It Takes a Bunch of Villages

Last week, we drove down to Chonburi to meet with some people there. We took our usual route on a levee road on the south side of the Chi River in Maha Sarakham Province, but it was a bit slow going at first because of the flooding.

Video of Driving the Levee Road to Maha Sarakham

Ended up on a Detour on a "Drier" Road

On the way home, we figured we would take an alternate route to avoid driving along the flooded levee road. But it took us an hour to get through the city of Maha Sarakham because the Chi River decided to take a shortcut through town.

Driving Through Maha Sarakham

Many parts of Thailand have experienced flooding this year. While this is typical to a degree, this year has been worse than normal. A combination of factors has brought flooding into the area where we are ministering. Normal end-of-rainy-season high water levels and some late season storms coming off the South China Sea caused higher than normal flood levels. Also, water was released from several reservoirs to prevent dam failure. This has raised water levels in three large rivers in the southern part of the Isaan Region, and brought flooding to the Chi River that borders Kalasin where we work.

By Hdamm - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=4140784
In the map above, we live along the Pao River, just north of the "S" in Maha Sarakham

We live in the southern part of Kalasin Province, so not only are we affected by Chi River floods, but also by floods along the Pao River, which flows through our town. There has been significant damage to the rice crops due to flooding from the Pao River. While water levels in the Pao River have dropped about a meter from the highest levels, many rice paddies are still under water. The timing is especially bad, because right now the grain heads should be ripening.

Flooded Road With Rice Paddy on the Right

This Lake is a Rice Paddy That Would be Almost Ready to Harvest

In addition to normal floods, this last week, a levee failed along the Chi River and caused water to inundate areas that don't usually flood, including villages where we work.

Flooded Rice Paddies Near Ban Sa-ad

One of Our Church Member's Houses--the Water Was Even Deeper the Next Day

They hope to finish repairing the levee breach this week and then they can begin the process of pumping water back into the Chi River. However, in the meantime, water levels have continued to rise. The government will offer some financial assistance to help with rice crop losses, but it will not cover all of the losses experienced by villagers.

Our small church decided this would be an opportunity to demonstrate God's love to our neighbors. Our team leader came up early for a planned trip so that we could plan how to assist. We consulted with village leaders on how we could help as well. We purchased rice and other dry goods and prepared food bags to hand out.

Packing Dry Goods

Bagging Rice

We ended up handing out the food on Sunday morning. Instead of our worshiping with music and Bible study, we used our time to bless those in need. As we read in scripture: Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth. (1 John 3:18 ESV)

One of the village heads helped us bring the bags into the village because the water was too deep to drive in with our pickup truck.

Road Into Ban Sa-ad Village - Trucks With Higher Clearance Could Make it Part Way

Bags Ready to Give Away

Unloading the Bags

We weren't the only ones providing assistance. Other groups and individuals pitched in. It was great to see so many people coming together to provide assistance. Some groups put together bags similar to ours. Others contributed bottled water (the public water systems ad power had been shut down). Still others donated fresh meat and vegetables.

Some of the Bags Brought by Others

Others Contributed Bottled Water

After we delivered our supplies, we were given a tour of some of the areas by boat.

Starting Out on Our Boat Tour  Down the Road Past the Temple

One Woman Didn't Want to Leave Her Home Even Though it Was Under Three Feet of Water. Her Dogs Had a Small Place to Perch

This Man Was Dragging His Boat Down the Road

It will be several weeks before there is any sense of normality. And the lost rice crop will continue to affect the lives for some time, so we will continue join with others to offer assistance where we can.

Pretty vs. Pretty

Ah! English!

What an interesting language I have grown up with.

In a tree in our yard, there are some pretty red flowers.

Pretty red flowers

The problem is that these red flowers are growing out of a mango tree.

But they are not mango flowers.  These are mango flowers:

Mango flowers

The red flowers are growing on a parasitic plant.  This plant makes seeds that germinate on the branches of the tree and then tap into the trees vascular system of the tree for nutrients.  Let the host tree do all the work of making roots and getting water and nutrients from the soil.

So, pretty flowers, yes.

But pretty nasty as well.

(Somehow our language got to the point where "pretty" can end up being an adjective meaning "beautiful" and also an adverb meaning "very".  So we can say that one thing is pretty while another is pretty ugly, and they are opposites.  And why do we then say "very pretty" vs. "pretty pretty".  This is all pretty confusing.)

You see, the more pretty red flowers that the tree has, the fewer mangos it will have.  And I like mangos.  Mangos are my favorite fruit.  They're the reason I moved to Thailand.  (Well, not exactly, but close.)

A lot of mango goodness here

So, I'm left with a choice.

Do I want some pretty red flowers?

Or do I want some pretty tasty fruit?

I could leave the parasites on the tree, and have both red and yellow (mango) flowers.  But the mango production would be reduced more and more with time.

Life is like that.  Often are choices aren't between good and bad or right and wrong.   The choices are often between one way and a better way.

The apostle Paul writes about about a "better way" in 1 Corinthians 12, and 13.  In 1 Corinthians 12, Paul is talking about the use of spiritual gifts in the church.  In the church, the body of Christ, we are each given different gifts in order to help build up the church.  1 Corinthians 12:31 we read:

But eagerly desire the greater gifts. And now I will show you the most excellent way.

And then Paul goes on to talk about love.

It's great to desire spiritual gifts, but if we don't use our gifts in love, we are just like resounding gongs or clanging cymbals.

Or pretty, parasitic flowers.

In Phon Phisai, we have this nice community of new believers.  Most of them knew nothing about Christ until just a few months ago.  One of the challenges we have now is helping them to discover and use their spiritual gifts to help build each other up in the body of Christ.  But it is so much more than that.  It is about loving each other and using our gifts, with that love, to help build each other up.   We want to have a church of people who give, not just take.  Pretty flowers that bear fruit, not just parasites.