Neighborhood Sounds

Sound.

What is sound?

Sound is a sequence of waves of pressure that propagates through compressible media such as air or water.

No, no, no.  What I mean is, what is the significance of the sound we hear?

My new neighborhood has a lot of new sounds.  Some may see them as disruptions to the peace and quiet of home.  But if one is attentive, these sounds can tell time.  They can be prayer reminders.

Elementary School

At 6:00 a.m. the flat, monotone temple chanting begins.  But even before then, buses and trucks rumble down the street.  The sound of children greeting their friends in the school yard begins around 7:30. 

Bangkok Southeastern High School

Not long after that, the high school school marching band begins warming up.  First, a tumbleweed of random noise, then tuning, then scales.  At 8:00 sharp, the Thai National Anthem is played by the band while a group of students sing along.  Everyone else stands still to listen and pay respect.

Kitchen View

All day long the clank and bang of a nearby construction site comes through our windows (open or closed).  The people working there have families, worries of their own, daily challenges and joys.  The loud speaker from the school announces more activities and instructions.  Noisy motorcycles zip along the road.  The occasional laugh or child's cry from the apartment complex floats by. 

Chinese Temple

As the sun starts to get sleepy, the sounds change.  The Chinese temple is having an event.  Music and a blurred microphone voice saturate the neighborhood, competing with the local karaoke bar.  The shouts of street vendors advertising their tasty treats cross paths with the screech of tires grappling to get home through traffic. 

Buddhist Temple

When the stars (all six of them) light up the dark sky, the sounds are more dull.  An airplane overhead, cars on the expressway going home late, the drone of neighbor's TV, and the low hum of fans and air conditioning units.

We could look at these as interruptions or ignore them as sounds of our world or hear them as prayer requests, calls for help, peas for relief, reminders of the hurting and lost world around us.

Welcome to my neighborhood.  Will you pray for it with me?

Temple Parking Lot

Ministry Glimpse: Ruth Center

Lately I've been impressed by how many amazing ways God is working in Thailand.  I'd like to highlight some of these ministries occasionally on my blog.  My hope is to give us more opportunities to celebrate God's goodness and the passion he has given different people for different areas of ministry.

The Ruth Center is in its fifth year of working in slum communities on the outskirts of Bangkok.  Their heart's burden is "to improve the quality of life for the elderly and seek long term solutions to their care."  Just in this district, there are 14,000 elderly people.  Many of those live alone with little to no income. 

Take Yai Noi for example.

Her broad, missing-tooth smile fills her face as we knock on the wood post that is the corner of her house and poke our head in the open door.  She lives alone and doesn't have the mobility to get out much, making visits from familiar faces extra special. 
 
Yai Noi calls a small shack built over a swamp "home."  She regularly prays for God to keep the snakes and poisonous bugs out, and she has many stories of God answering those prayers.

The students and I gingerly walk under the cover of her tin roof holding a bag of food to share for breakfast.  Yai Noi slowly lowers herself to the floor to sit with us.  She turns down the radio, her only companion some days. 

As we sit and munch on fruit, fried bread, and sip from bags of warm soy milk, we laugh at Yai Noi's stories.  We see her as a grandmother, and she sees us as her grandchildren. 

After breakfast, one of the students pulls out some bright red fingernail polish.  She spends the next hour clipping, filing, and painting Grandma's toenails.  This act of love and sacrifice of time means more than Yai Noi can express. 

Our visit was just a peek into the time and care that overflows from the Ruth Center everyday. 

Sometimes it's helping grandpa get to the doctor or pharmacy.  Sometimes it's an outing to a park.  Sometimes it's rebuilding a bathroom or replacing a pole that has begun rotting away.  Sometimes it's sharing a meal together or simply sharing some quality time. 

No matter what the activity, the genuine heart behind the Ruth Center's staff and volunteers is evident, ultimately showing and sharing Jesus' love with each person they visit.

For more information on the Ruth Center, see www.ywamthai.org/ruthcenter. 

