"Do men like to make laap?"

We've just got back from a fantastic three-day trek in the jungle of Southern Laos. I over heard Michael asking a villager this question one evening as we sat in his home. To the amusement of me and the other Kiwi girl with us we thought he said "love" rather than "laap" which is a traditional food that men in Laos cook.

We stayed in two villages, both were minority tribal communities. The villagers were very keen to get to know us and learn about us (quite different to our Vietnam trek).We had some interesting experiences. In particular Michael had to answer some rather difficult questions while I was out cooking dinner in the adjoining hut.

"Why did Jesus die?"
"Is your God angry when you smoke or drink?"
"Does God get angry if a person steals something?"
"Why do the different religions fight?"

We were stunned at the depth of their questions. These people don't have electricity, televisions or even motorbikes. And yet they are deeply spiritual and are interested in the world around them.

The Katang people follow their own folk religion and also some Buddhism. They have a "Spirit Leader" in each village and altars in their houses. After a person dies, if a family member dreams about the deceased then they must dig up the bones and put them in a different place under a sacred pole, then place offerings on the new grave to placate the spirits of the dead.

We learned the next day from our guide that 3 men from the village 'respected' Jesus. They sometimes travel 3 hours by public transport to the nearest large town to attend church. They had asked our guide that morning to read some Christian literature to them because they couldn't read it themselves. (We think it was in Thai language).

If you are interested, please pray for these men and this community, Ban Yang Village.

Interestingly, their answer to the question "Are your gods angry when people steal?" was no. In their religion stealing etc is a transgression against another person not god and therefore their gods don't care. If you happen to point your feet at the god's altar however, look out.