Happy Resurrection Day!

Our team is getting an extra-long Easter because we are crossing the international dateline.  We left early on Easter morning (just after midnight on Saturday) and are arriving at noon at SFO.  So… Happy Resurrection Day!  I (Steve) am posting this from Incheon Airport and you’ll probably read this on Easter sometime.  So here are some final reflections from our trip, at least final for this blog.

We spent Saturday morning at an elephant park.  

For the afternoon we finished packing.  We had take out for dinner at Joe and Yumi Chongsiriwatana's house.  Joe has been serving with ZOE International working with children rescued from human trafficking.  But he's leaving at the end of May to start a new ministry, Thai Word.  It's a bold move of faith, which I'll explain later.  

In a conversation with Bob on the way to Chiang Mai, he likened the Christianization of a country to time on a clock. The US is post-Christian, so it's midnight, pretty dark times. Korea is getting past its prime so it's 8pm. Thailand is just starting to open up, starting with the hill tribes. It's 10am. When I mentioned this metaphor to Joe, he thinks that it's even earlier, more like 6am.

The fact that Korea may be getting past its prime surprised me. South Korean Christans seem so passionate about missions. But it's true that popular culture doesn't contain many references to Christianity. Those who are evangelistically minded are very passionate, but they may be giving up on their own people. In the US evangelism is often driven more by the sense of common cultural identity among immigrants, rather than love for God and identifying with God's heart. That same fervor isn't present in South Korea itself. And that's much like the US.

Bob said that the exciting work in Thailand is among animistic hill tribes because they can be reached through community development. I see it as a two-step process: offer holistic help and a contextualized gospel and people are interested in the gospel. But that's not the case with the middle-class Buddhist majority Thai. Buddhism is culturally entrenched but without the sense of connection to everyday life that an animist has who is depending on the spirits to bring a good crop. Religion is distant, unnecessary and irrelevant to everyday life. That makes them resistant to the gospel.

So Joe is looking for entry points for the gospel among the majority middle class Buddhist Thai. He points to Luke 15: if the shepherd was concerned about 1 sheep while 99 were in the fold how would he feel about 99 lost sheep with 1 in the fold? Thailand is less than 1% Christian, so the metaphor is apt. Rather than focusing on the areas where the cost/benefit ratio is most favorable (i.e., where God is already moving) Joe has a sense of urgency about the people who are most resistant.

I'm glad I didn't go shopping at the night market last night (the girls shopped for 3 hours!). I had a chance to talk with Joe.  The conversation helped me to understand why Joe is leaving ZOE and working on a new missions strategy. He understands the majority middle class Buddhist Thai because that's where he came from. He realizes that it's easier to get support for either a hot-button issue like human trafficking or for a project where it's easy to demonstrate productiveness, i.e., where people are coming to Christ in tangible numbers like with the hill people or with the Isaan. But that's not where he senses God's call to him.

Developing partners in Thailand is a challenge already, but for Joe to develop partners in the US will be especially difficult. The aspect of his passion that touches me is that he doesn't want to give up on the majority of Thailand. I want to help in some way, but I need to pray about this. Is it enough that he is drawn to the 99? What about God's timing? What if this isn't the time that God has appointed for the 99 to come into the fold? Is it enough to have a noble sentiment or does John 5:19 mean that he should be more patient? Or is Joe a frontier scout, getting things ready for a move of the Spirit in the future, a future he may not live to see?

One argument in favor of moving forward with Thai Word is the same argument that motivates the work of ZOE. God has compassion on everyone. Even if the effort seems wasteful, helping even one child who has been victimized is worth it because God wants to alleviate all suffering. It's not his will that even one should perish.

The most concise way of explaining Joe's vision is that he wants to see God's Word in every Thai home. He thinks this can be done by offering a portion of the Bible as a gift at opportune times such as Christmas or Valentine's Day. Commercialism has given these days popular significance. But it has to be a gift. I wouldn't pay for a copy of Watchtower magazine!

Another thing that Joe mentioned is that resources are not a problem with God. Someone once told me that God gives us enough time in the day to do what he wants us to do, but we keep adding stuff to the list. The same could be said about other resources, such as money. God will give us enough to do what he wants us to do. The problem is that we want to do other things. But Joe is sure that if God wants Thai Word to succeed, God will give Joe the resources. So Joe’s task now is to “be about my Father’s business” (Luke 2:49 KJV).

And that should be my priority too.  It’s a good lesson to learn from our time in Thailand.

Good Friday in Chiang Mai

It’s hard to believe that we’ve spent Good Friday in both Roi Et and Chiang Mai.  Our Maundy Thursday service last night included communion with sticky rice and the juice of a local flower.  Tonight, we celebrated communion with the familiar bread and grape juice.  (Good bread, too.)

We started out the day by getting the good news that our interpreter, Aung (or Ang), is a Christian.  She decided to follow Christ a couple of years ago, but has kept it quiet because of she wants to stay connected to her devoutly Buddhist family.  She'll be in our prayers as she grows in her faith.  She has been watching Christians as she’s helped Bob.  She told him, “There are many kinds of Christians, aren’t there?”  It was a good reminder that there are always people watching us to see how Christians live out our relationship with God.

We meditated on the death of Christ to start our Good Friday.  Then we headed to Khon Kaen, 90 minutes away from Roi Et, for our flight to Chiang Mai.  Joe, Yumi, Noah, Naomi and Emi all greeted us at the airport and then took us to dinner at what we call the “Rain Forest Cafe”.  That’s not its name, but it looks like the restaurant chain of that name in the US.  However, it's a lot less crowded and kitschy (true story - who needs a fake gorilla suddenly howling next to your table and scaring your kids during your meal?) and the food is WAY better.  Rain Forest Cafe should look into serving Thai food.  It’d be a definite improvement.

