Top Twelve 2018

It's time for my look back at the old year through pictures.  Picking out a dozen, or baker's dozen of pictures from a few thousand is a fun way to reminisce about the past year.  Pictures are not necessarily chosen for photographic quality but for special memories they evoke.

January - Red Lotus Lake

November through January is the best period to travel around Thailand.  The air is cooler and the smoke from all the burning usually has not built up much yet.  One of the travel bloggers in Thailand had posted pictures of a place in Isaan where there were lots of water lilies.  We did some research and found that the place is called Red Lotus Lake and is about a 2-1/2 hour drive from our house in the next province to the south. We didn't know much about the lake or what to expect, we just took off to investigate.

We arrived at the lake about 11 am.  We found out that it was almost too late in the day, as soon the water lilies would close up for the heat of the afternoon.  Nonetheless, we hired a boat and joined the myriad of people who were out on the lake,  It was really amazing to see all of the pink water lilies.  We ended up going back about a month later when we had some people visiting us.

If you're ever in Thailand between Mid-December through February, this place is worth a visit.  Perhaps a nice Valentine's date.

February - Baptisms

For those in the business of church planting, one of the greatest activities one can have is baptisms.    We've had several baptismal ceremonies since coming here, but this one was a bit special because of the testimony of one of the people getting baptized.  Her story is one about how God is already doing a work and that we just join Him in what He is already doing.  You can read more about that here.

March - Torch Ginger

In March we had the opportunity to take one of our church members to some training in Chiang Mai.  The training was called "Multiplying Disciples" and we enjoyed having our friend meet some of the many others in Thailand in a situation similar to his.

The training was at a place in the mountains with nice landscaping throughout.  As is my usual practice, I like to get up early and go for walks and enjoy the wonders of God's creation.  I found a little used path and was pleased to discover a small grove of torch gingers that had been planted.  The blooms on these plants can be quite spectacular.

The ginger family is one of my favorites because of the diversity of styles of flowers.  I just wish I had a place to plant them all!

April - Team Hope

One of the parts of my job that I enjoy is being a catalyst.  I don't necessarily have to do everything myself, but I can help facilitate bringing people together who can help each other.  In April, we were pleased to bring a team from the Hope Center in Chachoengsao up to Phon Phisai to do some training.  These are people we know well from having worked there in the past.  This group of mostly young people came up to give training in various things.

One type of training they gave was guitar and music.  Boat is a young man who studied music at university.  While I sometimes have difficulty getting the young people in our church (mostly female) to come practice music, Boat, being young and single, had no problem getting them to come.

They even remembered some of the stuff he taught after he left!

May - Phu Phrabat Historical Park

It was our day off, and we were looking for a new place to explore.  We made plans to go to a park a few hours drive to the south, but due to road construction, we lost a lot of time in the city of Udon Thani.  So we changed plans and decided to head to Phu Phrabat Historical Park.

We had been to the park before, which is mostly known for its interesting rock formations.  There are also lots of trails, and we decided to try some we had not been on before.  There had been some early wet season rains, and things were a lot greener than during our previous visit during dry season.  We hardly saw anyone on  the trails that we followed.

Phu Phrabat Park, being an historical park, is not under the Forestry Department, but is under the Ministry of Arts and Culture.  They have a bit of a different take on things.  While most parks tend towards rustic, this one has the fanciest restroom I have seen in Thailand that even has piped in classical music!

June - Rice Planting

One day I decided to try a bike route I had not been on before.  This trip took me to the next district north called Rattanawapi and a village called Nam Pe.  It was the beginning of wet season, which means it was time to plant rice.  Most people start their rice plants in nurseries and then transplant out.  Here I passed and area where they were gathering up the seedlings to be brought to the paddies where they would transplant them.  Young rice plants have a intensely bright green color, which doesn't always capture well in photographs.

July - Mango Baron

Sometimes we see things and, at first glance, aren't sure what to think.  Is it a plant or an animal? If an animal, what kind is it?

Turns out that this particular creature is a caterpillar that favors mango trees.  It is covered with lots of fine hairs which, if touched, can be quite painful.  Or so I've read.  I wasn't really wanting to test that theory because I've had run-ins with venomous caterpillars before and I am quite amazed at how much pain a tiny little hair can cause.  While venomous, the mango baron caterpillar is at least pretty to look at.

August - Boat Race Practice

One thing we like to do when we have the opportunity is to go for an evening walk along the Mekong River.  It is only one kilometer to the river from our house.  During the rainy season, if there are breaks in the clouds, the sunsets can be quite spectacular.

