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^ A White Hiao Village-Decshuer 4 C-
I WRITE I AN SITTING, ON A DANDOO NAT ON THE NUD FLOOR,
SURROUNDED BY A CROWD OF DIRTY, FRIEND LY, MlAO CHILDREN,
WHO OCCASIONALLY INTERRUPT NE TO HAVE NE READ THEM A
Bible story in Hiao, There is a hole in the grass roof
WHICH admits light, ThE smoke-filled hut, THE NOTCHED-LOG
LADDERTO THE LOFT, AND THE FRIENDLY, CURIOUS PEOPLE ALL
REMIND NE OF TIDET,
I*M HERE TO FIGHT A TYPHOID EPIDEMIC, TWO OF THE FINEST
YOUNG MEN IN THE VILLAGE DIED,--WITHOUT GhRIST,-~AND OTHERS
ARE SERIOUSLY ILL, ThANK QoD FOR GhLOROMYCETIN, AND MORE
THAT He still HEARS AND ANSWERS PRAYER. GiVING SHOTS AND
DISPENSING PILLS TAKES LOT OF.TINE,
KHUN NAH YliO-DEcEMBER 6 HL
Since I started this letter the epidemic brought me to
THIS village. So far I HAVE LOST NO CASES, BUT NOW I AM
OUT OF GhLOROMYCETIN and TeRRAMYCIN^. IS NOT AS EFFECTIVE,
Also I am out of "shooting medicinH^ and it is hard to
GET PILLS DOWN A SERIOUSLY
:2
medicinH^H^
SICK CHILL,
(_Ta.KING THIS TRIP WAS VERY MUCH AGAINST MY WISHES, THERE IS
A VAST AMOUNT OF TRANSLATION WORK TO BE DONE, AND WE ARE
BEHIND ON CORRESPONLECNS. AlSO THERE ARE SOME ThAI^ VILL
AGES TURNING TO THE LoRD, AND THEY ARE OUR RESPONSIBILITY,
Dorothy and the children had just returnei from spending
Thanksgiving with the Byers, They need the refreshment of
getting together, AND I WOULD LIKE TO HAVE JOINED THEM
BUT FOR THE PRESSURE OF THE WuRK, QN TUESDAY NIGHT SOME
White IfxAo came~do-wn to-'B'eg eotz help,Since'Fuahas no
DOCTORS AND IT SEEMED A MATTER OF LIFE OR DEATH, I FELT
I HAD TO GO, The trail was a nightmare, steeper THAN ANY
I REMEMBER IN TiBET, We HAL TO SPENl THE NIGHT IN A T'tn
Fir VILLAGE F^UR HOURS UP THE MOUNTAIN, I HAL A PREACHING-
TEACHING SESSION THAT EVENING AND THE T'^^N WERE FRIENDLY,
They drought gifts of steamed rice, peppers, and baked fish,
[ Four more hours of steep climbing the next day brought us
the afflicted village, I STAYED IN A HOME WHERE A TEN-
YEAR OLD BOY WAS SERIOUSLY ILL, TwO FAMILIES AND I SLEPT
ON THE MUD FLOOR AND A THIRD FAMILY HAD A BAMBOO PLATFORM,
It RAINED ALMOST CONSTANTLY AND THE AREA WAS A PIG WAL
LOW THRjUGH WHICH I HAL TO WALE TO ATTEND THE SICK IN
FOUR nrwJTP UJTVR. j Mn.RT jjp THEM RESPONED QUICKLY TO TREAT-
THE LITTLE BOY DEVELOPED PNEUMONIA, THINGS WERE
IN A CONTINUAL FRENZY WITH DEMON WORSHIP FOR THE SICK,
UNTIL I FELT I HAL BEEN BROUGHT TO THE VERY GATES OF HELL,
During the second night the little boy went into crisis.
As HIS CONSCIOUSNESS EBBED THE PARENTS BEGGED ME TO PRAY
TO God, I TOLD them I was not FREE TO PRAY FOR THE CHILD's
healing as long as demon worship continued, FOR God will
NOT share His glory with men, or demons. The headman
cjncurred, lemon Worship stopped and then I prayed that
IF IT BE HIS WILL He WOULD SPARE THE CHILD 'S LIFE UNTIL
HE HAD A CHANCE TO ACCEPT CHRIST JESUS AS HIS SAVI^Uft,,
The PARENTS FELL ON THEIR KNEES BEHIND ME AND CRIED OUT
"0 LORD JESUS, SAVE jur son and we will give our lives
TO you". Toward midnight the fever broke and the chillis
HEART BEAT BECAME ALMOST INAUDIBLE, EVEN WITH THE
stethoscope. The parents started crying, I quieted them
TO await the working of the Lord, About two a.m. the heaPuT
rallied and the child sank into sleep so I OPiDERED THE
RELATIVES TO TAKE THEIR P.EST AND ALLOWED ONLY HIS MOTHER
TO SIT AND KEEP WATCH WITH ME TILL LAWN,
From then on there was a slow but stealy recovery. By 2
Sunday all the sick there seemed out of danger so when
MY FRIEND GhENG CAME TO GET ME TO TREAT HIS FATHER AND
OTHER IN HIS VILLAGE^ I WAS READY TO GO WITH HIM.
