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.