On this particular day, we happened upon the boat racing team practicing.  They have long-boat races every year in October during the Naga festival at the end of Buddhist lent.  It's a lot of work to paddle these boats, but I'm even more impressed at the coach who balances himself on the very narrow tail of the boat.  I may not be able to paddle a boat very well,  but I can sooner do that than stand in the coaches place.

September (Thailand) - Phon Phisai Flooding

Wet season was extra wet this year.  There is an area north of our house that does not drain very well when the Mekong River is running very high—and this year it was the highest it has been in at least 10 years.  So we had a very big puddle—about 1 kilometer wide and two kilometers long.  The puddle came up to the edge of the property we live on, and onto our road just a little bit.  Other places did not fare so well.

I would bicycle through the puddles if they weren't too deep, but it's not so much fun if my foot goes under water with every turn of the crank.  The house in this photo (to the right of the tree near the middle), actually had a boat tied to its stairway.  At least the owners were smart enough to have a house on stilts.

September (Europe) - Brienzersee

I'm cheating and adding a second photo from September from our trip to Europe.  I had the opportunity to attend a men's conference in Switzerland along with another of our missionaries from SE Asia.  My wife and I went a week early to celebrate our 35th anniversary.  Picking only one picture from that trip was quite a challenge.

We didn't know much about the area we were going to and we were looking for an affordable place to stay near Interlocken.  We found a small village nearby named Ringgenberg whose better years were behind it.  As for us, we enjoyed the nice quiet atmosphere of the town.  We stayed at the Hotel Bären (Bear), whose host was quite friendly and helpful. There was even a small grocery/bakery across the street from our hotel where we could get nice breads, cheese and chocolate (the essentials of life).

Ringgenberg is on the northwest shore of Lake Brienz (Brienzersee).  One evening we walked up to an old castle turned Protestant Church overlooking the lake.  We had the place to ourselves.  It was so quiet and clean.  The blue-green color of the lake was amazing.

We had initially only booked two nights in Ringgenberg, because we did not know what it would be like.  We ended up staying four nights.

October - Sam Roi Yod

Each year, all of us MB missionaries from Thailand gather for a time of resting, connecting and encouraging one another.  The place we meet varies from year to year.  This year, the organizers decided to go to Sam Roi Yod, which happens to be one of our favorite places in Thailand.  We were quite happy with that.

My usual habit when in Sam Roi Yod it to go for a morning walk and watch the sunrise from the beach. On this particular day, the tide was out and the wind was still so there was actually nice reflections from the shallow water on the shore.  And the clouds were amazing as well.  Probably the most awesome sunrise I have seen from the beach.  Sam Roi Yod certainly did not disappoint.

November - Phu Tawk

In November we had a visit from a second cousin whom we'd not met before.  Patricia stayed with us for a few weeks.  One day we took her to visit Phu Tawk, an interesting mountain in nearby Bueng Kan province.  It was our second time there—our first being during rainy season when the skies were cloudy and the humidity oppressive.  This time was quite different.

Phu Tawk is considered a sacred site and the monks have constructed seven levels of walkways on the mountain, a couple of which are tacked onto the side of the cliff.  This is not a great place to visit if you are afraid of heights.  Or if you don't like stairs.  There is an unbelievable amount of stairs to get to the top.

But for us it is worth the climb and the occasional dizziness from the drop-offs.  The views are awesome.

December - Nong Khai Aquarium

December 5th is the birthday of the previous king of Thailand and is regarded as Father's Day.  Since the kids have off from school, we asked if anyone wanted to go to the aquarium in Nong Khai.  Several were free and went with us.

The aquarium is on the Nong Khai campus of Khon Kaen University.  There are basically two categories of fish here—endangered fish species (both salt and fresh water) and fish that are endemic to the Mekong River and adjoining  waterways.

There is one big tank with a glass tunnel that you walk from top to bottom.  In the big tank are several  Mekong Catfish—the largest species of freshwater fish in the world.  (The world's biggest freshwater fish was caught in the Mekong River near Chiang Khong about 15 years ago.  It was about 9 feet long and weighed 646 pounds.  Imagine the fish fry you could have with that!)

It was fun to see the delight in the eyes of the young people as they marveled at the awesome creatures that our God thought to create.

Bite Off More Than You Can Chew

Indeed, with your help I can charge against an army;
by my God's power I can jump over a wall.
Psalm 18:29 (NET)

Recently, a fairly large moth landed on the outside of our window screen.  With its wings spread, it was about 2 inches across.

