Reaching Nepal

I woke up early and spent sometimes with God at a local restaurant. After finishing my eggs and orange juice I set out to cross the border of Burma.
As I walked from Thailand to Burma across a bridge that connects the two I noticed changes immediately. First I noticed that the gateway on the Thailand side was at least three stories tall and was brand new. It was a beautiful building where people and cars passed through the center. On the Burma side the gateway was an old shabby metal arch.


This was just the first example of the vast differences in these two countries. To be honest the poverty of Burma did really shock me (remember I live in Nepal), but I was continually shocked with the prosperity and advancement of Thailand. Other differences I noticed were in roads, buildings, and the daily living of the people. My time in Burma was short. I was only allowed to go in for less than a day so I just walk around and tried to take in the atmosphere of the land. While walking the streets, I was able to go to a Buddhist Wat and see a heart breaking display of idols.

As I was there I bought some old Burmese money from a shop lady. After I made my purchase she then pulled out some new money which I though she was also trying to sell me, but I came to find out she was giving it to me. She gave me five real bills that are still being used. That just goes to show you how worthless their money is. The expression, ?not worth the paper they?re printed on? comes to mind. As I was leaving I was able to give her one of the gospel tracts I had been giving away. This was the only one I gave away inside Burma, so pay that God uses it in a powerful way. As I look back on my short time in Burma I have a few observations:
1. Burma and Nepal are alike in many ways. They both are poor, in constant political turmoil, and living in hopelessness.
2. Many of the woman and children wore a tan colored paint on their cheeks. After looking for a longer time it seems this is a mark of a servant or lower class person.
3. The dictatorship in Burma is holding its people back from many good and helpful things.
4. Burma is in love with professional wrestling. I passed by four different restaurants crammed with people watching WWE. Crazy huh? Here is proof.

5. I know there are good churches with dedicated believers in Burma, but they are few and far between. This land needs more workers.

After leaving Burma, I hopped on my bike and headed for Laos. I stopped at the official ?Golden Triangle? where Thailand, Burma, and Laos meet. There wasn?t much to see there so I headed to Chiang Saen to try and crossover into Laos. This attempt failed and I decided it wasn?t my time to go, so I started back across Northern Thailand to Mae Salong. Mae Salong is a community of Chinese people who fled China 50 years ago and settled into this mountain community. As I rode most of the day across Thailand the road began to remind me of the mountain roads at home and then they got even worst. The road would cut back over and over again for 40 km. I loved it! What a road to ride a motorbike on. Praise God, I made it though all those crazy curves and rode into town. Out of all the towns I visited on this trip Mae Salong was my favorite. Nestled in the mountains of Thailand it was breath taking.

After checking in I dropped my heavy backpack and went out to explore. As I was going to get petrol for the bike I came across a very surprising sign.

I went to the church and was greeted by the pastor. Unfortunately he spoke no English and we were stuck just drinking tea without conversation. Then all of a sudden in walks a teenager from the church who spoke a little English. I stayed an hour or so and both I and the pastor received great encouragement.

I found out that the church was started by Chinese believers who had come to settle the community over 50 years ago. He also showed me where there were two other churches in the community. What an encouragement to know that God is accomplishing His desire of reaching the nations.
After dinner at a nice Chinese restaurant I watched a French TV show (with subtitles) and head to bed. Day 3 done.