A's Story

When I went to my hometown, I brought a couple of my American friends.  My father asked, "Are they Christians coming to serve Father?"  "What?"  I asked, confused.  (My dad is Buddhist.) 

"You know, the Father of the world." Dad has worked outside of Thailand, in Singapore and places like that, so he is familiar with a lot of religions.

(Could he really be referring to God?  I wondered to myself?) 

"Yes they are." I responded hesitantly.  Still unsure I was understanding correctly.

"Do you believe in the Christian God?"  Dad asked.

I stood silent.  I hadn't told them yet.  Then my mother shouted from the other side of the room, "Don't you go changing religions on me." 

My dad nodded at my silence.  He understood.  Mom, on the other hand, is very concerned about which of her children are going to make merit for her after my sister became Muslim.

My whole province is full of very strict Buddhists.  It's not like most of Thailand where people are cultural Buddhists.  My neighbors are serious about what they believe.  All over the province are many important temples, honored monks, and sacred bones of past monks.  There's not a single church near my parent's house. 

I wasn't surprised when my parents wanted me to go to the temple to make merit.  They actually wrote my name down on the paper to make a new giant bell for merit ringing.  I was really uncomfortable, but I didn't feel like I had a lot of options.  I didn't participate, but everyone asked me why.

That's one reason I was hesitant to go home since I became a Christian.  

***
6 days later...

"Julia!  I told my mom I am a Christian and she was okay!"  Were the first words out of A's mouth when I saw her.  "She said I can do whatever is good for me." 

A was glowing.  Freedom, relief, and joy, filled her face.


***Praise God that as students have gotten up the courage to tell their parents they have decided to follow Jesus as their Lord and Savior, God has prepared their parents to hear it and love them anyway!***

The Perfect King, the Perfect Father

 

The Thai King is loved and honored in Thailand.  And saying just that, is an understatement.   His birthday, also celebrated as Father's Day, is one of Thailand's biggest holidays. 

"Father" is a term that stirs mixed emotions in many Thais.  Many Thai children grow up with mom or extended family.  Stepbrothers, half-sisters, the mom of the older kids, the dad of the younger siblings, it's all family, and it's all the norm here.  One of the big consequences of sin is broken families. 

This fact has left a lot of people needing to hear that God is "Father to the fatherless" (Psalm 68:5), "compassionate and merciful" (James 5:11), and will never abandon for forsake us (Psalm 94:14).

A group of Buddhist Thais initiated a conversation at the park this Father's Day that led my friend to share how "God is the perfect King, and the perfect Father."  As good as any earthly, human father can be, God reaches infinitely beyond.  And he loves us as his children, wow!

 One of the beautiful things about this holiday is that it reminds families how life is "supposed to be."

The park was filled with the beautiful scene of fathers and children enjoying floating lanterns and watching fireworks light up the sky together. 

Urgency

 Baan Jai Diaow Girls

Days come and go.  English classes, meetings, dinners, market runs.  Semesters begin, exams end.  New students join the dorm community. Days come and go.

Then one day, by the front door books were stacked next to bags of clothes, a lamp, and a basket of shampoo and soap.  I pitched in to help load all the stuff into a truck, then I waved as Bia climbed in the back to balance the pile of old textbooks as the truck drove off down the road. 

Later that same night, Aon shared something with me. 

"Julia?" She called quietly over the three-quarters high wall separating our rooms.  "Are you sleeping yet?"
"No, not yet."
"Do you want to know something?"
"What?"
"If I pass all my exams, at the end of the month I won't live here any more."
"Where will you go?"
"To work downtown and live with my younger sister."
"Wow." I didn't have much more to say.  In the back of my mind, I knew some of our girls would be graduating soon, but the reality of it coming hadn't crossed my mind recently.

"Are you excited?" I continued.
"Yes, I want to work, but I'll miss all our brothers and sisters here at BJD."
"We will miss you too....you'll come visit us, won't you?"
"Often."  Aon was quiet for a moment as we both considered the sentences that had just been exchanged.  "You're the first person at BJD I've told."  She added.
"I'll let you tell everyone else when you're ready." I assured her.


