Usury

usury - the lending of money with an interest charge for its use: especially the lending of money at exorbitant interest rates (https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/usury)

Déjà vu. I'm sure I've heard this before, though it looked a little different this time. This person is in financial crisis because of debt. Again.

One of the major social problems in Isaan is debt.  Sometimes people borrow money because of real needs. But often it's just something to improve one's image—and having a good image is important in Thai society.

Sometimes people borrow from legitimate banks—there are 6 in Phon Phisai—but typically people don't qualify for these loans unless they have regular employment. But for government workers, getting loans easy. We know a school teacher who has unsecured debt of about US $200,000! She will probably not be able to pay it off in her lifetime, but the banks don't seem to care.

Even students aren't immune. We know a 16 year old high school student who got a 20,000 baht loan (about $600 USD) from a government bank to help with school expenses. And this is for a public high school! The worst thing is that the loan does not even cover all of her fees. Some of the fees are likely to pay for expenses that the school receives funds for, but then staff use the money for their own benefit. If the student is unable to pay back the loan when she graduates (that;s when it is due), she'll probably have to borrow more money to pay it back, essentially beginning a life of slavery to the government bank. Or perhaps she might look for an illegal was to make money to pay off the debt.

The next place to try for a legitimate loan is one of the 10 loan companies in Phon Phisai. Interest rates are higher than banks, but loans for vehicles or real estate are fairly easy to get.

Non-bank formal lenders in Phon Phisai

A more insidious kind of loan is something like a cell phone contract. The companies will give you a phone at a really low price but you have to pay the agreed-to plan for one to two years.  This was the kind of thing that got my friend in trouble. They thought that if they threw out the SIM card they wouldn't have to pay, but now the company was wanting the amount that the phone prices had been reduced by when they got them. And this was for phones for their young kids.

The worst kind of loan to get is in the informal loan market. These kinds of loans are very common and the cause of much grief in Thailand. Everyone dreads the motorcycle approaching with the rider dressed entirely in black. Typically you will pay twice what you borrowed—providing you pay it in time. We heard from one person who borrowed 4000 baht (about US $130) and pay off 8000 baht in 20 days! Why not wait twenty days and it would be like having an extra 4000 baht to spend!

The loan sharks often end up seizing the land of the borrowers, and they become very wealthy people.

One person we know borrowed a large amount from a loan shark and when they did not end up needing the entire amount, rather than pay off part of the loan, they just used the money for other things. Some was used for some fancy clothes and jewelry. In the end they ended up losing some land. Seems like a high price to pay for things that don't last.

Another problem with debt is that it can affect ministry. Sometimes people want to be in ministry or receive some training that will help their ministry, but they need to work long hours in order to pay off their debts and the opportunities are lost.

I don't think this issue is restricted to Thailand. How often to folks North America end up with large debts in order to have things to impress others? And the enemy is right there, throwing temptations at us 24 hours a day: "You need this!" "You can't do without this!" "Only $100 per month!"

I remember once going to buy a car and it was hard to find the price for a particular vehicle. All that was posted was the monthly payment. "How much if I pay cash?" I asked. The salesman gave me a weird look—this wasn't covered in the sales training. He had to go ask someone.

Here in Thailand the car dealers do the same thing. Poor people buy new cars because they get a good deal on payments. Car dealers will even throw in first class insurance (insurance for "collision" coverage) for the first year. After the first year, the owner usually can't afford this kind of insurance, and they just keep a very basic policy. If something happens to the car, the end up with no vehicle and big payments.

I get the feeling that debt is considered a normal part of life here--many people seem to resign themselves to it.  Even if some people acknowledge the problems caused borrowing money, they do it anyway. They may be aware how much the debt will cost them, but they still take the cash.

We read in Proverbs 22:7, "The rich rules over the poor, and the borrower is the slave of the lender."

Those with money like the system of usury, though, because they profit from it. Even though there were scriptures prohibiting Jews from charging interest to fellow Jews (e.g. Leviticus 25:36, 37), they still did it. It got so bad that people were being sold to pay off debts (Nehemiah 5:1-8).