Nearby was a baby gecko.  This gecko was looking intently at the moth, trying to decide if it would try to eat it or not.  If it was an adult gecko, it would be a no-brainer.  But it must have decided it couldn't handle the big moth, and it went off in search of other prey.

The Bible warns us that if we are going to do something, we should count the cost.  Jesus, when he talked about the cost of following Him, said, "If you wanted to build a building, you would first sit down and decide how much it would cost. You must see if you have enough money to finish the job." (Luke 14:28, ERV). In modern terms we might say, "don't bite off more than you can chew."

But when it comes to serving God, the concept seems to be more like, "don't bite off more than God can chew."  God is the shepherd who cares for the sheep who are powerless against the enemy. We read in Ezekiel,  "I myself will tend my sheep and give them a place to lie down in peace, says the Sovereign LORD. I will search for my lost ones who strayed away, and I will bring them safely home again. I will bandage the injured and strengthen the weak. But I will destroy those who are fat and powerful. I will feed them, yes—feed them justice!"  (Ezekiel 34:15-16 NLT)

There are many stories in the Old Testament when Israel, acting in obedience to God's commands, was successful in defeating much larger armies.  An example is Gideon, who with 300 men defeated the combined armies of the Midianites and Amalekites. (Judges 7)

David was confident that having God on his side gave him an advantage over an army that outnumbered his. He writes, "He will rescue me and protect me from those who attack me, even though they greatly outnumber me." (Psalm 55:18 NET)

Biting off more than one can chew seems to be the norm for people who follow Jesus.  After all, if I do only those things I can do by my own abilities, then I can take credit for it.  But if, in obedience to God, I attempt more than I can do, then God gets the glory.  As Paul writes, "But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.  For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong."  (2 Corinthians 12:9-10 ESV)

I can't impress people very much with the things I can do in my own power.  But if I allow God's power to work through me, then great things can happen. As Paul writes:

"But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong."  (1 Corinthians 1:27 NIV)

I admit, that sometimes my faith is weak and I'm not willing to step out and take risks.  Or sometimes I just don't want to give up control.

God, give me the faith to take risks in obedience to your command.  Help me to bite of more than I can chew when it is appropriate.

Longevity

This past week we were invited by some friends to help harvest rice.  We don't have much experience with rice harvesting--only one other occasion two years ago—but we thought we've give it a try.

I dug out my sickle to see what condition it was in.  The sickles they make here have somewhat of a serrated edge, which makes them tend to be self-sharpening—as long as you only cut rice.  Ours however has been used to cut weeds close to the ground and so has had numerous run-in with gravel—so I knew it would need some sharpening.

I put a bit of an edge on the sickle with an ordinary stone.  The I figured I would finish off with a finer stone, so I dug out an Arkansas stone that I inherited from my dad.

Arkansas stone from 1902

Upon opening the stone I noticed the writing, "C.E.R. May 31, 1902".  C.E.R. are the initials of my father's step dad.  He was born in 1865, so he would have been about 37 when this stone was purchased.  My step-grandfather was a watchmaker, and he had an cabinet of small wooden drawers filled with all kinds of interesting tools, including this Arkansas stone.  He died the year after I was born and although I have seen a photo of me with him, I certainly don't remember the experience.

I never remember my father using these kinds of sharpening stones.  Usually things were sharpened with a file or with a electric grinder. So the stone remained in really good condition.  Only in my later years did I begin to appreciate a good Arkansas stone to put a keen edge on a knife.  And while these days I'm likely to use a diamond stone for a quick sharpening, there is something therapeutic about putting some oil on a stone and rubbing the knife edge back and forth, though I did not use sperm oil or lard oil as the stone suggested.

The sickle sharpening was a success, and I cut rice for about 4 hours—my back giving out before my arm.  Actually, it was the heat that wore me out by about 2 in the afternoon.

Rice Harvesters

Rice harvesting video

It was a good feeling to put to use this old stone to sharpen some tools.  Even though it has been around over 100 years, it still does what it is supposed to do.

I've been thinking about how this relates to our Christian life.  Will my ministry bear fruit that will stand the test of time?  Will what I build last not just 116 years, but on into eternity?