Both of our rooms went silent for a while.  My heart was sad as I pondered the repercussions of time passed.  Moving on is good, but it's never easy to see someone go, especially when that someone has become a sister.


"Julia?"  The voice came quietly over my wall again. "Don't for get me, ok?"
"I won't forget you, for sure."

It was almost more than I could take.  I'm not ready to see these young girls confidently stride off into their next season of life.  Both Aon and Bia I first met three and a half years ago as awkward freshmen, unsure of what their first semester at university would hold.  Coming from villages in the far regions of Thailand, the Big City left them wide-eyed and overwhelmed.  Now these women are making plans and stepping forward into a new life.

Have we taught them enough?  Did discipleship from the past years reach deep enough into their hearts?  Will the Bible studies come back to mind as they make more life-changing decisions?

Ultimately this leaves me with the opportunity to pray, trust, stand alongside and encourage.  But it also leaves me with a renewed since of urgency.

New in Christ

 

Held in Bondage
Free in Christ

Broken, Tired, Old
New

Weak 

Strong

 Life without Joy 

Joy Unspeakable

Slave to the World
Free to Serve

 

Full of Pain and Suffering
Healed and Restored

Focused on Self
Loving Others

 Insecure Heart              Strong Heart     

Me First
God First

Used
Valued

My Own Effort

Through God's Power

 

Timid

 Confident

About 30 Thais and a few members of my team walked one by one to the center of the stage at the end of the service at New Vision Church on Sunday.  We each paused holding a card describing our lives before Christ.  After a moment, the card was flipped to reveal how Christ has transformed our life. 

It was awesome to see how God has worked in the lives of these Thai believers and see them proclaim it to all those watching.  I pray this begins new conversations with those who do not yet know Jesus and ignites a desire for them to draw closer to God.

The Circle of Reaching Out

 "About 9 months ago, I was sitting where you were, in the grass, studying my books.  These people came up to me, just wanting to be my friend, like I'm doing to you now.  Can I tell you what has happened in my life since then?"

On the day I met them, they invited me to English class, their nights of worship, to eat dinner together and just hang out.  They said they were Christians, but I didn't really know what that meant.  I agreed to check out an English class, I needed to improve my English anyway.  

At first I was skeptical, but it didn't take long to realize that these people were genuine, different.  They actually cared about me, and they also cared about their God, Jesus Christ.  They talked about him regularly, spending whole evenings worshiping, praying, and studying the Bible.  I was curious...Who was this god that was so important to them?  I respected them because they respected my Buddhist views.  They didn't pressure me to believe in their God, but allowed me to come alongside them and observe. 

I moved into the dorm last May because I needed to live closer to the university.  To be honest, everything was a little overwhelming at first, but I soon began to enjoy the community I had become a part of.  It was unlike anything I have ever experienced before.

A few months ago, I noticed I was singing worship songs along my friends.  I began appreciating it when they would pray for me and wanting to know more and more about the God they had dedicated their lives to.

A couple weeks ago, their God became my God.  I am filled with more peace and joy than I have ever known.  I know he is the one and only true God.  I am freed from my futile efforts to gain enough merit and please the spirits.  

I now enjoy sitting up on the fifth floor, reading my Bible each morning and going to campus to meet other students like you and like me 9 months ago, when I didn't know Jesus.  I still have so much to learn, but I look forward to it.  And I look forward to seeing more people come to know God for themselves.

"So, would you be interested in joining us for English class or just come play some games in the coffee shop for a while?"

J is a student at the dorm where I live, House of One Heart (BJD).  He told his story to a few students at the university while we were walking around for outreach there. The students he was talking with came back to the dorm coffee shop and hangout for a few hours.  They joined us for dinner and stayed a little while into our night of worship.  The next day they joined us for English class. 

Thank you for praying for these and the other students here in Thailand.

Thailand's NDP

Question: What would cause an expected 3,000 to 5,000 people to walk 3.6 kilometers through Bangkok on a hot afternoon?  

Answer: Thailand's National Day of Prayer

 

Flags and music began the procession as thousands of people walked down the street. 

