Just to let my readers know, this weekend I am likely not to be posting as often as I usually do or in my usual rhythm, for the simple reason that I will be leaving early tomorrow morning to return to Khun Yuam with two translators. Since it is now dry season it was thought helpful for the brethren of the Church of God in the Mae Surin Refugee Camp to have an actual sermon every couple of months or so, and to that end I am being sent to give a short message (which I hope to post this weekend) to the brethren in the refugee camp near Khun Yuam. After making the original plan to go there another purpose for my trip was found in the need to gather information about a potentially delicate situation, so that will be done also.

So far, the current schedule of the trip is as follows. Tomorrow morning we leave Chiang Mai at 8AM, and after a lunch stop in Hod we will arrive in Khun Yuam, God willing, around 3:30 to 4:00PM. I will try to stop at the internet shop across the street from my hotel to give an update, if they have any English language keyboards. My laptop is still out of action because of its taste for power cords with fava beans and a glass of chianti. On Sabbath morning about 8AM or so, the three of us will travel in a Karenni National Committee truck into the Mae Surin refugee camp, where I will hold Sabbath services (it’s about a 15 minute message or so, which will be about half an hour with translation), and also fellowship and talk to our brethren there in the camps (there are about ten of them or so), to see what is going on and if certain reports I have heard are true. I expect to return to Khun Yuam in the evening, as it is not allowed for foreigners to stay overnight in the refugee camp.

It had been my original intention to return to Chiang Mai early on Sunday morning, but apparently my two translators do not wish to miss a day of their weekend school, so they asked me if they could leave on Saturday night (the last bus going southbound reaches Khun Yuam around 10PM or so). I figure it is pointless for me to stay the night if everyone else is leaving, so I will join them on the late night bus trip, arriving back (God willing) in Chiang Mai at about 3:30-4:00AM. This is definitely going to be a trip that will test my stamina, that is for sure. And I imagine that visiting the refugee camp will be eye-opening. I don’t imagine that refugees live very pleasant lives, after all.