Bookends

 
Yesterday, it occurred to me that one way to look back at a year is to look at the first and last photos I took during the year. 

Last year was full of so many changes, January seems but a distant memory.  So how did my last year begin, photographically?



There it is—the place in my old truck where the catalytic converter used to be—before it was stolen.  I found out that Toyotas have a good reputation for quality catalytic converters—which must be the case since this one was 11 years old.  I also found out how loud a vehicle can be without noise suppression devices attached to the engines.

Skip forward a year.

We’re living in a new country and in an urban environment that is more foreign to us than the country of Thailand itself. We have no vehicles.  We haven’t even driven a car since March, we drove a rental car to Los Angeles airport on the way to Thailand.  While we sometimes lament not having a vehicle as it would be nice to have a vehicle to get away from the city, we really have no desire to drive in Bangkok itself.  And so we are like many millions of others in this city who manage to survive without one.

(I have driven a motorcycle a couple of times in the past year—first time doing that since the first year we lived in Haiti (30 years ago).  I used it to get around Chonburi a little—I’m not brave enough to try driving one in the big city.  I found out that big feet are not terribly compatible with small motorcycles.  It is a bit of a trick to downshift.)

So how do we get around now?  Here are the options we have used since moving to Thailand:

• City bus (with and without air conditioning)
• Sky Train
• Subway
• River ferry
• Canal ferry
• Tour bus
• Public van
• Motorcycle taxi
• Three wheel taxi
• Four-wheel taxi
• Airplane
• Walking (not so easy in Bangkok)
• Elevator (I throw this in because in Fresno it would be easy to go a year without using one, now we use them every day)

As  for my photographic year-end, I would have thought that it might have been some photos of end-of the year fireworks as the Thai people celebrate New Year’s eve.  But that would be my second-to-the-last photo.

Instead, I photographed this beautiful (?) moth that Ingrid spotted in the house where we spent New Year’s eve.



If this moth was on an old tree trunk or if it was sitting amongst a bunch of dried up leaves, it would be almost impossible to see.  However it’s camouflage is not terribly effective on an orange tablecloth.

Reminds me of how God has designed each of us in a unique way so that we can fit in with the environment He has created us for.  And God gives us spiritual gifts that enable us to be effective members of the Body of Christ as we work together with the other parts of the body.  When we work in an area where we get to use these gifts and where the way we are created is compatible with our environment, there is much joy and peace.  And when we do otherwise we are like this brown moth on the orange tablecloth.

There have been a few instances this past year where we have been like this moth and we’ve found two different ways to deal with it.

Change Yourself
 
When we first moved to the BIG city, we were definitely out of our environment.  But God gave us grace to adapt—like some animals that can change their color to suit the changing environment.  Now we find that there are aspects of city life that we actually like!  Who would have thought?

Change Your Environment

Another way we have experienced the brown-moth-on-the-orange-tablecloth syndrome is in regard to language learning.  As Ingrid tried to study language in a classroom environment, she experienced a lot of frustration.  So, we had to find a different-colored tablecloth.  Now she is enjoying language learning as she works with a private tutor.

But our bodies have many parts, and God has put each part just where he wants it. How strange a body would be if it had only one part! Yes, there are many parts, but only one body. The eye can never say to the hand, “I don’t need you.” The head can’t say to the feet, “I don’t need you.” 1 Corinthians 12:18-21 (NLT)

I might add to the above verses, “If the eye tries to do the work of the hand, it won’t be pretty!”

The next set of bookends

I haven’t taken my first photo of this year yet.  I wonder what it will be?

Honoring the King

Monday, December 5th of this week was the birthday of the King of Thailand. 
In Thailand, the King’s birthday also becomes Father’s Day, as he is seen as the father of the Thai people.  His birthday this year was an important one as it was his 84th—which is a multiple of 12.  The 12 year cycle has astrological significance.  So this year was his 7th cycle birthday.  Though the king has little official power in the Constitutional Monarchy here in Thailand, he has earned a great amount of authority because of his love for his people and the country and the things he has done for them.

In honor of the King’s birthday, there were many celebrations throughout the country.  The King himself made an appearance at the Grand Palace.