Desire for money.

Desire for stuff.

No wonder Paul warned us, "For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. And some people, craving money, have wandered from the true faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows." (1 Timothy 6:10 NLT)

The sorrows mentioned here are evident here in Thailand. Money worries are the cause of many sleepless nights. And it is not unusual to hear of someone committing suicide because they are so overwhelmed with debt.

Jesus warned us about money, "No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money." (Matthew 6:24)

Money is not usually a problem if we are the ones using it. But too often it ends up using us. Perhaps that is the root of the term "usury".

Lord, give us wisdom to manage the financial resources you give us. Keep us from voluntarily making ourselves slaves to money and debt.

Cave Man

Earlier this week, on our way driving south to Cha Am, we noticed this small limestone mountain jutting awkwardly out of the otherwise flat landscape to the east of the highway. We've driven by this place several times in the past, but today we weren't in any rush so we decided to check it out.

Many caves in Thailand turn into Buddhist shrines, and this was no exception.  Inside the cave there was a large reclining Buddha and several smaller Buddha images to which people were sticking pieces of gold leaf purchased from a monk seated nearby.

Since all the merit we might ever need was already paid for by Jesus, we did not spend a lot of time in the cave. We quickly left for the sunny, hot exterior. When we got outside, I noticed some stairs going up the mountain. Double temptation--a mountain to climb and a path I've never been on before.

We weren't to the top yet when we saw a broken-down sign about a cave. We veered off the trail a few steps and found some more stairs, only these were going down into a cave.

I'm an introvert, and my introvert tendencies are not near the middle of the scale. (As the saying goes, one's company, two is a crowd), I also have a slight propensity towards claustrophobia. These two natures clash when I find a cave. Down the stairs we went.

If I had grown up in Thailand, I would probably ended up as a monk living in a cave, spending my days thinking and writing. As a child, my need for other humans was like my desire for a steaming cup of coffee on one of Fresno's hottest days. And when I was around fellow humans,  my interactions did not always end on a positive note. This would cause me to further retreat from humanity in what became an endless cycle.

But I'm thankful that Jesus burst into my life like beams of sunshine piercing through the musty, guano-scented darkness of this cave we were in.  The great love of Jesus displayed through His people brought new life to the deadened parts of my soul.

Upon discovering such a great love, I became aware that some things in my life needed to change. As Jesus was a light shining into my life, I now discovered that we were supposed to bring that same light to people living in darkness. Jesus said, "In that same way, let your light shine before people, so that they can see your good deeds and give honor to your Father in heaven." (Matthew 5:16 NET)

And here I am, forty-four years later, living in a country and culture that bears little resemblance to what I grew up with, trying to let the love of Jesus shine through my life to those around me. And in the midst of this trying to figure out how going to a meeting with a bunch of other people can somehow have the word "retreat" in its title. I'm an introvert who spends a lot of time working with people. If I am going to retreat it will be to a place where the beaches are empty and the view from the mountain tops are uncluttered by structures made by mankind.

As I wander through the cave, God reminds me that we are no longer people of the darkness. We are people of the light who bring light to those who still live in the cave.

At the retreat, we sang a song about being adopted into God's family. Paul writes, "God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ." (Ephesians 1:5, NLT)  It's like being adopted out of a bad foster-family. So I find myself crying a lot. Crying for the young people I've met whose parents love them, but don't treat them so nice when they get drunk, which is far too often. I cry for others whose parents don't really want them around. I cry for the many thousands whose parents left them to go work elsewhere, leaving them with grandparents who aren't really sure what to do with them.  I weep for those children whose first sexual encounter is at far too young an age with a relative or friend of their parent. My cheeks are dampened because of the young women who, missing love from a father they never knew, chase the first promise of "love" from a man only to find themselves pregnant and abandoned by the one who said he loved her. All around I see smiles worn as a mask to cover the hurt and pain lurking beneath.

I'm grateful to have been brought up with a human family where there was love.  I'm even more grateful to be adopted into a bigger family of those who love God and one another and want to be a blessing to those around them.

