(842) Search for the Green Leaf Tribe

I participated in a missionaries' conference recently. Here I will recall one particular testimony. One couple, the husband is from the Philiphines and the wife is from Sabah, were called to a hill tribe in Indo China. Mr Missionary has had a recurring vision for many years. At first he did not know where the tribe is, nor did he know the name of this tribe. After much prayers, he has a burden for Laos. However, Mrs Missionary thought she was called to China. While preparing and waiting, each prayed for his or her country. As the years passed, Mr M's burden for Laos deepened. Mrs M gradually cared more about Laos than China. They joined a mission organization, received relevant training and raised support.

One day, they flew to Laos and learnt the language. Still, they do not know where their tribe is. When their language teacher went back to his hometown for a visit, our harassed missionaries thought they too would take a little trip and leave the capital city. In the hotel, Mr M flipped through some government publication and to his surprise, he saw his tribe (exactly as appeared in his vision) listed with its name and location. Here we will call them the Green Leaf people.

They become very excited and bought bus tickets to that province. Sad to say, these people were quite illusive, they weren't in the area the publications said they would be in. Mr and Mrs M almost given up after a four day search. Mr M said they would look for one more place as suggested, if they cannot find the Green Leaf people, they would go back to the capital.

That night, Mrs M dreamed that she and her husband traveled on a motorbike taxi, they followed a yellow river as it meandered. As the river forked into two, in the dream they took the right hand fork and crossed a stone bridge.

The next day, they went to the town suggested by the bus station master. No one seemed to have heard of the people group they were looking for. As Mrs M walked across a wooden bridge, her left sandal parted from its heel. She limped over to a small stall and was talked into having her hair washed. As she was chatting with the shampoo man in Laotian, her husband came back and spoke to her in Sabahan. Suddenly the shampoo man burst in a big smile and spoke to them in fluent Sabahan. It seemed he went to work in Sabah for two years as a foreign worker. As he asked what this couple was doing in so remote a village out of the tourist scene, they confided they were looking for the Green Leaf tribe. He chuckled and called a small boy from the noodle stall next door. That urchin is from the Green Leaf tribe. Together the shampoo man and the urchin found a motor taxi willing to take the couple to the Green Leaf village.

The journey they took was exactly as Mrs M dreamed. They traveled on rutted roads for many miles following the winding of a yellow river. When they approached the fork, even the taxi rider was not sure where to go. Mrs M insisted he followed the right fork. Soon after that they reached the few bamboo houses on the road side. They have found their tribe!