Paul writes:

¹¹ The foundation that has already been built is Jesus Christ, and no one can build any other foundation. ¹² People can build on that foundation using gold, silver, jewels, wood, grass, or straw. ¹³ But the work that each person does will be clearly seen, because the Day? will make it plain. That Day will appear with fire, and the fire will test everyone's work. ¹⁴ If the building they put on the foundation still stands, they will get their reward. ¹⁵ But if their building is burned up, they will suffer loss. They will be saved, but it will be like someone escaping from a fire.
1 Corinthians 3:11-15 (ERV)

A term we use in our ministry here is "multiplying disciples".  In fact, this gives rise to the new name of our organization (Multiply).  The idea is the show others how to be Jesus-followers so that they also will do the same thing.  Its not an easy task, and we never really know how long-lasting our fruit will be.

One day, the Arkansas stone I used to sharpen the sickle will no longer be of use.  But hopefully, those we have nurtured in the faith will bear fruit that lasts for many generations.

Moving on

With a bit of sadness, this past week we went to Rim Khong Coffee and Steak for the last time.  It's not that we wanted to stop going there, it's just that the proprietors were moving to Kalasin Province, a four-hour drive from here.

Khun Yai ran the restaurant and his wife, Rung Arun, was a captain in the local police department.  (Rung Arun means "Dawn", and so has the same name as my sister)  They were our closest adult friends outside of church.  Their daughter would come to our English classes.

But Rung Arun is from Kalasin and they wanted to move closer to family.  So they built a house there and she got a transfer.  Now, only thirteen months after opening up Rim Khong Coffee and Steak, they closed its doors.  Khun Yai will open up a coffee shop in Kalasin, but it is a long way to go for a cup of coffee.  But I know where to find them when the occasion arises.

Khun Yai making coffee

Last cup at Rim Khong Coffee and Steak

The week after the coffee shop closed, we received word that another friend had moved on.  Betty, a long time supporter of our ministry, went to be with the Lord last month.  We met Betty and her husband Glen when they would come to volunteer at the Baptist Haiti Mission when we worked there about 30 years ago.  Glen and I had common interests in agronomy, photography and bird-watching.

Visiting with Glen and Betty

Their farmhouse in Vermont was a beautiful refuge.  The garden was full of vegetables and flowers, many planted to attract birds.  On a visit to their place back when we still lived in Haiti, Glen, upon hearing that we only had one set of binoculars between us, ordered another pair for us on the spot.

Bird feeders were everywhere at their house, and the whole family was involved in keeping track of when different species would come and go.

Chickadee on one of the Wood's many feeders

Glen has not been with us for several years, and now his wife has joined him.

There is yet another Haiti/Vermont connection that has moved on as well.  Elsa came to work at Baptist Haiti Mission with her husband, Pete, a retired music instructor, shortly after we did.  Pete passed away after a few years in Haiti, but Elsa stayed on volunteering with the child sponsorship program until just a few years ago.  Elsa was always such a cheerful and encouraging person to talk to.  In September, Elsa went to be with her late husband.

Visit with Elsa

Some of those who have moved on we may still see this side of heaven.  But we are grateful to have had all of these people as part of our lives.

As people move on from our lives, we are reminded that our lives are not static.  Changes are constantly happening and we move from one thing to the next.  We don't know what tomorrow brings, all we have is today.

James reminds us of the transience of life: Look here, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we are going to a certain town and will stay there a year. We will do business there and make a profit.”  How do you know what your life will be like tomorrow? Your life is like the morning fog—it’s here a little while, then it’s gone.  What you ought to say is, “If the Lord wants us to, we will live and do this or that.” (James 4:13-15 NLT)

 Since we don't know what is in store for us tomorrow we would be wise to cherish those we have in our lives while we have them.

Three pillars

This week we are in Sam Roi Yod for the annual gathering of or MB workers from Thailand.  Yesterday afternoon, we had a some time to explore, so we went with a couple of other people to visit Phraya Nakhon cave.

You can't drive to this cave, one either has to take a boat or walk over a hill to a secluded beach, from where you can walk about half a kilometer up the hill to the cave. We opted to take a boat.

On the boat to the cave

Phraya Nakhon cave is the most accessible and most visited of the three main caves in Sam Roi Yod (Three hundred Peaks) National Park.  It has been visited by three of Thailand's kings.

Royal graffiti from 1926

Paraya Nakhon cave does not have a lot of stalactites and stalagmites as compared to some caves, probably due to the fact that the roof has long ago caved in in two places, leaving it open and well lit, for the most part.  But there is an area where there are three pillars, or columns as the covers would call them.

Three Pillars

When I look at the three pillars I am reminded of a couple of important threes.  The main one that comes to mind is how we describe God as a trinity, or one God in three persons: Father, Son, Holy Spirit.  But the other thing I am reminded of is three pillars of our faith.

