The
early morning fog that day gave way to a hazy, lazy sunny late
morning.
Three of my
companions and I sat in a
village Dong “tower” along with
about a dozen elderly Dong men and a sprinkle of kids, dogs, and
cats roaming in and out.
The
rugged, wrinkled appearance of the men revealed their sun-baked
farming past.
The
Dong “tower” is a 4-story wooden structure built without
nails.
Each Dong
village has at least one of their own “tower.”
It’s where the village elders meet to chat and make
important village decisions.
We were there to meet some folks.
Some chatted while others played a Dong version of
“cards” and “chess.”
Even through the smoke from their pipes and through the
occasional language gaps, they were friendly elderly fellows.
I
talked to one elder in-depth.
He is over eighty years old; was a farmer but now, venturing
into capitalism, he owns a tiny convenience store.
A short while back, a large foreigner came to their
village; shared the gospel, and gave some of them the Chinese
Bible.
He proudly took me to his home and showed the Bible to me.
Prompted by my questioning, he told me the gospel sounded
interesting but confusing.
He
stopped reading after the first few pages because of the
difficulty of understanding the ancient Chinese text.
- Pray
for the Bible to be translated in their culture and
language!
While
this old man’s village has had the privilege of hearing the
gospel, the vast majority of the Dong villages have not.
This village is part of a cluster of eight villages
surrounding the biggest and most famous Wind and Rain Bridge, thus
it’s visited by a small number of curious backpackers year
round.
Thus,
they’ve had exposure to foreigners and the gospel.
Beyond this area, the Dong civilization is mysterious. Only
within the past ten years has the outside world slowly learned of
this “hidden civilization.”
One of several reasons is it’s been physically difficult to
get to.
Even with
improved transportation and roads, getting in and out of the
closest Dong area was a challenge for us…A flat tire, an engine
that died, and over 20 hours round-trip of riding a clanky rickety
bus!
- Pray
for the Dong to hear and see the truth of Jesus!
- Pray
for more workers!!