We joined the festivities at Queen Sikrit park.  This park was named in honor of her 5th cycle birthday.  It is a beautiful park—my favorite in Bangkok—because it has a wide diversity of plants.

For the King’s birthday there were many things going on—there were performers putting on shows and vendors selling plants and food.

The day culminated with fireworks throughout the country.  From our 22nd floor balcony we could see about a dozen different sets of fireworks throughout Bangkok—including one from the temple grounds next to our apartment building.

In December we also honor another King’s birthday.

Christmas is a day when we celebrate the birthday of Jesus Christ, the King of Kings.  In recent years I have been less and less into celebrating Christmas because the holiday in many places has been turned into a celebration of self and wealth.  Even here in Thailand the Christmas displays seem more designed to draw you to the shopping malls than to make you think about Jesus.  The holiday has little to do with Jesus anymore and in my home country it is almost illegal in public events and institutions to associate the holiday with the person it was named after.

But this celebration of the King’s birthday in Thailand has got me wondering—do we citizen’s of Christ’s Kingdom celebrate and honor our King as much as the citizens of Thailand do their King?  I realize that there is more to this than just throwing a big party once a year.  In fact, Jesus himself talked down public shows of faith in lieu of day-to-day honoring God with the way we live our lives.  He was not impressed with those who made a big show of their prayers (Matthew 6:5ff) and giving (Mark 12:41-44).  Though he did allow people to worship Him in an out ward fashion such as the woman who washed his feet with her hair and anointed him with expensive perfume (Luke 7:36-50) or when he went to Jerusalem for that last time in an event we now refer to as Palm Sunday (John 12:12-14).

Instead Jesus’ teaching seem to make it clear that the way to show our great love for Him of to show great love for others—especially those who can’t reciprocate. (Matthew 25:31-46 is just one example).

So how will I celebrate the King’s birthday this year?

Fireworks viewed from our apartment

Chinese magicians perform

Clown getting directions

The tallest Thai person I've seen :)

Mailbox for birthday cards for the King

Coconut sherbert served in the shell.  I'm wearing a bracelet to commemorate the King's birthday

    

Down the River

We could do without the noise.

For the past several days, the fireworks have been going off throughout the night.  And last night was the worst.

But there is a reason to celebrate.  Don’t you sometimes wish you could take all the bad things you have done and just send them away out of your life so you can start over?

Sending away your flaws and bad deeds is part of the symbolism in the Thai festival known as Loy Krathong.  The center of the celebration is not the fireworks, but the small “boat” (krathong) on which your flaws and bad deeds float (loy) away.

The small boats usually contain a candle and some incense and perhaps a few other things as well.

This symbolism is similar to a ritual in Judaism where the scapegoat is sent off into the desert:

But the goat chosen by lot as the scapegoat shall be presented alive before the LORD to be used for making atonement by sending it into the desert as a scapegoat. (Leviticus 16:10-NIV)
Loy Krathong takes place on the evening of the full moon of the 12th month in the traditional Thai lunar calendar. This usually happens sometime in November.
 
The Loy Krathong celebrations in Bangkok were a bit muted this year because of the flooding.  Often the krathongs are placed in the rivers and canals—but the authorities are trying to keep those clear so that the flood waters can escape more easily.
 
We went to observe the festivities at a nearby park where the krathongs were placed in a small pond.  Because there is no current, people had to help shoo the krathongs away.
 
As I was watching this happen, I kept thinking about how John the Baptist described Jesus, “Look! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29-NLT)
 
How grateful I am that Jesus takes our sins away.  All of them.  Forever.  And I don’t have to shoo them away.  As the Psalmist writes: “He has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west. (Psalm 103:12-NLT)  And we don’t have to wait twelve months.  We can confess our sins and put them away from us at any time.  But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness. (1 John 1:9-NLT)
 
God, I thank you that because of what Jesus did for us on the cross,  I can send my bad attitudes and my bad deeds “down the river” at any time.  Thank you, too, that you clean up in us the things that we are unable to clean up on our own. 
Some scenes from last night:

Flickr Tags: Bangkok,Thailand,Festivals,ลอยกระทง

Storm Purge

¹² Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you.
¹³ But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed.

