Asian Africa: you have arrived

Once we crossed the border (literally physically walked across) over into Myanmar, it was tangible the difference between Thailand and this new country into which we’d just arrived.  There was a noticeable spiritual heaviness. The people stared at us in curiosity and not necessarily in a friendly way. We were the outsiders. The only white people; we didn’t belong. Going from tourist-filled Thailand with more Caucasians and foreigners from all over the world than any country so far on the Race to Myanmar was a shock to the system. New people, new language, new currency. No big deal. We’re used to constantly adapting to a new country on the Race. I mean, this is Month 5 already. But, something was different this time. Typically we’re the outsiders but we’re welcomed in with open arms. But here, I wasn’t sure. Maybe it’s because they only recently opened the borders to foreigners 7 years ago and so the people here are still not used to people of other nationalities. I don’t know. I just know I felt unwelcome and like a zoo animal on display and I knew I would really have to earn their trust.

So, I also distinctly felt reminded of AFRICA when we entered Myanmar. So, I’ve since dubbed it ASIAN AFRICA. I kept having Month 1 (Cotê D’Ivoire) flashbacks. The people staring at us in curiosity was the first similarity. In Thailand, we blended in more easily because there were so many other tourists. The landscape with the open fields and African-like gorgeous trees that we viewed from our bus windows confirmed that we were in some version of Africa. The verrrry bumpy, dirt roads with the bus rocking back and forth, causing me to fall onto my busmate multiple times and feel a little carsick, were classic Africa. Just poorer infrastructure and more poverty in general than Thailand added onto the similarities.

Then we arrived to our lovely hotel, a diamond in the rough for sure. Our air-conditioned 2 people/ room fancy lodging was smack dab in the middle of a village that I would describe as a borderline-floating village. “Houses” on stilts over bright green sewage water with dirt roads and kids playing in the streets. The houses are often one room with a little wooden bridge to the entrance and are often made of bamboo weaved together. They appear ready to fall apart at any moment. There are little shops that sell snacks, drinks, and some toiletries but no actual stores. A quaint little village with people that stare but generally are friendly once you smile first and attempt to say hello (“Mingalabar”) in Burmese. I definitely feel like white privilege though since we are staying in the very nice (for the Race!) hotel in the middle of the village. It’s a sweet living sitch though because we can be a part of the village and explore and really see how the locals live while staying in a boojie place 🙂 Best of both worlds!

So, we arrive at church the first Sunday and it’s on the second floor and is a little one room church with plastic chairs crammed in the back, and a pulpit and table with flowers at the front and children lining the floor in the front of the chairs. Very little room for walking 🙂 I was back in Cotê D’Ivoire all over again and I just exchanged a look with my teammate Heather who was on my previous team. Difference here is that there were 2 fans and a little A/C unit that the preacher could feel at the pulpit. But still sweat-dripping down your legs/back/everywhere-in-between kinda HOT. That sticky, sweaty kind of heat where you feel miserable and just have to power through it and try to stay positive and Awake when all you want to do is escape into a sweet slumber or run outside of the building: neither of which you can do. “Praying” (faking praying while actually sleeping) only gets you so far… shoutout to my boy ALEX 😉

So, anyhow, we are in Africa, I mean church. There’s no translator essentially so we are singing songs (or trying to sing along) when we have no idea what we’re actually singing. The lead lady shouts excitedly in Burmese: praises to the Lord and prayers, we assume. Different groups of children come up and recite bible verses (a couple in English: yay, something we understand!) and sing songs and they really are very talented. I go up to preach my sermon I prepared and then the pastor changes it up and says he needs a testimony and to “keep it short.” Sooo, I give my Mini-testimony. And we sing a group song w our team. Finally at 12 pm (we arrived at 9:30 am, mind you), we collectively are hoping that the service is done. Then the pastor gets up to say a Mother’s Day message and it is…you guessed it, a sermon! At this point, we are done. So we press on and read our Bibles and get on our phones because we’re fighting to Just stay AWAKE and present at this point. There’s only so much heat one can take and hours of a language you don’t understand before your body and mind gives up.
So, I’m a little ashamed that I was on my phone but the alternative was sleeping because I was fighting fatigue and heat exhaustion. The struggle is real, my friends.

So, that’s a picture of Sunday church for us. We were a little more lively this past Sunday and we knew the kids (we each teach different groups of the kids) so it was fun to see them perform and be proud teachers 🙂 Back to the Africa theme, they do stick with punctuality for the most part here, consistent with our Asia experience so far. So that’s one major difference from Africa. Here, sometimes our ride is early and we arrive to church 30 minutes before the service is set to start. So, that takes some adjustment. But we’re grateful for punctuality 🙂 Also, another difference is that in Africa, evangelism was a big emphasis and we did it freely in Western Africa. Whereas in Myanmar, we teach English and password-protect our blogs because foreigners aren’t supposed to evangelize here so we have to be discreet and wise in how we share Jesus. Just have to be a little more creative and love via actions a little more than words 🙂

So, all in all, I love my experience in this BEAUTIFUL country of Myanmar so far. Our hosts and church members, staff at the hotel, beloved students, and village people are so wonderful and welcoming and are stealing a piece of my heart.
I got a fresh rose from the bellboys last week.. life is GOOD. And my God is even BETTER <3