The Vernon Journal

Life with our Akha friends has been full of adventures, from arriving at a funeral covered in mud to extracting teeth, from naming children to burying loved ones. Each of these adventures has been a part of the history we have built here over the past seven years. As we have patiently earned relational equity, God has continued to change and challenge us in ministry, and most recently He is challenging us to oversee production of Akha language media – movies, clips, music – and empower the Akha people to share their own stories and lives. We’re doing this in partnership with Project Video and Akha Outreach Foundation under the banner of Akha Outreach Media.

We are in the middle of dubbing a major production, the Book of Acts, into Akha, but because it is the season for bamboo worms we paused the Acts project to put together a short video to teach the lesson of James 1 which teaches about our path from Preperation to Pain to Perseverance to Perfection. The video is centered around a typical Akha experience: the gathering of bamboo worms in the early fall.

Our entire family went up for a weekend to work on this film with our Akha team of actors and production crew. In our 7 years here, we have grown comfortable eating what we like to call “exotic” foods, but can still relate to the many people who would simply call them “gross”. Intestines, fat, skin, hair, blood, fermented meat, raw meat, birds, dog, bugs and worms have all become common encounters. A few of these items have become favorites, but some still require a big breath before I dive in. Bamboo worms fall in this last category.

But our girls have grown up in a world where a bamboo hut is more common than a skyscraper, and where bamboo worms are as much of an annual experience as a turkey at thanksgiving. So it is through their eyes that I want to share with you the joy of eating bamboo worms:

It’s March, which means we’ve just finished the busiest ministry season here in Northern Thailand. Share with us in all our family, ministry and life adventures here in Northern Thailand through our newest Video update:

Thanks for taking the time to catch up with us, feel free to drop us a comment below or a message on facebook so we can stay connected to you!

We have just finished the busiest ministry season here in Thailand (October – March) and have a number of updates we want to share with you over the next few weeks, but first we wanted to share the video that the team over at Media Light put together for the Pure Water project we were able to take part in, giving water filters for clean water for all the Akha families in Ayui Akha Village, Doi Maesalong.

Globally, 1.1 Billion people drink from contaminated water sources every day, but thanks to the generosity of Pure Water International, there are now 12 fewer Akha families on that list.

Near our village is another small Akha village very close to our hearts called “Ayi Akha”. They are very poor, and have no access to electricity or clean water. The water source they have been using for all their cooking, cleaning and consumption is a 200-yard walk down a mountain, must be carried back to the homes in bottles, and is filthy. Through the years we have reached out to this village, building relationship, bringing medicine and even hosting a summer camp specifically for their 30+ children.

Late last year, we met a wonderful couple named Wade and Sarita who visited our village. After learning about our friends at Ayi Akha they gave us 12 Sawyer water filters, each of which can be used to clean water for a family for up to 50 years. Earlier this month, we presented the filters and instruction on how to use them to the twelve families in the village. Every family had at least one adult and child who listened attentively to what we shared with them and who now all have filters to clean their water and the knowledge to care for those filters for many years to come.

Next, we’d love to add some solar bottle lights to continue to brighten and bless their world. Anyone want to sponsor that project? $100 would add light to these homes. Leave a comment below or contact us with “Solar Lights” in the subject line for more info.