 

Yes, that's a Buddhist temple in the background.  We also walked by the Grand Palace.

As we weaved through neighborhoods, down sidewalks and along some streets closed off for the event, we passed 10 different "prayer stations." At each prayer station, a couple of people were holding a numbered sign that lined up with the prayer guide we were given before we started walking.   During the walk between stations, we prayed for what the guide outlined.  

 We kept walking until we got to the Rama 8 bridge.

At the bridge, everyone stopped and began gathering. We all ate dinner together (I'm sure glad I wasn't in charge of boxing 5,000 servings of rice.)

 

Then we enjoyed a time of worship and prayer.  What an amazing sight to see all these Thais gathered to give glory to our Father in heaven and interceding for their country!

Challenging

 

One of the ways I try to encourage the girls in my dorm is through challenging them to step out of their comfort zones.  Weekly, we go to the campus to invite students to English classes as well as to our night of dinner and worship.  Some girls look forward to our Tuesday outings, and others try to avoid them as much as possible. 

This week N agreed to join us.  She was hesitant but willing.  As she and I walked through the campus we agreed that I would get the conversation started and then she would build on it.  From my point of view, these conversations were quite hilarious because I can never tell how much people understand of what I say in Thai.  The great thing is, N has been listening to me speak long enough to understand me and clarify what I said. 


I began in Thai with something like, "Hi.  How are you?  Do you speak English?"  (They always said no.)  "We have an English class every Wednesday, and today we eat dinner and worship Jesus Christ.  Would you like to come?"  We would all laugh as I forgot important words or said things with the incorrect tone, but it was a good way to get a conversation going.  N took over from there.

 

New friends, ready to hang out.

As much as I prayed for the students we were talking to, I also prayed for N.  My prayer for all the students in the dorm is that they are not only enjoying knowing Christ themselves, but that Jesus grows in them a desire to tell others about Him.  The community within the dorm is amazing because it is built around loving God and loving others.  However, God doesn't want us to get nice and cozy in our comfortable, loving, Christian cocoons and stay there.  I pray God turns the girls' eyes outward, growing their hearts for all the others here in Thailand and around the world.

While I would love for some of the students we spoke with to come to English class and worship night, I pray N and the others become more comfortable, willing, and even excited about telling others about the God who changed their lives so radically.

 

Enjoying dinner before Tuesday worship. 

Sprinkling the Word

What does it look like to sprinkle God's truth throughout all conversations?  I'm still trying to figure this out myself, but here are some examples of how it happened recently.
 

 

Setting:  Saturday afternoon,  street coffee stand
Cast:  B, a Thai Buddhist friend who works at the coffee stand

Fleur, a Christ-follower from France

Fleur: Are you working tomorrow?
B: Yes, I work everyday.
Fleur: Did you know that God created the world and everything in it in six days then he rested on the seventh day?
B: Really?
Fleur: Yes.  And if God took a day for rest, then it is okay for us to rest for a day each week too. 
B:  I must work to make money. (smiles and finishes making our coffee)

 

Setting: Thursday evening, teaching business English class

Cast: P, a Thai student learning English, culturally Buddhist

Julia, me, the teacher

P: You are very brave for coming to live here all by yourself.
Julia: I believe that God will protect me and take care of me.
P: Do your parents worry about you?
Julia: They also believe that God will take care of me.

The following week P had some more questions...

P: Do you get paid to teach English?

Julia: No.
P: Then why do you teach?
Julia: I just like to get to know people.
P: You are very kind.
Julia: Well, I used to be a very selfish person, but my life was changed by Jesus Christ.  Can I tell you about it?

After sharing my testimony and the good news of salvation through Christ, P responded with "Thank you, Jesus!"  These words are a result of God working in her life, and I pray her desire to know Christ increases every week.

  

English students playing a game of matching present perfect verbs with their simple past tense.

Substitute Teacher

The dorm English class teacher was in Laos renewing her visa, and the substitute teacher was no where to be found, so being the only native English speaker around, I was elected to teach class...10 minutes after it was supposed to begin.  So much for prep time.  Luckily I've had enough experience to wing it.

