Don’t Judge a Book…

Just down the street from where we live is a large shed.  Until a short while ago, we had not seen any activity going there.  There was a large conveyor across the back of the shed, so we assumed it was for some kind of agricultural packing operation.

Then, we noticed that there was a refrigerated semi-trailer running beside the shed.  What kind of packing would they do that needs refrigeration?  Most produce here is shipped in open trucks.

So on the way back from an evening walk we stopped by and found out that they pack pummelos.  That night they were packing a load for China.  They also ship to other nearby countries like Malaysia and Indonesia.

(If you’re in the import business and would like to import some pummelos from Thailand, I can get you the contact info.)

Who would have thought that our little town would have such an operation.  A little shed in Wiang Kaen, the least populous district in Chiang Rai, is impacting the diets of people throughout Asia. How cool is that?

There is an English saying, “Don’t judge a book by its cover,” that seems to fit this situation.

The Bible, too, is full of examples of misjudged expectations.   King David is one of the prime examples.  Here he was, the smallest guy from a large, insignificant, family chosen to be king and also the one to take down a giant.

"Do not consider his appearance or his height,” LORD said to Samuel, “for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart."
1 Samuel 16:7 (NIV)

Many of the surprising examples from scripture are women.  Rahab, a harlot, is instrumental in the fall of Jericho and becomes an ancestor of Jesus and David.  Just down the genealogical line, Ruth, an unknown woman from Moab, enters the same line.  And Jael, remember her?  Didn’t think so.  She took out Sisera, the commander of an army that was tormenting Israel.

In the New Testament, there is Mary, from an insignificant town in an unimportant place called Nazareth.  But now millions of people know about Nazareth because Jesus is from there—because Mary was from there.  Then there is that other Mary—the woman of the streets who anointed Jesus feet.  We don’t know the names of many of the important people of that time—but we know her name.

These people weren’t trying to make names for themselves—but we know their names anyway.  No one would have picked these people as “most likely to succeed,” yet their names have been recorded in history.  We know the names of these people, not because they were prominent people in their day or because they sought glory and fame, but because they chose to love and serve God rather than men.

Some people have a goal in life that they want to be famous.

A better goal is that we be found faithful.

Pummelos in plastic baskets waiting to be packed

Unloading pummelos from a pickup truck

Putting labels on pummelos prior to putting in boxes

A 2 kilogram pummelo

Glamor and Glitz?

Yesterday we went to Los Angeles in order to get our visas to return to Thailand.

The Thai consulate is just over a mile from Hollywood, and Hollywood is where we stay because we can usually get the best hotel rates there.



One might think that it would be more expensive in a famous place like that.  But I guess none of the famous people actually live in Hollywood.  The most common businesses one sees on Hollywood Boulevard apart from restaurants are those establishments selling lingerie, sex toys and the like.




Coming from a culture like that, it is no wonder that sex seems to be the dominant theme TV and movies coming from that part of the world.

It is interesting how we imagine a place to be can be so far removed from what it is like.

I remember that for much of the time when we lived in Haiti in the 1980's and 1990's, the State Department warned against travel to that country.  And yet, where we lived, there were few problems.

Or I think of when we went to a church service in a Khmu village in northern Thailand for the first time.  I was expecting to hear traditional Khmu songs played on traditional instruments.  But when we walked into the building, the first thing we saw was a drum kit, electric guitar and electric bass.

Just last week we were meeting with missionaries who work in Burkina Faso.  They apologized for being a bit late for the meeting we were having.  As they did that, I thought of the places I've lived in and visited overseas in Africa, Asia and the Caribbean, where being late is the norm. So I asked them how timeliness was viewed in the culture they worked in.  They replied that it was quite rude to show up late for something.  So much for my generic stereotypes of how Africans view time!

So it seems it is just as easy to stereotype places as it is people.

How grateful we are for modern electronic means of communication, where it is possible to find out about what places are really like, if we take the time to research them.

I need to remind myself to take the time to ask the right questions and listen carefully to the answers when I am talking with people about the places they live.  Never assume.

Our knowledge about people, places and things is extremely limited.
How thankful we are that we have a God who knows us better than we know ourselves--and loves us anyway.

O LORD, you have examined my heart and know everything about me.
   You know when I sit down or stand up. You know my thoughts even when I’m far away.
You see me when I travel and when I rest at home. You know everything I do.
   You know what I am going to say even before I say it, LORD.
You go before me and follow me. You place your hand of blessing on my head.  
   Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too great for me to understand!
Psalm 139:1-6 (NLT)