Karen Celebration

 Naam, right, invited me to her home town for a celebration of the opening of a new church.  It was the biggest gathering of Karen people in their village in 10 years.  

 

We ate a lot of pork, as it is the food for special occasions.  Pigs were killed the day before we arrived.  One dish was raw pork in pig's blood, of which I wasn't very excited about.  However, I gave it a try, a little bit, and I'm alive.  Then I asked Naam, "Aren't you going to eat it too?"  "No, I'm scared."  She responded.

 

Meet Lek's dad.  Lek is another girl from the dorm where I live.  Her dad has worked at this elephant ride company for over 20 years.  He gave us a ride on his elephant, 24 year old, Jackfruit.

 Lek's mom (left), Michelle, Me, and Naam.

 Every house we visited had food to share with us.  (Even when we had just eaten.)  It is their way of being hospitable and sharing life with us.

We always ate on the floor or on a raised floor table.  Life is simple and relaxed, but all the essentials were met. 

Look past the row of heads to see the writing on the wall.  That is the church's key verse written in Karen.  I could not read a single word, but according to my book, it says "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble." (Psalm 46:1)

 

Here we have three single ladies.  How do you know?  From their shirts, married women wear black shirts with red horizontal stripes around the middle.  Married men wear a red shirt with vertical stripes.  Single girls wear a long white dress or colorful shirt, and single guys wear a shirt any color other than red.  The clothes are handmade by by the older women in the village.

 Everyone was buy going here and there, taking care of guests who came from 4 other provinces, and getting everything ready for the celebration.

 Paintings decorated all walls of the church.  My favorite was Adam and Eve, wearing traditional Karen dress, in a beautiful garden, with a beautiful view of the hills and valleys surrounding them.

 The married men and women from this church singing.  Almost every church had a song to share in the Karen language. 

 While this looks too western for my idea of a Karen church, the amazing thing is that it was completely funded and built by the Karen congregation, an amazing picture of how a village can come work together.

The pages of this Karen hymn book were brown and falling out but it was still being used.  Naam, having grown up going to Thia school, can speak and understand Karen easily, but we had to ask for help to find the right page because she hasn't studied reading or writing Karen language.

 

My favorite part was meeting grandmas, aunts, uncles, and cousins and beginning to see what life was like for the students I live with while they were growing up.  7 students I know come from this village of about 200 homes.  Life is simple there, but God is working, growing the church, and changing people's lives.