Up to my room I ran to grab Banana Grams, a game made up of letter tiles.  The 9 students worked in groups of three to make words in English from the pile of letters I gave them.  Then each student had to share a sentence using one of the words their group made.  It was fun, killed time, and gave me an idea of the students' English level.

After a few rounds of "Make English Words in Groups," I asked the students what they wanted to review.  "Transitive Verbs" W said timidly.  Transitive verbs...What's a transitive verb?  I wondered.  Trying not to look like I've never studied English before in my life, I asked for an example.  Who's teaching who English?

"Sing, sang, sung."  One of the girls responded in a rote, sing-songy voice.
"Okay, so you want to review verbs in the past, present, and future."  Using the white board, we studied went, go, will go; had, have, will have; danced, dance, will dance; etc. From there, T asked the question that made me realize why English is so challenging, "When do you use have and when do you use has?"  We talked about which subjects have must be used with and which subjects has must be used with.  Hopefully I didn't leave them more confused than when they arrived.

An hour and a half after I was given the surprise teacher label, we had all learned a little more English, laughed at silly sentences, been challenged with new vocabulary, and gotten to know each other better.  As the students said goodbye, I silently prayed for them.  Most of the students I've met who know Christ now, were first introduced to Him through relationships built out of coming to an English class.  There's something about meeting that felt need in a loving, accepting, Christ-like way, that draws students to want to know more.

The Noisiest Thunderstorm Yet

 Photograph by Michael K. Nichols

Less than a second after I saw the lightning light up my dark wall, the whole building physically shook with the pound of thunder.  I wasn't going to let this display of God's creation pass me by, so out of bed I climbed, found my glasses and headed up the stairs. 

On the roof I enjoyed standing in awe of a mighty orchestra of God's glory.  The lightning so bright at times that I couldn't look directly at it, and the thunder so thick it seemed to shake the air.  It was as close as I can imagine to Moses on the mountaintop. 

From this stage I couldn't keep myself from worshiping.  Songs flowed from a heart in awe and love of our mighty Creator until my throat was raw and then some more.  Flowing from worship, my prayers for this country began.  For the king, queen, and royal family; for the members of parliament and their families, leaders in each province and their families, others in government and authority and their families.  For the businessmen, shop owners, street vendors and their families.  For the tourists, prostitutes, sea gypsies, lady boys, and their families.  For those in the villages and those in the cities.  For those in the north, south, east, west, and those abroad.  For the university students, high school students, elementary school students, kindergartners, preschoolers, babies, and their parents, siblings, grandparents and extended family.

I prayed that all those who felt the rain, all the households the rain touched, would know the name of Christ personally in the next five to ten years.  That this generation would be a breakthrough, this generation would be the one to change this Buddhist nation. I prayed that the next time it rains like this I wouldn't be the only one on my roof standing in awe of the Creator and his creation.

Photograph by William R. Curstinger

Som-o

P and I sat, it what appeared to be the middle of a swamp.  We walked across a few rickety bamboo poles to the hut in the middle of the green water.  Am I still in Bangkok?  I wondered.  This was the place she decided we would enjoy our Som-o. 

A som-o is a large citric fruit, bigger than a grapefruit with thick, green bumpy skin.  We talked as P taught me to peel the fruit, cut off the rind, and dig through its thick white inner covering to its juicy sweet/tart fruit in the middle.  I used as many Thai words as I could, and she taught me new ones throughout the evening.  With every word she was so patient while I asked her to repeat it so I could write it in my notebook.  We talked about everything from snow in America to pizza in Thailand.  From husbands (or the lack there of) to family and the church her uncle pastors. 

Eventually conversation turned to the inner workings of our hearts.  P's heart for her country to know Christ inspired me.  She was well aware that most people here have never heard of Jesus Christ.  Her prayers ranged from the king, and the other leaders in the country, to Thais in the small villages, and students in Bangkok.  She fasts and prays for the believers that do exist, and the ones God will be calling to know him soon.

To say it in a few words, I was challenged.