’t answer my email last December when I first proposed the idea but I believe that I now have him on board and we are setting dates for me to come to the camps. We are discussing about whether or not to cross over the river to the Burma side into what he calls, “no man’s land”. This is where it is so remote, accessible only by foot, that the Burmese army rarely comes, and so some Karen choose to live. Pastor Phamore has taken the opportunity to build schools for the children there. The problem is, he said, “If the soldiers come, you would have to disappear into the jungle for a couple of weeks!”. I am afraid that I just don’t have that kind of time! I would miss my shoot in Laos! So, I am thinking that we will probably only go to the camps on the Thailand side.
After almost two hours of driving, we finally arrived at the Lahu village, tucked away in a beautiful mountainous setting. Unfortunately for me, and my cameras, some well-meaning volunteers from Australia had come and built the villagers a nice concrete block church!
Is it wrong to be sad that people have a nice church to worship in? I took off my shoes and made my way into the dark church to do the best I could to get some shots. The video camera did alright in the low light, and the concrete actually made the acoustics great for the various choir groups that performed for us.
The lovely harmony was inspirational!
During the sermon I slipped away to take a walk around the village and as I did I noticed quite a large concrete Baptist Church also in the village. I could see how if the Adventists were going to compete here, they probably needed more then bamboo!
Pastor Phamore, Judy and Dr. Mary Ann McNeilus all too their turn at saying a few words to the people.
After the service was over, we passed out oranges and other treats to the members and the children. They seemed very glad for our visit.After the crowd had dispersed, we made our way over to the home of the lay pastor who is sponsored by ASAP. I knew what was coming…. the big dilemma of whether or not to eat out in the villages. On the one hand, you don’t want to offend your host who has taken special effort to prepare a meal for you, on the other hand do you want to risk spending the next two days close to a toilet? We had brought some of our own fruit along with bread and peanut butter. The choice would be a last minute decision. When the food was brought out to the small round bamboo table, it looked so delicious that we could not resist. We all took our fill with no ill effects!
This photo was taken after the meal was over and all that was left was a variety of fruit for dessert. It was the royal treatment from a poor family and we were grateful!
After lunch we interviewed the church planter, for possible use on the ASAP video for next year.In the prayer requests that followed, the lay pastor asked for special prayer for his wife who had been diagnosed with a tumor of some kind in her abdomen.
After prayer, Dr. Mary Ann took the woman into another room for an examination.
While the group continued to visit with the family I slipped away to look for some kids that I could shoot.
All in all, a wonderful day out in the villages!
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