Preach It

An international children’s development organization sent me north to Kachin State last Tuesday as part of a three-week-long job. My first task was finding myself a translator.

Back in February and March, during the UN food security survey here, a guy I’ll call Laka had impressed me as a leader. He negotiated his team through several military checkpoints and no-man’s-lands. I texted him to ask how he was spending his days lately.

It turned out that like many Kachin people, nearly everything in Laka’s life revolves around the church. His pastor sends him on missions throughout the Kachin-speaking areas of Myanmar, he studies English to help him better understand the Bible, and he even makes time to cheer at church-sponsored football tournaments.

Happily for me, after we talked he agreed on very short notice to help train a group of researchers to do focus group discussions in 10 distant refugee camps. He and I will also work together on transcribing the tapes when the researchers return to town. Midway through yesterday’s first day, everything was going well.

Laka and I were both unknowns at the training center. The staff there thoughtfully invited us to join them for lunch. Christian symbols decorated the walls. Everyone seemed pretty devout. So it didn’t surprise me that the group would pause to give thanks before the meal. But who would give that blessing?

Without any signal that I could see, Laka rose and delivered a grace in Kachin that sounded as polished and professional as any sermon. I wondered what unspoken (divinely inspired?) message had led to him being chosen. He claims that for now he isn’t drawn to the pulpit, preferring instead to study theology. I won’t be surprised, however, to return some day and find that he has his own flock.