Thursday started out with great enthusiasm. We decided that if someone else owns this place, they are going to be terribly happy with us if they ever come to see it! So, we got busy and started clearing ground for gardens and flower beds around the rocks in front of the house. Everyone got involved, and pretty soon, we had it looking rather spectacular, especially when you consider that all of the work is done with hoes, and shovels, with not a power tool of any kind to be seen. We cleared all the grass, and then double dug for vegetable beds. Thah Me pounded the beds with a piece of bamboo until it was as nice as what a rototillar would do. (sorry, I forgot the camera again!) Then, I decided to go out and wash those heavy blankets that I bought when we first came to Thailand, since it is getting rather cold at night. They smell really bad after being in a plastic bag all during hot and rainy seasons. So, I was scrubbing away at the blankets, when I heard some yelling. I stopped my happy scrubbing to listen….hmmmm…that sounds like the caretaker. So, I peered up at their house….no movement there. Hmmmm, I thought again, maybe the neighbors are drunk. But, it sure sounded like Poo. Oh well, back to my sudsy water. More yelling. Then, Travis rapidly approached with Hannah and Meme and a concerned expression on his face. He told me that there was trouble and that the girls needed to stay with me.

Since I needed to keep the girls out of the way, and because I was having way too much fun to worry much, I kept washing blankets. Meme and Hannah got into the laundry tub and started dancing on the dirty blankets. (that actually works pretty well!) But, in between emptying the dirty water, and getting the girls dancing again, my curiosity led me to peek through the bushes to see what was happening up near our new garden. I could see Roy and Travis and Thah Me and Pearl and Poo standing there talking excitedly. What was going on????

When the blankets were sparkling clean and laying out on our freshly poured, perfectly clean and smooth, concrete kitchen floor to dry, Travis came over to inform me as to what had happened. It seems that after working hard all morning, and getting so much done, Roy had told the boys to take a break and go down the road and see if they could buy some fruit from neighboring farmers. They had gone up to Poo’s house and asked if they could borrow his bicycle when Poo came roaring out yelling and screaming at them, telling them in no uncertain terms that they were not welcome to borrow the bike. The boys both wisely left the scene, and headed back to the house to get Daddy, as they all call him. When they got to the house, Daddy was not here, but Travis and Hannah and Meme were. So, Thah Me asked Travis to go with him to find Daddy. Travis didn’t know what had happened, but he grabbed Hannah and Meme and headed up the hill with Thah Me and Seh Doe. At the top of the hill, they were met by the irate Poo, who then proceeded to try to strangle Thah Me, while telling him that he was going to slit his throat! Somehow, Thah Me felt that punching Poo in the face might be in order, so he reared back to give him his best shot when he heard Travis yelling at them to stop. So, he stopped in midair, but did not dare put his arm back into place until Poo would let go of his neck! (Poo was studiously ignoring Travis while delivering all kinds of insults and threats to Thah Me in a loud and threatening tone of voice) Travis then directed Seh Doe to run and get Daddy quick! (Travis could not do a whole lot with the frightened Hannah strangling him)  Somehow, Daddy was able to discern the situation from Seh Doe’s abrupt arrival, and went leaping over the wall of the training center and was soon seen holding Poo away from Thah Me in the twinkling of an eye. (the generator had been running, which is the reason that he was not there sooner, since he could not hear all the commotion) That is when Travis was able to finally deliver the terrified girls to me at the well.

There ensued a long conversation with the irate Poo. They ended up discussing a lot of things, but since Poo was both irrational, and unrepentant, he was finally asked to leave. He told Roy that is just exactly what he wanted, and went and immediately started tearing his house apart.

We still have no idea of why Poo was so angry in the first place, but upon hearing a bit more from Thah Me, who is his grandson, we learned that Poo has a long history of offensive behavior. We can easily verify this by the neighbors immediate reaction to the show that Poo was putting on of moving and tearing apart his house. There were wild greetings, and cheers from the jubilant neighbors, who have all been victims of Poo and his nasty behavior in the past. We felt like celebrities.

Although we are sad that we were not able to help Poo to overcome, we feel a huge sense of relief at his departure. He has lied to us, stolen things from us, tricked us, and gossiped about us, and tried to control us ever since we came. The only reason that he was still here is that he is a professing Christian, and he is out giving bible studies all the time. We felt that if a man like that is trying to do these things,the least we could do was introduce him to Jesus so that he would actually have something to share. Many people here believe the bible, and know all about the beasts and bears of Revelation, but they have never met Jesus. Their lives are not Christian in the slightest. But, one of our philosophies here at the training center is that when a person is confronted with the truth, and understands his errors, he has a choice to make, there will either be repentance, or separation. Those are the only two options. We must have an atmosphere that is godly, not rebellious. If a person is not willing to be helped, then we cannot help them. We shake the dust off of our feet and move forward in the strength of God.

Today is Sabbath, and Roy and I have taken turns guarding the house while the other goes with the students to church and AY. We heard from Thah Me that Poo has the habit of cutting people’s house posts in half if they displease him. Hence…the guarding! Posts are very hard to come by over here! So far, all is quiet on the home front, the neighbors are still rejoicing, and we even were able to talk to a retired pastor about possibly doing some evangelism among inhabitants of our village.

I have not totally given up on Poo, although we cannot have him around the students anymore. I am planning to write him a letter once he calms down and try to explain the plan of salvation to him. I believe that if he were to really become a Christian, then he could be a powerful example of what Jesus can do in a person’s life. So, please pray for Poo, and for us as we try to reach him.