The bus screeched to a halt at the road junction. Together with three friends, we alighted from the bus into the smothering heat. Across the road, we saw a lady waving at us. She has gotten two other friends from the village to come and fetch us on their motorbikes. And so, off we went—cutting across the luscious green fields, on the meandering dirt track, toward the hills.
At the base of one of the hills is Hong Zhuang, the largest Akha village in Yunnan Province. It is home to 120 households (Most Akha village has about 30-50 households). Situated on the hill slope, at the tip of the village, live three widows and two young children. Ah-pi’s father has passed away, so has her husband and son. She has two grandsons—one is 9-year-old, the other is 7. Every morning, Ah-pi wakes up before the first streak of sunlight paints the darken sky to pray. Her morning habit reminds me of Mark 1:35 “Before daybreak the next morning, Jesus got up and went out to an isolated place to pray.”
While many villagers are seizing the golden hours before daybreak to tap the rubber trees*, Ah-pi has decided to dedicate her first waking moment to talk to God. Her faith is simple; her relationship with God is real. Can that be said of me—and of you—too?
Let us pray with Ah-pi and her family. By God’s grace, the children’s education is being paid for by the government. But the children are being bullied in school.
* The trees must be tapped very early in the morning, at daybreak, so as to harvest as much latex as possible. If one makes the cuts late in the day, the harvest will be at least one third less.
tom felten on June 29, 2010 at 8:20 am
Poh Fang, I love Ah-pi’s dedication to God and her early morning prayer practice. What a great reminder for all of us to begin our day focused on Jesus. Yes, we’ll pray for Ah-pi’s family and especially for the kids, that they will not be bullied at school.
SellyNia on July 2, 2010 at 8:18 pm
As it says in Rom 12:19, “Do not avenge yourselves, dear friends, but give place to God’s wrath, for it is written, ‘vengeance is mine, I will repay,’ says the Lord.
The Lord sees what those kids did to His children, let God take what He deserve as what it was mentioned in His book that ‘vengeance is mine’, as long as Ah pi’s children do not overcome evil by evil, but overcome evil with good (Rom 12:21) everything is gonna be okay because Jesus Christ is on our side 🙂
However, we still need to keep Ah pi’s household in our prayers, amen~ 🙂
esther chang on July 12, 2010 at 1:24 am
it heartens me to see a fellow sister from a different culture being dedicated to her faith in our Lord. may the promise of matthew 6:33 be upon her (:
sweige on July 29, 2010 at 8:23 am
I lived in Yunnan for seven years. It is wonderful to read about your expweience there. Please gice a little more detail about the village life next time.
I had the priveledge of travelling to a muslim village and I remember getting up before light and reading my bible with a flashlight. There is something about being in a mountain village that seems to make it easier to feel the presence of God.
I am back in america now and have found it easy to get busy and not make time for God I have recently made a new commitment to start my day with prayer.
We pray for this family and pronounce them blessed.Lord Give them favor and may the teachers give these children favor and be urged by your spirit to intervene and stop the bullying. Lord we ask for revival among the teachers , administrators and in the village.
laincy on August 10, 2010 at 7:09 pm
Ministry to the Minorities
I have been n Vietnam for the past 3 years, and I have friends among the minorities in Vietnam. Gospel to the minorities are very limited as they lived in very remote areas of Vietnam, where the mode of transport is by foot.
They are mostly animists, and the only way to reached them is to extend a helping hand by teaching. I believe there are much hindrance as the country is still a socialist concern.