The Word

I’ve never considered the concept of having a “word for the year”.

But two days ago I read another missionary’s blog about her Word for the Year.

Then, yesterday we received an e-mail from another missionary about her word for the year.  That same day she commented about a facebook  post of ours, referring to our present house-hunting trip to northern Thailand as a “vision trip”.

And so now I have a word-a transformational word that has been planted in my brain, which spun my whole day around and removed the haze that was obscuring the bright sunlight.  It may be the word for the moment, the word for the day, the word for the week or maybe even the word for the year (but I don’t know that I will repeat this annually, so I hesitate to call it that)…

Vision

In 2007 we went on a Prayer and Vision trip to Thailand.  At the time, we were not thinking of becoming foreign missionaries, not even at the conclusion of the trip.

But a vision was born, none-the-less, and a few years later we found ourselves in training with MB Mission.  At the end of that, were we asked to consider moving to Thailand.  And so, in February, 2010, we made a vision trip to Thailand, to see what our work there might look like.

And so we developed a vision to be on a church planting team in northern Thailand.

So we moved to Thailand in the spring of 2011.  But, about a year into our our stay, we were asked to put that vision aside and consider a new vision: form a new team to move to Isaan—northeast Thailand—to bring the good news of Jesus to that part of the country.

After several trips to Isaan with our team-mates, a new vision was born in us—to bring the good news of Jesus to a region desperately in need of it.

But then, due to some health issues with our team-mates, we were asked to lay that vision down.

And then we were asked what our vision was.

And we made a proposal.

And we were asked to think of something else.

And I found myself reluctant to dream again—reluctant to develop some new vision out of fear that I’d just have to lay it aside.  I’m not a great visionary in the first place, so I don’t just pull these things out of a hat.

Vision is important.

I have a problem in my eyes that makes it hard for me to see details.  I especially notice this when I try to take photographs.  I often cannot tell whether something is in focus or not.  It may look OK, but when I take the photo and enlarge it, I can tell that it was not in focus. 

But it is not just in photography where bad vision leads to poor results.  Our lives need clear vision to get good results.

We read in Proverbs: Where there is no prophetic vision, the people are discouraged (Proverbs 29:18, ESV, alternate rendering).

And we definitely felt discouraged after having having to lay aside our vision so many times.

But someone else had a vision.  A Khmu believer in northern Thailand had a vision to move to Isaan to bring the good news of Jesus there.

So then we developed a plan—I hesitate to call it a vision at that point.  The plan is to join with this person who has a vision to see if we can develop that vision together.

We really don’t know how this will work.  We believe God CAN do something with this—we also know that WE don’t have the wherewithal to make anything happen with it.

And so now we are moving northern Thailand.  Right now we are headed to there to look at possible places to stay.  We have a lot of questions.  Since we don’t know exactly what the ministry will look like at this point, we aren’t sure what the best location is.  We do have some ideas.

But what we really need to do—more so than find a place to live—is to form a vision.

And so, we will pick up our friend’s comment and call this a Vision Trip.

It makes a difference what you call it.

A house-hunting trip sounds like work.

A vision-casting trip sounds exciting.

SO my word of the day—and my word for this trip—and perhaps my word of the year is

Vision

Vision of Northern Thailand

Lost in Translation

Satar Lite sign 2
Originally uploaded by SierraSunrise

In Thailand, it is not unusual for intersections to have names. It is only recently that I noticed the sign at a particular 3 way intersection we frequently pass--usually I am too occupied with watching out for traffic (if I am moving) or the sign is blocked by big trucks (if I am stopped).

I first noticed the Latin script text of the sign. I quickly assumed it must be a name of foreign origin because there were two sounds represented that the Thai language doesn't have--a final "r" sound, and a long "i" sound followed by a final t.

So I looked at the Thai to try to figure it out:

สตาร์ ไลท์

Sounding out the Thai letters, I came up with (using letters that represent approximate American English sounds):

sahtah lie (as in the English word "lie")

figuring in the unpronounced Thai letters (which are used frequently in words borrowed from other languages and often represented with a ์ symbol), I came up with:

satar lite (as the sign reads)

Then, I applied a little bit of mental processing, I came up with:

starlight

Which I later learned was the name of a factory located near the intersection.

It is quite common in Thailand to see signs representing English words written in Thai script. Sometimes it takes a lot of effort to figure them out. Sometimes I never do get it--at least not in the limited time I have while driving past a road sign.

I remember one of my language instructors joking to me: "you're the only American in this class and you have the hardest time reading English."

Isn't it so much easier when things are presented to us in a way we can understand? It is why we work so hard at learning the Thai language--in order that we can communicate with the Thai people--through words as well as actions--how much God loves them.

It is why God sent Jesus to earth--in order that God could communicate though the life and teachings of Jesus the things He wants us to know about Him and what our response to God should be.

As Jesus said:
Do not believe me unless I do what my Father does. But if I do it, even though you do not believe me, believe the miracles, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me, and I in the Father." --John 10:37-38 (NIV)

And as Paul later adds:
For we do not write you anything you cannot read or understand.--2 Corinthians 1:13 (NIV)

How thankful I am that we have a God that wants to communicate with us and who went to great lengths to do so.  I'm thankful that so many who went before us went to great effort to preserve the actions of God in world and the record of the words of God's prophets and especially Jesus.