--1 Peter 4:12-13 (NIV)

A little while ago we were at the coast.  We noticed a lot of debris high up on the beach that we had not seen in earlier visits.  It was the result of a combination of strong east winds (to push the trash) and unusually high tides (to get it high enough to not be washed back).

Our lives can be a lot like the ocean.  We accumulate a lot of debris and trash that makes us not so pretty and pleasant to be around.  But when storms or trials come, then can help purge our lives of this trash.  The more junk we get rid of, the better people can see Jesus inside of us.
So while the storms may be difficult to endure, we can rejoice in what they produce in our lives.

Panic or Pray?

An update on our situation during Thailand’s worst flooding crisis in 50 years.
20 to 50 cm (8 to 20 inches)

That is the estimate of one “expert” on the depth of flood water we could expect in a worst case scenario in our part of Bangkok.  And given what we have seen so far, the “worst case” seems to be the most likely.

Despite all of the attempts to keep it out of central Bangkok, the water still wants to come.  One after another sandbag barrier or levee has failed. (The number of millions of sandbags that has been put up staggers the imagination.)   Even an evacuation shelter had to be evacuated.

The physical damage has been great.  About 300 lives lost. So far over 700,000 people suffering from water borne diseases.  For many farmers, the years crop is lost.  In Ayutthaya Province alone (about an hour north of Bangkok), over 900,000 jobs are temporarily or permanently lost with the failure of flood barriers in several industrial estates.  (Many employers are promising partial salaries at some level while the factories are shut down.)

The emotional damage has been even greater.  Many poor people have lost everything they have, leading to a number of “flood-related suicides”.

Squabbling and lack of cooperation among different government agencies has exacerbated the situation.    The inconsistent messages from different agencies increase the level of panic. Grocery stores, particularly those frequented by foreigners, are bereft of bottled water, bread, cereal and canned goods.

Ethical issues arise.  Some barriers put up to protect Bangkok have been torn down by residents of some areas because they cause the floods will be deeper and longer-lived in their areas.  Is this the rich profiting at the expense of the poor?  Or is it just trying to reduce the overall economic damage because flooding in central Bangkok would have a greater detrimental effect on the entire  economy of Thailand?  And what does it mean for me if I stay dry at the expense of someone else?  (If they had just let the water come would the damage the damage have been less severe and less prolonged though more widespread?  Some people think this way.  Click here.)

Any Good News?
Government schools were on mid-year break already and the government has extended that break until at least the end of the month for the city of Bangkok.  Many students have been volunteering at relief centers.  The city water supply was briefly compromised in the pre-treatment stage, but so far they are keeping the murky, polluted water out of that part of the system.

Fortunately there has not been a lot of rain.  Though the flood water are from up north, rain puts a stress on the city’s drainage system and also makes life more difficult for those who are currently homeless.

How about  us?
It is ironic that we were in Chonburi for the weekend, and we came back on Sunday even as many people were fleeing there from Bangkok to escape the floods.  They, too, are now experiencing a lack of some supplies and apparently the hotels are all at full capacity.

So far our part of Bangkok is dry.  For us, personally, we are on the 22nd floor of a building the BOTTOM of which is already probably well above highest expected flood levels.  (Though the pumps that pump the city water to the cisterns on the roof are at the lowest point in the building, even below the first floor.)

We have several days of drinking water stored up and some basic foods as well.  We might be inconvenienced if water or electricity are cut off—which could be a major issue if it is for an extended period.

Though the government has declared a holiday for all government offices through the 31st, our school will continue to meet unless the flood waters actually come.  If the waters do come, we have no idea how long things will be affected for.

Since many grocery stores are out of stuff, we have been forced to explore new places to buy things.  This has led to meeting new people and even finding less expensive sources for some things.  We even found a bakery where we can buy fresh bread.  And all of this within a mile of our place!

At one store, the owner wanted his two teenage daughters to deal with the foreigner since they knew some English.  Neither wanted to do so,  which led to a brief war of the wills as they decided amongst themselves who would do it.  There was a great sense of relief and some laughter when I  announced I could speak Thai.

