Snail salted paste
I believe that stepping out of our daily routine is another challenge that can bring us immense energy.
While following a set schedule can certainly provide stability, breaking away from that stability and throwing myself into an unfamiliar environment, filled with fear, leads to a deep sense of joy that cannot be learned or gained anywhere else.
After completing our training, we joined the missionaries and ventured deep into the mountains near the Thai border to meet the Karen people, who live scattered throughout the region.
My husband and I carried a backpack full of milk and water for our daughter, and with our 19-kilogram daughter on our back, we hiked up and down the mountains every day, continuing this challenging journey for two months.
The Karen people lived deep in the mountains near the Thai border.
They lived in small groups, building two-story wooden houses. The lower level was supported by pillars, likely to protect against insects and harmful animals. The space underneath was often filled with little piglets running around, and the presence of roosters crowing loudly added to the vibrant atmosphere.
We reached the first Karen village, home to about 50 people, after a seven-hour hike from Chiang Mai. There, we treated the sick and performed dramas in the evenings, delighting the curious villagers who were fascinated by these foreigners.
We spent several days there, helping with various tasks like farming and assisting with whatever was needed. Although we couldn't communicate verbally, we spoke through body language, and I even helped pound rice all day to remove the husks for the next day's meal.
Our family stayed with an elderly woman in a two-story log house. In the center of the house was a hearth, and we slept on one side of it, while the old lady, her son and his wife, and their grandchildren slept on the other.
With no electricity, the dark room, filled with lingering smells and smoke, felt stuffy and itchy, but I endured it to avoid waking the others.
This elderly woman had never met outsiders before.
She was especially fond of my young daughter and constantly offered her treats, urging her to eat. She was so enamored with my daughter that she even caught a small piglet for her to pet.
Whenever I went somewhere, I would return that I find the old lady feeding my daughter something she had prepared.
I couldn’t help but worry. In a house covered in soot, the old lady would light a fire and start making something,
but what is it?
what would she feed my daughter?
Curious, I tried some myself. It was rice mixed with something small and black, like a tiny bean. It tasted very salty.
When I asked 'what it was' using gestures and expressions, the old lady smiled and showed me a small plastic container that was blackened with soot.
The old lady dipped her hand into the container, scooped something out, and put it directly into my mouth before I could say anything. I was shocked, but even more so when I realized she had been feeding this to my two-year-old daughter.
Despite my initial apprehension, I chewed it and found that it was surprisingly delicious—salty, and slightly crunchy, much like the rice my grandmother used to prepare for me.
I was so curious that I asked, with all my gestures, what it was made of.
Understanding my question, the old lady led me to a slightly larger container where she had been preparing more of it.
She opened the soot-blackened lid, and the strong smell of fermented fish filled the room.
I was startled when she pulled something out and mimicked its movement with her hand.
SNAILS!
When I shout Snails then She laughed and nodded as I realized what it was.
It was snail salted paste, prepared like fish salted paste, and they would mix it with rice for their meals.
I had grown up enjoying Anchovy salted paste, thanks to my grandmother, so I found myself eating a lot of it with my daughter while we stayed in the village.
The old lady fascinated by how much we enjoyed her food,
also grilled frog legs,
lizard legs, and
other mysterious things for us.
Although I didn’t know whoes leg I was eating, I swallowed it all with water, using the cooked rice and snail salted paste to fill up.
Each time, I would try to avoid eating more, but she notices right away that I wann't eating.
She asked to me to eat , and I had no choice but to swallow it.
During that time of mission work, our family grew closer.
Everywhere we went to share the gospel, our team was welcomed, largely thanks to our chubby little Korean girl with curly hair who would eagerly hand out candy.
The village children would gather around, trying to talk to her, and she would always respond with her memorized phrase,
"Jesus loves you!"
which they would repeat after her with laughter.
My lifelong companion, rheumatoid arthritis, was with me during the entire mountain trek, making every day a struggle. Each night, I applied pain relief patches, took painkillers, and prayed for strength to walk the next day. Some mornings, I would wake up feeling miraculously refreshed, as if God had given me the strength to continue.
Our fellow missionaries also supported and helped one another, faithfully carrying out the tasks assigned to us. As our time in the Karen village came to an end, we reluctantly said our goodbyes.
The challenge was not easy.
What made it even harder were the unexpected and incomprehensible situations we encountered. However, as we persevered through each moment, we came to understand the profound significance of our experiences, realizing just how precious our challenges had been.
Through the journey, where we ate snail salted paste and other strange foods, God has continued to cultivate in our daughter a deep compassion for the poor, the oppressed, the marginalized, and the sick.
When we step away from our well-planned routines and face moments of confusion and hardship, our understanding and hearts grow deeper and widely.
Through this process, we may encounter destined moments that shape our lives' paths.
These invaluable lessons are the precious jewels of life, gained only through the challenging experiences that break the mold of our everyday lives.