IA GOOD PART OF THE UOURNEY TO Y/iO WAS ALONG A
MILE HIGH RIDGE WHERE THE RAIN SOAKED TRAIL WAS TREACH^
EROUS AND LEECHES SO NUMEROUS AND VORACIOUS THAT AFTER
AN HOUR I HAD TO STRIP OFF AND THROW AWAY THE RErf^NTS
OF MY BLOOD-SOAKED SOCKS, In ANOTHER HOUR MY SHOES GAVE
OUT SO FOR THE LAST FEW MILES I HOBLLED SLOWLY ALONG
ON MY BARE FEET, TRYING TO AVOID SHARP ROOKS AND RATTAN
THORNS. By the mercy of God a kindhearted Miao horseman
CAME along and PUT MOST OF MY BACK PACK INTO HIS HORSE
BLANKET. ShOES AND SOCKS ARE A DIG ITEM IN OUR BUDGET.
A PAIR OF SOCKS WILL'^^^^T IN A DAY ON THE TRAIL DURING THE
RAINY SEASON. Leather shoes are unusable and tennis shoes
LAST ONLY A FEW WEEKS,
I
[h/E REACHED KHAN BAM YaO LATE IN THE AFTERNOON. ThE VILLAGE
IS SURROUNDED ON THREE SIDES BY CLIFFS AND WAS ACCESSIBLE
ONLY BY CLIMBING DOWN THE STEEP CLIFF FACE. THE SCENERY
WAS SURPASSINGLY DEAUTIFUL I HAD ENOUGH MEDICINE LEFT FOR
ONLY THREE INJECTIONS SO I GAVE THEM TO THE THREE MOST
DESPERATELY ILL. BY THIS MORNING ALL THREE HAD IMPROVED.
The headman asked me to his home as he wanted to talk
ABOUT becoming A ChrISTIAN. FiVE YEARS AGO WHEN I VISITED
THIS VILLAGE THEY SHOWED INTEREST IN THE QOSPLE, BUT IT
TURNED TO SUSPICION AND HATE WHEN THEY WERE TOLD GRUESOME
TALES ABOUT AMERICANS BEING CANhBALS, ThE TIDE TURNED
AGAIN WHEN A REFUGEE BOY WHOSE CHRISTIAN FAMILY HAD BEEN
PERSECUTED AND SCATTERED BY THE COMMUNISTS ARRIVED FROM
Yunnan, via Laos. His brother had died on the trail, and
THE HEADMAN HERE HAD GIVEN THIS BOY SHELTER, AND THEN
ADOPTED HIM, THE BOY HAS BEEN TESTIFYING OF ChRIST AND
NOW AGAIN THE WHOLE VILLAGE SEEMS OPEN TO THE GoSPEL. ThE
HEADMAN WANTS TO SEND THREE OF THE BRIGHTEST YOUNG MEN
TO PUA TO LEARN TO REAL TIE BiDLE, PLEASE PRAY ABOUT THIS
OPPORTUNITY FOR in all this time we do not have a single
WHITE Miao in either Nan or Chengrai Province.
PUA NAN- December 13
UHILE waiting FOR A TRUCK TO TAKBj^E DOWN TO NaN I WILL
TRY TO FINISH THIS LETTER, ON De^^7 GhENG OFFERED TO
CARRY PART OF MY PACK AND GUIDE ME LACK TO CIVILIZATION.
He ASKED IF I WANTED TO USE THE HUMAN TRAIL OR THE HORSE
TRAIL. I SAID WHICHEVER IS SHORTEST. ThE HUMAN TRAIL
REqUIRED A ONE HOUR CLIMB UP THE CLIFF, AND A TWO HOUR
DESCENT ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE MOUNTAIN, AND THE TRAIL
WAS NOT REALLY VISABLE. We ARRIVED AT BHA KA ABOUT NOON
AND FOUND SEVERAL VILLAGERS DESPERATELY . ILL. It WAS
AN AWFUL FEEING TO BE OUT OF THE MEDICINE WITH WHICH I
COULD HELPED THEM. GhENG^S WIFE HAL SEWN UP AND PATCHED
MY SHOES AND IT TOOK ME ONLY A FEW MORE HOURS TO GET DOWN
THE TRAIL AND HUME. It WAS WONDERFUL TO HAVE A REUNION
WITH THE FAMILY AFTER EIGHT DAYS IN THE MOUNTAINS. I HAD
PLANNED TO GO TO 1>/0NG Pl^G SATURDAY, BUT I WAS FEVERISH AND
UNABLE TO TRAVEL, HoWEVER, I WAS BETTER BY DAWN SUN(i/>^MORNING
SO I HOPPED ON MY BICYCLE AND GOT TO UoNG pANG IN TIME FOR
SEPtvicE^f Bon and his men have excavated a bicycle trail all
THE WAY FROM WONG pANG TO NaM MONG. PREVIOUSLY NaM MoNG-
WAS ACCESSIBLE ONLY BY FOOT TRAIL, OR DURING THE RAINS,
BY RIVER BOAT. It WAS REALLY A PLEASURE TO SKIM UP THERE
BY BICYCLE. I WAS GLAB TO FIND THE NaM NoNG CHURCH GROWING
IN NUMBERS AND IN SPIRITUALITY.
Love from us all,
(Signed) Garland Ba.