“I bought some wood for the mosquito screens for the house,” I said proudly as our new Cham landlord, Fee, and I sat cross-legged on the floor of his father-in-law’s stilted wood house.

“How much did you pay for the wood?” he asked.

“Twenty-eight dollars,” I replied.

He sat for a moment doing some mental arithmetic, a cigarette smoldering in his hand. Then he exclaimed, “Oh! Too expensive!” I glanced at his wife who was sitting on the floor behind him. She was shaking her head and exclaiming to herself.

Fee went on to tell me I should have taken him along when I went to the wood sellers on the bank of the river. He would have made sure I got a good price. My western independent spirit bristled a little under his gentle admonition, but I knew he meant well, and I daresay he was correct.

I first met Fee several weeks ago while visiting Levea Tome, the Cham village that has become our home. The village chief had told us we could rent one of Fee’s houses. (Cham men live with their wives’ extended family in groups of houses.) Subsequently, Fee and I sat down to discuss the various renovations we would need to make on the house and the costs these would incur.

A few weeks later, Fee proudly walked me through the house showing me the work he and his crew had done. “Sah-aht! Sah-aht!” (“Beautiful! Beautiful!”) he exclaimed.

I looked up at the new wood ceiling they had put in then at the walls they had built to divide off a couple of bedrooms. “Oh, Sah-aht!” I said. They really had done a good job, and most of what they had done had stayed close to budget. As I looked at the walls, I imagined the added beauty a coat of stain would bring to the lovely native timber. “All we need to do now is put in two windows and apply some paint to these interior walls.”

Fee walked over to a can of paint sitting on the floor and asked, “What do you think of the color?” Staring back at me was a can of bright-blue paint. “Hmm, lovely!” I thought.

A few days and two bright-blue walls later, I have gained new appreciation for Fee despite his tastes in home décor. He has welcomed us to his village with open arms. If we ever need anything, he is more than obliging. He has found a boat for us to buy so we can get around in the flood season. He has hauled water for us when we were sick, brought bananas to us and even loaned us $50 when the local bank was closed so we could get to the provincial capital to recover from our sickness.

Just last week, we discovered that Fee’s father-in-law is the village Hakem or spiritual leader. He has also made us feel very welcome by inviting us to his home, coming to our home for tea and doting on our children.

Please pray for this dear family. Pray that our friendship will deepen to the point where we can effectively share Christ with them.

• Twitter