Days 14 & 15: La Crete and Buffalo Head Prairie

1 day ago

3 min read

Before I get started about our time at La Crete and Buffalo Head Prairie, I must tell you of the Daro saga. During our time at Grande Cache, Daro complained that he could not eat ice cream without it hurting. We discovered that one of his molars had detiorated quite badly. There were no signs of infection, but the tooth itself looked broken. After a visit to two different dentists in Dawson Creek and La Crete, the decision was made to pull the tooth, as it appeared beyond saving. Daro is in good spirits and is not in pain, making all of us thankful.

Our morning at Tumbler Ridge was an early one, as we had to make it to La Crete in time to set up for our performance. This meant we all had to be at the church for 7:00 AM, as we would have a near seven hour drive to La Crete! We took down the stage setup and marketplace as quick as we could, and then bid farewell to the staff at New Life Assembly. The drive to La Crete was uneventful, as the entire team chose to sleep through the drive. This meant my mother, Shelly, was once again taking photos of the sleeping team. We briefly awoke to eat lunch on the bus before going back to sleeping.

The team woke up in time to see the bus board the ferry to get to La Crete. As we waited, several of the Cambodians thought we were pulling their leg. They were very surprised when Rob drove the bus onto the ferry, as everyone began looking out the windows to see the river. Our arrival at La Crete Cristian Fellowship was a hectic one, as we had only a short amount of time to eat supper and prepare for the performance. We did, thankfully, have time to exchange warm greetings with some of the La Crete congregation who saw us two years ago and were eager to see us return. We finished setup just in time for the kids to have a little bit of time to play in the gym, and then it was time for the performance.

The performance was another success, as the nerves of performing for a larger audience did not seem to effect the kids or the adults who were giving their testimonies. What did catch the team off guard was the audience's quieter demeanor. We all knew that the La Crete congregation was invested in the performance, but the way the listened and watched intently without noise made some of the team briefly think that there were issues with the audio. I didn't mind the more serious approach, as I could tell by the faces in the audience that everyone was watching intently.

After the performance, everyone went to their respective billets. I don't know what kind of town La Crete is, but the large amount of photos that the team sent me suggests that everyone who lives there have very interesting lives. It looks like many memories were made, and that the Cambodians greatly enjoyed their time at the houses that took them in.

The next day saw us have some time to kill at La Crete before heading out to Buffalo Head Prairie. Some kids stayed longer at the homes they were staying at, while others played at the church. After enjoying a lunch made by Thawin, the team relaxed for a bit more before making the short drive to Tompkins Evangelical Church. Like La Crete Christian Fellowship, we had visited Tompkins two years previously, resulting in some familiar faces being seen. We set up the stage and marketplace, before being treated to a delicious taco salad dinner. I was impressed to see the kids enjoy the meal, as I thought it would be too unique for their eastern tastes, which seems to be a recurring event during this tour. This makes me think that this is the least picky group of kids we have brought over yet.

The performance and testimonies went well, although I regrettably missed capturing the most humorous moment. During the Praying Mantis Dance, the boys climb on top of each other and crawl across the stage twice: the first crawl went smoothly, which was the one I filmed, but the second one saw one of the boys struggle to climb on his partner, resulting in a log jam that caused chuckles among the adults. Aside from the blooper, the performance was most notable for the amount of people who stood during the dance, as the kids danced on the floor since the stage was too small. Only those in the front rows, who were mostly children, stayed seated throughout the performance.