A Case of Mistaken Identity

This past weekend I made the roadtrip out to Baan Ruam Thai 9, a Hmong village in far western Thailand where our mission has a church site.  It's a unique experience each time I go, and it's a place I enjoy traveling to very much.  On the agenda this trip: picking up the stitched products the ladies in the village make for our mission's handicraft program, Sunday worship that included three baptisms and twenty-one teenage and adult confirmations, and picking up students to return to the Bible Institute in Chiang Mai.

After Sunday worship, I made friends with some of the little children, and we had a fun time chasing each other around in front of the church.  As I sat down to talk with some other people, the children came up to me and continued to play around.  I taught them how to "high five" and how to "soul pound."  At first they were hesitant, but once they got the hang of it, they couldn't have enough of it.

One of the little girls playing around with me said something in Hmong language that I obviously didn't catch, as my language of study here has been Thai.  A Bible Institute graduate now interning for the church there translated it for me in Thai.

"Do you know what she said you look like?"

No, I didn't know what she said, but I could guess: she probably said that she thought I looked like a monkey.  The Hmong children (and strangely enough, sometimes even the adults) often find great fun in playing around with my arm hair, as it's not a trait among Hmong people there to have arm hair.  Hairy arms are a strange thing to them.

"She said you look like a Karen person," he chuckled.

In Chiang Mai, you find people of every type and tribe, but the area where this girl lives in Tak province is dominantly Hmong country.  There are, however, a few Karen villages scattered around the area, too.  This little girl had likely heard of Karen people but had never seen one herself.  Looking at me, she knew that I certainly wasn't Hmong.  The only alternative?  I was obviously a Karen.

I can't quite put my finger on it, but there is something strikingly beautiful to this little girl's simple understanding of the world.  That day I helped to open up her world just a little bit more.  I will gladly be a Karen for her.

"Though I am free and belong to no man, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible.  To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews.  To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law.  To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God's law but am under Christ's law), so as to win those not having the law.  To the weak I became weak, to win the weak.  I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some.  I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings."  - 1 Corinthians 9:19-23

Peace,

Eric