First, God.  God is the center of our faith and it is all about the worship of Him.  God is central, not us.  God existed before there was anything and will keep on existing through eternity.  That's a long time, especially in light of our relatively minuscule lifespans.

Second, the Word of God, or scripture; the Bible.  It is though the revelation from God that we know more things about God than we can just glean from observing creation--although there is quite a lot that can be ascertained about God from observing the things around us. As Paul writes, "For since the creation of the world, his invisible attributes--his eternal power and divine nature--have been clearly seen because they are understood through what has been made." (Romans 1:20, NIV)

But God to chose to reveal Himself to us through the prophets and through Jesus and so we have recorded many things about God.  As the writer of Hebrews puts it, "After God spoke long ago in various portions and in various ways to our ancestors through the prophets, in these last days he has spoken to us in a son..." (Hebrews 1:1, 2a, NIV). While we cannot know everything about God (for we are not God), we can know some things about Him.  If there is revelation, we can know some truth.  (If there is not revelation, Christianity is a farce.)

Third, the Church, the Body of Christ.  While Jesus ascended to heaven, He left behind the church as the visible representation of Christ in the world.  As Paul writes, "Now you are Christ's body, and each of you is a member of it." (1 Corinthians 12:27, NIV) I won't go into detail about this other than to say how amazing it is that God chooses to use differently gifted, ordinary people to do His work in the world.  We don't always get it right, but when the church functions as one body with Jesus as the head, amazing things can happen.

God is there.  God revealed Himself though the scriptures and through His Son, Jesus.  God continues to be present in the world today as the church.  Three pillars of the faith, of which I am reminded by the three pillars in Phraya Nakhon cave.

Old but not irrelevant

The glory of young men is their strength, gray hair is the splendor if the old. Proverbs 20:29 (NIV)

Our home culture glorifies youth.  As people "mature" they are considered less and less relevant.  In old days, white hair was considered a sign of wisdom.  By one's age, one earned the right to be heard.  Not so much anymore.  The opinions of the experienced are considered "old-fashioned", "out-of-date", or "irrelevant. Old people are often considered a burden.

One of the nice things about Thai culture (though it is disappearing) is that there is still status connected with age. It's refreshing. (see more on that here.) We are in our sixties and we are stilled deemed worthy of offering something of value.

It's even more rewarding with the youth.  There are some young people at church that actually like hanging out with us.  Granted, we try to make it worthwhile.  We regularly teach some guitar and music.  Since this month is school break, we tried to have some extra activities for the young people.  Earlier last week, Ingrid invited some of the girls over to make muffins.  A few days later we took some people to a park about an hours drive away.

Making Muffins

Visit to a park with interesting rock formations

Along the way, they learned some Bible and some English.  We learned some Thai and learned more about Thai culture.

Of course, staying relevant in the lives of these young people takes effort takes some effort on our part.  We have to invest time and energy into the task.  It also takes a measure of humility.  We only hope that as the teens mature, they will remain interested in what we have to offer.  Meanwhile, we thank God for the opportunity to have a positive influence in their lives.

Context

Earlier this week, we spotted an interesting looking moth hanging out on a lamp fixture on our neighbors house.  God gave this creature and amazing camouflage in order to blend in with tree bark, but on the light fixture, his camouflage was not terribly useful.

A few days later, we spotted a lizard on a ficus tree in our yard.  This lizard almost seemed to line up the stripes on his body with the stripes on the tree.  This made him rather difficult to spot.

This compares well with what it is like to live in another culture.  Sometimes, we're more like the moth and our behavior and appearance clash with the culture, making it easy to mark us as a disrespectful foreigner.

A not-so-lizard-like adaptation to Thai culture

Sometimes, we do a better job at adapting local ways and we blend in a bit better, more like the lizard.

The apostle Paul, though he was a Jew, tried to blend in with the non-Jews when he worked with them.  I don't think he forsook being Jewish, it just seems like he didn't want his Jewish ways become barriers to non-Jews coming to faith in Christ.