At the restaurant we met with Yummie, one of our interpreters from 2 years ago.  It was great to see her and remember the 2013 trip to Bo Klua.  She’s heading there soon to see the TLC kids.  

 

We ended our dinner with the celebration of the Lord’s Table, using elements that Joe had brought.  It’s probably the first time a group of 20 people has sung, “When I survey the wondrous cross” in that restaurant.  It was a special moment as members of Christ’s body from all different places in the world, came together to hear the familiar words of 1 Cor 11:23-26: “For whenever (and wherever) you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.”  It’s our prayer that we were able to be a statement of Jesus’ presence and purpose through our time together in fellowship around the table and in worship around the communion table.

 

Of course, we had to stop at 7-Eleven on our way back to the hotel.  But Steve got sidetracked by the roti stand in front of the 7-Eleven.  From khau man gai to roti, you can't beat the street food in Thailand.

 

 

final health fair

The temperature hit 100 today.  But the health fair attendance didn’t.  

Once again, an unforeseen circumstance affected our attendance.  There was a funeral in the town so many of the families attended.  Instead of 100 or more, we had 50.  But they were a lively group.

I (Steve) have been wearing jeans all week.  Hans had an extra pair of scrubs that he lent me.  Much cooler!  I mean, they looked cool and they kept me cool, too.

We met in a school so the kids were in uniforms.  This meant that the school kitchen was used to prepare lunch.  After lunch, Becca helped with the dishes.  At the end of the day there was a big water fight.  Songkran is coming soon, so it seemed that they were practicing for the festivities.  Or they just wanted to cool down on a really hot day.

This was the final health fair, so afterward we met with the church leaders at a home where they meet for worship.   We learned that whenever they gather for worship there is always singing and dancing.  And it’s traditional Isaan music and dance.  Everyone is expected to join in!

Malvin and Steve received gifts from the church leaders.  We then got to bless them and then pray with them over a piece of land that they hope to purchase and use as both a community center and a place of worship.

We had dinner in an open air market and then finished the day with communion and a string tying ceremony.  As the group has spent this time working together, we’ve all grown closer to each other.  There were lots of tears and hugs, both within our team and with our interpreters. 

Thanks to everyone who's been praying for us.  We've still got lots to process so that we can cooperate with what God is doing in us.  There will be many insights and changes in us that we can't appreciate now but that will become clear to us later.

And please continue to pray for our health.  Becca got 4 big bug bites on her thigh today.  Several of us ate some berries that were offered to us at the church leader's home and then KK had an allergic reaction that made her lower lip swell.  Both Becca and KK have gone to sleep with Benedryl.  And Steve's back is still not healthy, but has thankfully not been affecting his movement very much.

Have a blessed Maundy Thursday!

3rd health fair: not what we expected

Bob keeps telling us to be flexible.  We expected up to 100 kids today.  What we (and the church leaders) didn't know was that there was a major kids' sports event happening today that involved 8 villages.  So we ended up with about 20 kids.

But we're experts at our making our presentations now.  And we're starting to be able to evaluate what we can do to make this a better experience in the future.  Below you can see KK helping with the photo booth. 

The church building is a beautiful new facility for which they had a grand opening just a couple of weeks ago.  It's a sign that God is at work in Roi Et province (of which Roi Et city is the capital). 

On the health front, KK and Maddie still are bothered by their mosquito bites and KK got another.  So keep praying for them.  And a couple of other people are experiencing physical ailments.  Malvin missed the day because of a fever.  He joined us tonight for devotions and debriefing, so he'll likely be with us tomorrow.  Jessica had some stomach pains and got some medical help from Hans and his traveling medicine cabinet.  Pray that she'll be fully recovered tomorrow.  My back seems to be about the same.  The back brace is helpful although not fun in the heat.  And Tylenol helps.  The nurses are telling me that I need to stretch my back so that the pinched nerve will get unpinched.  I'll try that tomorrow.  Thankfully it's not interfering with sleep.

Part of the reason Jessica wasn't feeling well was that we went out for Thai food (duh!).  What made this a special treat was... air conditioning!  It hit 97F today and is supposed to be 99F tomorrow.  The food was good and there was more variety than last night's chicken, chicken and more chicken (although it was great chicken).  Jessica probably ate something that was a little more spicy than her stomach could handle at the time. 

At the restaurant we were divided into youth and geezers (and those willing to associate with geezers).  You can see Hans at one table with all the older folks (I, Steve, am taking the picture) while Joseph (left) and Mod (or is it Mot? not sure of the spelling) are sitting with KK, Kat, Maddie and Becca.  Guess who's partying?  Guess who's paying?

But the age diversity of our team is a real blessing.  It seems that everyone works well together when age helps to guide the perception of roles and hierarchy.  And we have credibility with all ages because of our age diversity.  It takes a village to reach a village.

Our day closed with hearing testimonies from 3 of our team, one from the USA, one of the missionaries and one of our translators.  It was a reminder that the call that God places on our lives, sometimes to serve in another country, is a joyful call and a source of great fulfillment.  And it was a reminder of the adversity that people in Thailand face for making a commitment to follow Christ. 

Although we had an easy day today (except for the heat), we're anticipating a real test tomorrow: 100-200 kids in 99F heat.  So please keep us in prayer.

Finally, here's a photo of a sunset in Roi Et, viewed from the central park that is a source of civic pride.   As the sun sets on these Buddhist temples, may God bring a new day of the knowledge of his love and his kingdom to the people of Roi Et.