God, give me grace and strength to go back up the stairs out of the cave.

Expecting the unexpected

You think I would learn.

On our first trip to Thailand back in 2007, I went into a Seven-Eleven and bought myself a cinnamon roll. Or so I thought. Turns out it was made with raisins and pork floss. Pork floss? Is that even a thing?  I would not have understood it, even if I could have read the Thai at the time.

Pork floss is shredded pork that has been dried. It has a medium brown color and looks like manila fiber. It is used in different foods, usually sweet pastries, and is sometimes used as an edible padding around fragile foods.

One time we bought some sweet breads to serve as a snack and found one filled with pork floss and raisins. (Though this time I could read and bought it intentionally.) You probably won't find that in your 7-11 in Canada or California.

Sweet bread filled with raisins and pork floss

It turns out that things we think of as "sweets" or desserts aren't necessarily the same here.  For example, corn is normally found in desserts of various kinds. Like this corn sundae that they used to sell at KFC.

Corn Sundae at KFC

So now that we've been living in Thailand a long time, you think we would have this dessert thing figured out.

A few weeks ago, I bought a bag of mixed puff pastries. They didn't specify which fillings were included. So I try the red one, guessing it is strawberry and it turns out I guessed correctly. The dark one is a bit of a mystery though. Mulberry? Black sesame? Those are two kinds of fillings one might expect with that dark color.

But I was nowhere close. The mystery dark filling was...

(and you knew this already, right?)

   ...seaweed.

So now I have to differ with the writing of "The Preacher" who wrote, "There's nothing new on this earth. Year after year it's the same old thing." (Ecclesiastes 1:9b MSG)

There are a lot of new things we've had to get used to here in Thailand. Many of them have become normal for us.

So if we ever move back to North America, and we invite you over for dessert, don't be surprised at what you might be served.

Why Wait?

Note: This is an open note to my Brother-in-law, who will remain unnamed.

Dear Brother-in-law,

It was with sadness we heard, several months ago, that you had been placed in home hospice care. While we don't know what this means as far as how long it will be till you get to be with Jesus, it will likely be before me. (None of us really know how long we have left on this planet, we just pretend to know by looking at longevity statistics.) But I'm glad that you hung around long enough for us to come visit you these past couple of weeks.

I wanted to write to you now, because in our culture we have this strange practice of waiting until people are no longer with us to eulogize them. I think it's kind of a sad practice, because the person the eulogies are directed at doesn't get to enjoy them.

My history with you is not all that long, as far as our life-spans are concerned.  At first I was a bit leery when my sister met some stranger online about 18 years ago. She was still hurting from the loss of her first husband and I was feeling a bit protective of my little (if older) sibling.  But any fears I may have had about this stranger soon passed.

I first met you at your wedding.  In our culture, when we get married, we have these vows we repeat.  The vows are kind of like a contract with the fine print written in invisible ink.  Or, to use terminology from your former career, it's like obligating yourself to a cost-plus contract when you currently don't have the resources for the cost, let alone the "plus". This is because we do not know what our futures hold for us. We pledge "for better or worse", but we don't know which proportion the better's and worse's will come in. We all hope we'll leave earth peacefully in our sleep together with our spouses on the same night.

But that doesn't happen too often.

I want to thank you for coming into my sister's life at a time when she needed someone like you.  You came not only into her life, but you also took her children as your own as well.  That doesn't always happen with step-parents. I like watching how you interact with my sister's kids and grand-kids, even if they aren't genetically yours and even if you first had to bribe the grandkids with M&M's to get them to come to you. (I'm easily bribed with M&M's too. Just want to let you know before our next visit.😋)

You have made sure my sister was well cared for, not only in the present but also looking to the future. I appreciate that.

I like your sense of humor that shows you don't take life too seriously. Your house has always been a fun place to visit and I have a lot of fond memories from there. You even manage tp smile and laugh in your present condition, which is rather admirable. And people always feel welcome at your house.

