Lisu Diary

Now the real ministry begins. A short flight (1:30) from Chiang Mai to Kunming, capital of the Yunnan Province, has positioned us for our road tour that we will be on for the next 7 days. Bobby Morse will be our tour guide, accompanied by his wife Tassanee. Our team was completed when Ruth and J. Knipmeyer flew from Shanghai to Kunming and met us at the airport.

The highlight of our day was meeting with Eugene Morse, Bobby's uncle, who will turn 87 in two weeks. Eugene was the author of Exodus to Hidden Valley which tells the story of the Morse family exile in an unauthorized area between Burma and India for nearly 7 years, living off the land and their own wits and ingenuity. Eugene as a 5-6 year old actually had some memory of Greg's grandparents who were serving with the Morse's in Batang. He regaled us with stories of their WWII efforts to rescue pilots who planes did not make it over the "hump". The members of the Lisu and Rwang tribes were mobilized to provide safe passage for the survivors. What a treat to meet one of the hidden heroes of the faith.

I want you to know that we have made a change of plans over the last couple of weeks. Originally we were intending to return to Batang, the site where Greg's and Bobby's grandparents served. We have decided not to tack that on to the end of our trip primarily because of the logistic strain after an already full week of travel by bus and so we can linger longer at various sites as we meet with Lisu Christians