For many of the nights, Louise asked for a couple of people to come along with her to share in the B**mese ministry that she is involved with. Each time she took us to a different area with some different people, though a similar situation. I had the experience of going to three different cell group Bible studies with Louise. Two (along with Janelle, and also Shane & Jonas) were in someone's small house,which was only one room, and the other (along with Donna, Allen, and Delores) in another very small room that they'd rented for that purpose.
At one of the meetings at Pastor Moe Aung & Esther's home, they were celebrating Esther's birthday. It was the first time that she had ever had a birthday celebrated! It was also the 1st time she had ever had foreigners in her home! We were treated to Thanaka cream facials.
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| Esther pounding bark for Thanaka cream. |
According to Wikipedia:
"Thanaka cream is made by grinding the bark, wood, or roots of a thanaka tree with a small amount of water on a circular stone slab which has a channel round the rim for the water to drain into....A tree must be at least 35 years old before it is considered mature enough to yield good-quality cuttings.... Thanaka cream has been used by B**mese women for over 2000 years. It has a fragrant scent somewhat similar to sandalwood. The creamy paste is applied to the face in attractive designs, the most common form being a circular patch on each cheek. It may be applied from head to toe. Apart from cosmetic beauty, thanaka also gives a cooling sensation and provides protection from sunburn. It is believed to help remove acne and promote smooth skin. It is also an anti-fungal."
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| Ending with a shared meal, of course! |
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| Janelle & Esther |
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| Esther & Emily |
The B**mese people would gather around to sing, pray, share, and hear the Bible taught. It was very basic - maybe one guitar and one or two leaders, and always sitting on a very hard floor :). I could tell though, that they wanted to be there, and that they so wanted to meet with God. Despite the small numbers, each small group sang so earnestly that they would probably put a hundred of us to shame. I loved that they all shared with each other about how they saw God in their lives. Given that we had to do 3-way translation, Louise wouldn't bother to get the teaching translated, but we would translate the sharing part, so we could hear from them and also share our own stories. Sometimes it might just be open sharing, and other times they might ask you to thank God for something. They always had such a spirit of gratefulness in their stories. Most of these people were new believers, no more than a couple of years old. Yet there were so few and they were all in the same situation, so they didn't seem to feel any apprehension about opening up to each other and talking about God. They were just excited to get to talk about Him. We were also expected to share, so you always had to have something ready to say! I think that is one of the most inspiring things I saw on the trip - just the excitement and lack of inhibitions they had about God and what He's done for them, and always being ready to share.
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