You have a generous spirit, which, in my mind, was exemplified when you took a lot of time and patience to make a dulcimer just to give away as a gift.  (I had kind of been hoping you would make me a new guitar for when we eventually move back to California to replace the one I currently have that has suffered a bit from the hot, humid climate here 😁 )

Your generous spirit showed as well when you opted to take care of your ailing mother at home as long as possible, rather than send her off some place where no one knows her.  You even made a little "apartment" so she could be independent but always close by.

All this shows that you value the people in your life, and since these are many of the same people that I have in my life, I consider it an honor have you as part of our family.

But there is a greater family that we belong to, and that is the family of Jesus.  To all appearances, you will get to see Jesus before I do.

Paul wrote, "For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I don't know! I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body." (Philippians 1:21-24)

We are called to worship and serve the Lord Jesus only until such time as He sees fit, and then He calls us to his side.  So while I like having you as part of my family in this world, one day we will all depart to join the greater family in heaven.

In the meantime, remember that you are loved not only by your Father in heaven but also by so many of us on earth.  And we realize that you love us, even if you can't always give voice to it.

Thank you for being a part of our family.

Ten Years

Today marks 10 years since I quit my previous job. Ten years since I stepped out in faith to begin a new venture.

If I knew then what the next ten years would bring, I might not have made that step.  It's not that the ten years have been bad, but there have been a lot of challenges along the way.

Ten years ago we left our North American lives behind ready to give up our lives, if necessary, for the sake of the gospel.

But first, I think back to another August, 27 years prior to that.

As I write this blog, I am in the town of Barrhead, Alberta. Thirty-seven years ago this month I passed though Barrhead, crossing the country on a Greyhound bus. I was traveling from where I was living near Seattle to begin a new job in Alabama. I decided to make use of the 1-week Ameripass I had purchased to visit people along the way.

I came to Barrhead to visit the woman (who is now my wife), whom I had been on a team with in Haiti for a year. I didn't know at the time that this beautiful young woman would become my wife, but my choice to visit her at that time had consequences. As I visited her family farm, I was struck by the huge fields of ripening grain. (Huge to me, small compared to the farms in Southern Alberta.) In order to get these fields laden with grain, the farmer has to make a sacrifice. He has to take grain that is perfectly good to eat and throw it away into the soil. Short-term sacrifice for long-term gain.

How many bushels of wheat we sacrificed to get the bountiful harvest?

Jesus said that unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it cannot bear fruit. (John 12:24) While Jesus was likely referring to the death he was to die, he also spoke to many who would give up their lives rather than give up Jesus.  This verse also speaks to the things in our life that we need to put to death in order to bear fruit for Jesus. Paul writes, "if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live." (Romans 8:13)

Ten years ago, when we said we were willing even to give up our lives for the sake of the gospel, I'll confess, I didn't fully understand what it means to give up one's life--what it means to die. While we have not have physically died in the past ten years, we've had to put to death a lot of things. One of those things we have had to put to death is some of our dreams. It's not that the dreams were bad, it's just that God had something better and perhaps bigger in mind. When I put to death sinful deeds, it's not so bad. But putting to death dreams can be much harder. We've had let go of several dreams in the past ten years. And while in the long run we don't regret giving those up for better things, it hasn't always been easy.

These past two weeks, as we've been in North America visiting and helping family, we're reminded of some of the other costs of following Jesus. We miss our families when we are away from them. We also miss some of our favorite haunts from when we lived in the area. True, we have gained new "family" and have new favorite places to visit, but it's not quite the same.

Putting to death these things, however, has enabled there to be the birth of new things. We've seen people who have never heard the name of Jesus receive new life in his name. We've seen churches born where before there were none. We've seen ordinary men and women who were once slaves to sin become reborn as leaders in God's family. It has been worth it to have some things die in order that other things might come to life.

As we look forward, we have no idea what the next year will bring, let alone the next ten years. But we pray God will give us grace to put to death what is needed in order to ensure a great harvest in the future.