20  When I was with the Jews, I lived like a Jew to bring the Jews to Christ. When I was with those who follow the Jewish law, I too lived under that law. Even though I am not subject to the law, I did this so I could bring to Christ those who are under the law.  21  When I am with the Gentiles who do not follow the Jewish law, I too live apart from that law so I can bring them to Christ. But I do not ignore the law of God; I obey the law of Christ. 
22  When I am with those who are weak, I share their weakness, for I want to bring the weak to Christ. Yes, I try to find common ground with everyone, doing everything I can to save some.  23  I do everything to spread the Good News and share in its blessings. 1 Corinthians 9:20-23 (NLT2)

When we preach the gospel in another culture, it is a constant challenge to present the message as unencumbered as possible from Western and personal cultural baggage.  It is not easy and not everyone agrees with how far we can go to make the gospel palatable.  Some churches go so far as to make shrines to Christian saints that look identical to shrines to local deities.  Some put symbols of Naga (the serpent demon) on their rooftops.

Catholic Church with Naga symbols on the ends of the eaves

While those are more extreme adaptations, other things are not so clear.  For example, do we use the word karma, along with the term sin when talking about sin, since the Thai people use the term sin in a more narrow sense.

Other examples are found in translating special words.  There is a Thai term for the hall where the Buddhist monks do their teaching called Salatham.  In the Catholic bible they used this term for "synagogue", which seems appropriate.  Most Protestant translations wanted to distinguish the Jewish term from Buddhist concepts, so they simply reversed the syllables, i.e. Thamasala.  One of the newer Bible translations did away with the concept altogether and refers to the synagogue as the "meeting place of the Jews".  Which one is best?

These are just a couple many instances where we have to think about how we present the gospel in the local culture.  While we Christians want to be like the lizard and blend in with our environment, we still want to remain a lizard and not become a tree.

She said it would take a while

About 3-1/2 years ago, when we lived in northern Thailand, we bought some interesting heart-shaped plants at the Chiang Rai Flower show.

We asked the person selling them if the leaves would actually grow.  She said they would, but it would take a while.

We found out the plant is called sweetheart plant (Hoya Kerrii).  It is an epiphytic vine. We've seen it in the wild and it looks like this:

One of the plants died while we were still in Wiang Kaen.  The other survived, and we brought it to Phon Phisai.  Last September (2 years and 8 months after we bought it), it looked like this:

It's amazing that a plant could be around that long, still be alive, but not change at all.

Finally, after 3-1/2 years, it looks like this:

While the looks pretty much the same as it did, there is a surprise in the back.

Now that a vine is finally starting to grow, I wonder how long it will be before it flowers.  Most species of Hoya are grown for their flowers.  Maybe it will flower before we retire.

I'm not always very good at the waiting thing, and I have been tempted in the past to just get rid of the Hoya.  But it takes minimal care, so we just hung onto it.  After all, the heart-shaped leaf is cute.

And waiting can be a good thing.

We who put our hope in Jesus are eager for His return.  We wonder why Jesus tarries.  We're tired of living in a world corrupted by sin.  I read the news each day and silently ask, "How long, O Lord?"  How long must we put up with violence?  How long must we put up with destructive disregard for God's creation?  How long will people continue to hate?  How much exploitation must we endure?  Rapes and robberies.  Idolatry.  Greed. Pollution. Immorality.

How long will God even put up with my own sin?

As Paul writes:

We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.  Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. (Romans 8:22, 23 NIV)

But waiting can be a good thing.  While we who wait for Jesus are eager for His return, those who do not yet know him will get no benefit from an early arrival.  For them, it is better if Jesus tarries.

The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. (2 Peter 3:9 ESV)

This will probably take longer than the 3-1/2 years I have waited for my Hoya to start growing.  But however long it ends up being, it will be worth the wait.

Backswamp

You can take the soil scientist out of the dirt but you can't take the dirt out of the soil scientist.

Monsoon season.  That's a fancy term for a seasonal rainy season.  Practically it means that for part of the year, it is very wet.  Add to the normal rains a tropical storm pushing in from the east and, well, its kind of soggy in Phon Phisai right now.

To our regional climate we will add some humans.  Humans often began to settle in areas that were near rivers.  It made sense.  Rivers were transportation channels and a source of food.  Phon Phisai is on the confluence of the Mekong River and a smaller river called Huai Luang. It was a good place to settle.

Now we'll add s small geomorphology lesson.

Geomorphology is the study of landforms.  A typical landform associated with rivers and streams is a floodplain.  A floodplain generally has two main parts:

The levee is a relatively high part of the floodplain located adjacent to the river. The soils here are generally coarser (e.g. sand and fine gravel).

Adjacent to the levee is the backswamp.  This is a relatively lower position. The soils here tend to be finer-textured (e.g. silt and clay).

When we combine landforms, climate and humans, we can get some interesting results.