There is a small convenience store on the first floor of our building.  The guy who runs it is amazing.  It is the best stocked store anywhere around!  Though it is only about the size of our bedroom, they have an amazing supply of things.  Even bottled water!  (There is one fellow in our class who says he cannot find drinking water anywhere near where he lives.)

I’m a little annoyed that our better computer is dead at a time when I really don’t want to leave it at a repair shop since I have no idea when it might get looked at or when I might get back to it.

The Waiting Game
One thing we have learned over the years is how to cope with waiting and uncertainty (though we still haven’t mastered either of these subjects—it would be easier, mentally, if the water just came and got its flooding over with).  We are in good spirits.  We are able to find humor in some of the stuff happening around us and we can marvel at how people can pull together at the time of crisis.
We try to stay content, whatever comes our way, and we are confident that God is with us.
 Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you."  (Hebrews 13:5, NIV)

And by the way, I have decided to NOT go after the $33 bounty that the government is giving for the capture of crocodiles that have escaped from flooded crocodile farms.  I figure my arms and legs are more useful than the money.

Pictures from our neighborhood: sandbags and floodwalls

The Beachhead

It starts out small.

A single sedge “nut” or seed somehow finds a favorable enough environment to take root in the not so plant-friendly beach sand.  Soon it sends up more shoots, and eventually more sand is blown into the clump and is trapped there.  A small dune begins to form around the sedge.  It now has its own little micro-environment that is a little less harsh and barren than what is around it.  The soil scientist in me suspects that a soil will begin to form within the miniature dune.  Eventually a seed or piece of this sedge dropped by a bird may end up nearby, and if conditions are right, this process will start all over again.

Like a military unit, the sedge has set up a beachhead.  It will be able to expand out from here, causing the dunelet to grow and eventually be colonized by other plants.

Missionary work is like that.  We start out with a small group of believers and as people find a favorable environment within this mini-church, it begins to grow.  Eventually, people go out from these churches to begin new ones.

That is the situation in Thailand now.  There are not many churches in the country, though some areas or people groups might have many.  But people are beginning to go out from these churches to begin new ones.  Pray that the lives of these young plants won’t be snuffed out by the sand and surf around them, but rather, that they would find small areas of good soil on the beach from which to begin transforming the landscape. 

Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. Matthew 13:8 (ESV)

Hopeless

And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. ³Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; ⁴perseverance, character; and character, hope. ⁵And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us. Romans 5:2b-5 (NIV) 

I saw an interesting statistic in the Bangkok Post this past week.  In a story about casualties from the flooding in northern Thailand, there was a count of suicides attributable to the flooding and people on suicide watch because of the flooding.
What would cause so many people to want to cause suicide at a time like that.  Was it because they had lost their rice crop and now owed money they could not pay?  Was it because they lost their home and had no money to rebuild or place to build for that matter?  Was it because they lost some loved ones?
Many people suffer these kinds of things and do not want to commit suicide.  So what is the difference?
Certainly if our hope is bound up in possessions and we lose them we can become desperately hopeless—perhaps hopeless to the point of suicide.  And in a culture where public shame is very bad thing, perhaps the shame of not being able to care for your family could cause suicidal despondency.  It doesn’t help either that there is not a lot of mental health assistance available in Thailand nor do many see the value in it.
But I find the verses from Paul quite interesting.  When times of suffering come, we can become hopeless.  But Paul says that suffering can actually produce hope!  This seems rather radical to me.  Yet it is only possible because of the last thing Paul mentions in this passage—the Holy Spirit within us.
With the Holy Spirit we should be able to get to the place where we could lose everything but not lose hope because we still have Jesus.  I’m not sure I’m at that place.
And so I am reminded of a song sung by Fernando Ortega:

 In the morning, when I rise
In the morning, when I rise
In the morning, when I rise, give me Jesus

Give me Jesus,
Give me Jesus,
You can have all this world,
But give me Jesus

When I am alone
When I am alone
When I am alone, give me Jesus

Give me Jesus,
Give me Jesus,
You can have all this world,
But give me Jesus

When I come to die
When I come to die
When I come to die, give me Jesus

Give me Jesus,
Give me Jesus,
You can have all this world,
You can have all this world,
You can have all this world,
But give me Jesus