Movie: Anna and the King

Our class watched Anna and the King (1999) for one of our sessions about Thailand.

Anna Leonowens is an Englishwoman who travels to Siam to teach the eldest son of Mongkut, King of Siam. At first, she insists on having her way. She doesn't follow the customs and etiquette of Siam, but as she spends more time with the children, she begins to see Siam has its own way of doing things.

Throughout the film, we see glimpses of Thailand's rich culture, along with its etiquette and customs, the expecations and roles of men and women, rich and poor, slaves and freefolk. Women are not allowed to stand in the presence of men, which is why, during their first meeting, the Prime Minister of Siam addresses Anna as "Sir." When the king comes into view, everyone must bow, as they have the belief that "no head must be higher than the king's."

When the king finds out that one of his concubines, Tuptim, is in love with another man and has run away to the Buddhist temple to be with him, he orders the execution of both Tuptim and her lover.

At first, Anna does not understand. She fights for justice, even going against the king's orders sometimes. But as her stay lengthens, she begins to see and understand.

UPG: The Pear of Cambodia

(Image from JoshuaProject)

Six small groups in Cambodia are linguistically related. These are the Chong, the Por (Peur, Pear), the Samre, the Saoch, the Somary, and the Suoy (Suy).

This post is about the Por, which we will refer to as the "Pear." This people group live small, isolated villages near big forests. Their houses are short-stilted, one-room houses with roofs made from leaves, bamboo, and sometimes, wood.

The Pear farm rice. They plant their fields some distance from the forest and move them after every couple of years or so. The Pear also grow bananas and a few other vegetables. They sometimes gather products from the forest, such as resin, charcoal, and firewood. The Pear depend on the monsoon rains for their crops. They are a very sturdy folk, even when it requires facing food shortage during drought or flood.



Khmer is the national language, and most Pear dress in a similar custom to the rural Khmers, which is western style.

The Pear are animistic. They believe in powerful spirits that can harm them, to which they offer sacrifices to appease them. They are very superstitious and live in great fear of the spirits. Those who live next to the Cardamom forest have specific rules how to collect the cardamom.

They are also extremely poor. The Khmer majority looks down upon them. They don't have much education and health facilities.


Prayer Requests:

• The Pear are one of the least reached people in Cambodia. Pray that someone will go to them and take to them the good news of salvation.
• Pray that the Bible will be translated into their language/dialect.
• So far, there is only one known church, and for the past 2 years, there has been no active church planting. Pray that missionaries will be able to establish churches in this area.

Resources:
http://www.joshuaproject.net/peopctry.php?rop3=107961&rog3=CB

UPG: The Stieng of Cambodia

The Stieng are a people group of Cambodia. There populations is approximately 6,000, although there are nearly 50,000 Stieng living in Vietnam. They are located on the Vietnamese border between Memut, Snoul, and Kao Sema.

Most of the Stieng live near Snoul, Kratie in Cambodia. They do not grow rice, as is the main means of livelihood in Cambodia. Rather, they own plantations of black pepper, cashew nuts, and durian. They also rely on hunting and wood cutting in the jungles near their homes.

Traditional houses of the Stieng are made from palm tree leaves, and because their roof strutcture is different from those of other tribes, theirs is easily recognizable.

The Stieng live very close to each other, and sometimes even intermingle with the Khmer. As a result, it is difficult to spot them.

The Stieng are animistic. Some have adopted Khmer Buddhism, but most retain their animistic practices. There are around 1,000 Stieng Christians in Cambodia, and more in Vietnam.

The Stieng are not appreciated or respected much. They live near major groups, such as the Khmer, and most speak the language fluently. Current land-rush in Cambodia has caused the Stieng their ancestral lands once more, as sections of the jungle are being given to private companies. It's sad, because the Stieng deeply rely on the jungle for their livelihood. Stieng villages have no schools or medical facilities.

Praise/Prayer:

• Thank God for reaching the Stieng earlier this century. Pray the Stieng believers would be fully committed and would turn away from their former animistic ways.
• Ask God to prevent the Stieng church from being inward-focused and ethno-centric. Pray many Stieng evangelists would be sent to the unreached all over Vietnam and Southeast Asia.
• Pray the Bible would soon be translated into both Bulo and Budip Stieng languges (two distinct dialects of the Stieng).
  

Resources:
http://www.joshuaproject.net/peopctry.php?rop3=109552&rog3=CB
http://www.peoplegroups.org/MapSearch.aspx?country=Cambodia
http://asiaharvest.org/pages/profiles/nonChina/Vietnam/Stieng.pdf
Picture from: http://www.joshuaproject.net

Vietnam Food

Last Tuesday, our professor in ICS 101 Class–Peoples of the World took us to Pho Hoa to eat as part of our lesson on Vietnam. (Pho stands for noodles.)

We had an appetizer of stringed beans with two kinds of chili sauces. We had a noodle soup with beef. There was also their spring roll served with chili paste, as well as salad (chicken, cabbage, carrots, some sweet sauce).

Food in Vietnam is generally spicy, although the recipes of the south are spicier than that of the North. Along the coastline of Vietnam, fish and seafoods are favorites. Predominant flavors in Vietnamese dishes are mint, shrimp, star anise, rice wine, garlic, ginger, etc. (Source: Vietnam Cooking)