Because the backswamp is lower, it tends to be wetter. And because the soils are finer-textured, they hold onto water longer. As a result, when people would build adjacent to a river, they would often build on the levee, as opposed to the backswamp.

But as villages grow, people need a place to build, so they will often fill in areas of the backswamp and build there.  In some places there are grading ordinances and such regarding the filling of low areas.  Here in Thailand, if there are such rules, there is no obvious indication.  And people don't seem to think much about what happens to the water that falls on the landscape.

So the basic rule is, if I am going to build, I need to build higher than what is around me.  If I build next to someone who has built already, I just need to build higher than them.  If the water that falls onto my place goes onto their place, well , that's not my problem.

The house we are renting, like many other houses in Phon Phisai, is built on a backswamp.  There are a lot of areas that have been filled in, but some low areas remain that are generally used for growing rice.  However, the field adjacent to us has been filled in on all sides and is the recipient of much of the runoff from the filled in areas.  The only way for the water to get out of the field  is through a small culvert that drains to an area where the water is impounded to protect other fields. The lowest part of that field is so wet, they can't even grow rice, though they tried last year.  So last year we had this beautiful reflecting pool next-door. This year it is just aquatic weeds.

The Field Next Door - Last Year

Most of the houses are built up higher than the street, so the street is subject to flooding.

Our Street

Most of the water on our street clears off a few hours after flooding.  However there are some nearby streets on the same landform where the the water has no place to go.  I was out for a walk earlier this week and when I came to this, I decided to try a different route.

Phon Phisai or Venice?

But flooding is not the only problem we face.  As I mentioned earlier, most of the houses are built on fill. Most the the soil they use to fill with is fairly clayey.  Not the greatest stuff to build on, but it is what they have.  And they don't engineer the fill, they just dump it.  So the houses are built on unstable fill on top of mushy soils.  Unless someone goes through a great effort to put in decent footings (not so common), the houses tend to crack with time.  The house we are renting is less than 10 years old, yet there are several full length cracks.

Glad we don't have earthquakes

 
Because I used to have a job making soil  maps, I tend to think about these things.  When we bought our first house in Bakersfield, one consideration I had was whether it would flood if one of the dams on Lake Isabella gave way.  (A geologic fault line runs between the two dams on the lake.)

Jesus taught us that we should think about what we build on as well:

The people who come to me, who listen to my teachings and obey them—I will show you what they are like: They are like a man building a house. He digs deep and builds his house on rock. The floods come, and the water crashes against the house. But the flood cannot move the house, because it was built well. (Luke 6:48 ERV)


If we want our lives to be strong and endure, we need to  build them on the right stuff.  And the stuff to build our lives on is the teachings of Jesus.  Jesus spoke the words above after giving what is called "The Sermon on the Mount."  That body of teaching contains some things that are very difficult to practice.  Yet, it is in the doing of these things that make for a strong house.

I pray for strength and wisdom from the Holy Spirit to embrace the teachings of Jesus in my life and I am thankful for the grace that comes through Christ Jesus when I fall short. I want my life to not be like a poorly built house on a backswamp.

Kilometer Posts

Thailand is very good about putting up kilometer posts along almost all the highways in the country.  The side facing the road will have the highway number, and the sides facing traffic will have the distances to the next towns ahead.

8 Kilometers to Phon Phisai

In the past five years or so, it has become popular to make signs with similar form, as the way of advertising your business or perhaps some landmark, having a distance of "0" to wherever the sign is and then distances to other places.

0 Kilometers to This Intersection

While kilometer posts may not always be very good at letting you know where you are, they are helpful in determining progress towards your destination or from a starting point.

In my home country, these things are more commonly known as milestones, a term that has grown to have significance beyond just measuring distance.

Bicycle in Rubber Plantation

This past month I reached a milestone on my bicycle—I reached 10,000 kilometers on this particular bike.  I realize that this is not much compared to what serious bike riders do (it took me 26 months), still, it was fun to see the odometer put on a fifth digit.

Last month was also another significant milestone for us--it was a year since the official launch of our church.

Official Launch of Phon Phisai Fellowship Church

Because they help measure progress, milestones can help fight discouragement.  Sometimes we are tempted to compare where we are to where we would like to be, and the difference is so great that it can be discouraging.  On the other hand, we can compare where we are to where we used to be and then things might look a bit better.

So while it may be discouraging to look at the above photo and count those who are no longer attending our church, I can also see in there some who a year ago were just "coming" to church who are now beginning to lead.  At the same time there are new faces that are not in the picture.   I can also rejoice in that there is still a church in our sub-district, while a year and a half ago there was none.

