Course Sample for Our Asia: Its People and History Homeschool Course
WEEK ONE
When Jesus Came to Laos, Part One
Thao stared at the empty pocket of dirt at his feet. Yesterday morning, he was sure he had spotted copper or gold or something valuable. What he found was an old metal shell, leftover from an old war. All through the years, it had not exploded. Until yesterday, when Thao had dug it up. Now instead of copper or gold, all he had to show for his work was an ugly, scabbing, swollen cheek.
A bush rustled nearby.
He sighed when he saw who it was—Kham and Souph.
“Find any gold, Thao?” Kham said. “How about any treasure?”
Kham smiled and nudged his brother beside him.
“No,” Souph answered, “he just found a big hole.”
“What’s that on your face?” Kham asked. “We told you not to be poking around on our road.”
Thao turned from the boys and ran into the jungle. It wasn’t their road, any more than the jungle was his jungle. But Kham and Souph could tease for hours when they were bored. Anything he could find to do at home would be better than listening to them.
He threw the door open to the small bamboo hut and burst inside. His mother jumped to her feet and slid something under a blanket.
“Thao!”
“I’m sorry, Mother. I didn’t mean to scare you. What were you doing?” His mother pulled the Bible out from under the blanket. When she looked back at Thao, her eyes were filled with tears.
“The pastor came this morning, and he brought his Bible for me. I sat down to read it for as long as I could.”
His mother reached out her hand and lightly touched the gash on Thao’s cheek. “You need medicine. I fear your cheek is getting infected.”
Thao fought the urge to wince. “Don’t worry; I’ll be all right.”
A commotion outside the hut grabbed their attention. Someone pounded on the door. “Strangers are coming up the mountain!”
Who could it be? No one ever traveled this high in the mountains, except last year, when the pastor came. He came with the Bible and told them about Jesus and how He loved them. The pastor had stayed with them ever since, teaching them from the Bible.
A terrible thought chilled Thao and sent a tremble down his back and through his feet. What if they were men from the government? What if they had found out many of his neighbors believed in Jesus?
What if they arrested his mother? The Bible she had hidden was the only one the village had. They all shared it. But it was illegal to have a Bible.
Suddenly, he had an idea. He grabbed the Bible and the plastic bag the villagers kept it in to keep it dry and clean. Then he ran out the door.
“Thao, come back!” his mother called.
But he ignored her. If it was the government, they would not find his mother with the Bible. He would hide deep in the jungle until it was safe.
He ran through the high grass and bushes, deeper and deeper. The branches grabbed at his legs and beat his face. But he knew he had to keep going.
Something wet landed on his arm.
He looked down. Blood. He reached up and touched his cheek. The branches had opened the gash on his face. It was bleeding, more than a little.
Thao slowed his steps as he pushed on into the jungle. When he knew his legs would buckle if he tried to run another step, he stopped and looked around. He could not see much through the heavy curtain of trees and brush that surrounded him. Thick tree trunks shot up to the sky where the tops grew together in such a jumble that Thao couldn’t tell one tree from another. The blistering sun shot darts of heat all around him.
He sank down into the grass at the base of a tree where the canopy of leaves would shade him. He felt like he had swallowed his banana that morning without chewing it. It was lying in his stomach in one lump. Maybe he should just rest for a minute.
The next thing Thao knew, his arm was wet, soaking wet. This time, it was not from blood but from rain!
All around him, rain hammered the ground. Not one little corner of the ground was dry. And not one corner of himself, either.
And he noticed something else. It was dark. Very dark. He could only see tiny spots of light through the leaves overhead.
Thao shivered, then touched his face. His cheek was hot but he was cold. His mother had been right. He needed medicine.
But what could he do now?
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