The main reason I ride my bicycle is for my heart health.  It's good exercise.  I keep track of my miles in order to make sure I am getting enough exercise.

Our spiritual lives need checkpoints as well.
Our lives have milestones like birthdays, anniversaries, etc.  At these times we can take the opportunity turn and look back and say, "I used to..., but now I...".  Paul writes about this kind of thing, comparing the church at Colossae as it was to how it used to be, "You also did these things in the past, when you lived like them." (Colossians 3:7 ERV)

On the other hand, if we look back and end up saying something like, "I also used to do these things in the past—and I still do," maybe it's time to use the milestone to instigate some change in our lives. We don't want to be like the Corinthian church, to whom Paul had to write, "I could not talk to you the way I talk to people who are led by the Spirit. I had to talk to you like ordinary people of the world. You were like babies in Christ. And the teaching I gave you was like milk, not solid food. I did this because you were not ready for solid food. And even now you are not ready." (1 Corinthians 3:1b, 2 ERV)

Maybe I can use the kilometer posts on the highways as reminders to check for progress in other areas of my life as well.

Justification

Recently, I read an article about a televangelist who said that God told him he needs to get a 54 million dollar jet (to augment his other 3 aircraft).

In asking for money, he told his listeners that Jesus "wouldn't be riding a donkey."

Mind you, Jesus didn't actually own a donkey, he borrowed one—once—when he went into Jerusalem the last time to be crucified.

I don't know whether God actually told this televangelist to buy a plane or not.  That is not the point of this blog.  What I wanted to point out was his use of justification—the reasons why he has to have this particular jet.

Here are a couple of reasons given, according to the article:

"Standing beside framed pictures of his current fleet, he said that the jet he bought 12 years ago was no longer sufficient for his ministry because he could not fly non-stop, meaning he had to pay "exorbitant" refueling costs."

 (It's going to take a long time to recover the cost of the plane in saved refueling costs. Nor would we want to consider that even flying first class commercial would be a lot cheaper.)

"Mr Duplantis justified the request by saying that Jesus had told people to "go into the world and preach the Gospel to every creature, now how we gonna do that? I can't live long enough to travel by car or by ship or by train, but I can do it by an aeroplane"."

 (Mind you, I don't recall any scripture directed at Mr. Duplantis, specifically, that this was his job. )

As I thought about my response to these justifications, I was reminded that as I pointed my finger at this man, I had several fingers pointing back at myself.  How often do we have to try to come up with "excuses" to do the things we do.  Sometimes we want to justify acquiring something or doing something we know deep down is not necessary or commanded by God.  Sometimes we are deceiving ourselves with our excuses, we may actually think that God wants us to do something that perhaps He does not want us to do.  Sometimes, God may actually want us to acquire goods or services for our ministries and there may be a very good reason to spend more money on a better product or service.

It's a challenge to honestly evaluate our decision-making, because advertisers are very good at coming up with all the reasons why we have to have the product they are hawking.  Plus its good for the economy: if I keep up with all the latest gadgets then all the industries involved in making and marketing the products do well and the economy keeps growing.  "Yeah me! I'm helping keep the economy strong!" I can always absolve my conscience by giving away my old iPhone to a needy person. (I don't actually own an iPhone, but you get my point.)

I would suggest we need to pray about procurement related decisions, but it may not be a good idea.  Why pray if we've already made up our minds and aren't willing to truly hear from God?

Every way of a man is right in his own eyes, but the LORD weighs the heart. (Proverbs 21:2 ESV)

 It's probably good to have other people in your life to help you with these kinds of things. As we read in Proverbs: The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but a wise man listens to advice. (Proverbs 12:15 ESV)

While it might be easier to condemn others for the choices they make, it is probably more important that we examine our own hearts and our own choices.  I don't want to be like the ones Paul addressed: Therefore, anyone of you who judges is without excuse. For when you judge another, you condemn yourself, since you, the judge, do the same things. (Romans 2:1 HCSB)

And while I think the person mentioned above is probably in the wrong, I don't know for sure, and he will have to answer to God for his actions not to me.  I'm sure others judge me as well, but I am not trying to please others, but God.  However, I do well to listen to my critics, because perhaps they may be right and perhaps God is speaking through them.

I've gotten off track before and I'm thankful for those who have gently and with humility (not with a judgmental spirit) helped me back onto the right track. As Paul writes, "Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted. " (Galatians 6:1 NIV)