All in the family

Recently, one of my siblings wrote a blog about how we are distantly related (so many "-th" cousin, so many times removed) to some earl. The name of this earl did not mean anything to me so all the connections were of little interest to me.

But it did get me thinking about family.

Several years ago (and I'll date myself here), I started a job in a factory and one of my new coworkers, upon hearing my name, asked me jokingly (I think), if I was any relation to Bill Russell. I know very little about sports, but I did recognize the name, so I replied, "only in skin color."  That, too, was a joke, but I probably do have more in common with Bill's skin color than I do his ability to handle a ball. I'm not very dexterous when it come to handling those round things and while I can probably dribble on a ball, I'd be hard pressed to dribble with one.

Bill Russell (not my relative)

Image from:

https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=49648716

Family, then, is more than just a name.  We, with our rather nomadic lifestyles, tend to think differently about what makes family.  In our missionary family, we are "aunt" and "uncle" to a number of missionary kids. We are commonly called aunt and uncle by Thai people.

But there is another family we belong to, and that is the family of God.  This past week, during our church meeting, we read together from Galatians 6:10: "Therefore, whenever we have the opportunity, we should do good to everyone--especially to those in the family of faith."

The family of faith is awesome. I've been to many places around the world and every place I've been there have usually been some family members. I can feel "at home" even when far from home.

Dinner with Family

The significance of this family of faith is especially important in the culture here.  After our worship service last Sunday, we we're making plans on giving rides home to people from the next township over. One woman, Wari, who had come with us in the morning, said she would go home later. The reason she was staying, she said, was that she wanted to spend some time with the family.  Those were not actually her words, but that was the basic meaning of what she said.

When a person decides to follow Christ here in Thailand, it is a family matter.  To go against the religion of the ancestors is generally not well accepted, and a person who does so is often rejected by family. These days there is more tolerance than in the past, but in the region we work, the family pull is quite strong. To lose the support of family is also to lose the support of the village. Since this is the main method of socioeconomic support, people are reluctant to go against the wishes of family.  If a person does decide to follow Christ and stick with the decision it is because they have found a suitable replacement family in the family of God.

A few weeks ago we visited a man who was injured in a motorcycle a number of years ago and now has difficulty walking. He lives on the same compound with his wife's family, as is typical in Isaan, but he is currently estranged from his wife and is building a small house for himself behind the family compound. He was interested in the gospel message, and he repeated a prayer to follow Jesus, after which he let us cut the sacred strings from his wrist. Then we prayed that God would heal his legs so that he could walk normally. He received a Bible from us and was looking forward to having us visit more in the future to talk about the Bible.

Cutting Sacred String
A way of showing you're joining a new family.

But then family intervened. While they had been willing to let us come talk with this man, it was quite another thing for him to quit the family religion. It's okay to add Jesus in with the other gods on the altar, but not so okay to dispense with the other gods.  So the man's in-laws told him that if he persisted in following Jesus exclusively, he would be kicked out of the family compound. They even told him that they did not want us to pray for his healing.  Better to be crippled than Christian, they said. The man had no place place else to go. So he decided against joining the new family.

To follow Jesus is to be adopted into a new family, sometimes at the expense of the old one. Jesus said, "Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace but a sword.  For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a person's enemies will be those of his own household."  (Matthew 10:34-36 ESV)

We Christians in North America do not tend to have this kind of experience, but it is very real for people in Thailand.

 It is very important, then, that the family of God be the kind of family to which one would want to belong. If our family is beset with problems and a lack of love, one will not want to risk losing their earthly family to join this new one. Instead, we should have such a love in our new family that we become the talk of the town. Jesus said, "By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another." (John 13:35 ESV) If we fail at this, all our words spent preaching the gospel become unintelligible. (1 Corinthians 13:1)

It's not always easy. There is an old rhyme that goes something like:

To live above, with saints we love--

that's glory.

To live below, with saints we know--

that's a different story.

No wonder Jesus prayed, "And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one." (John 17:11 ESV)

So, if you think about us here in Thailand, pray for our family of faith. Pray that we will be one as The Father and the Son are one.  Pray that we will be the kind of family people will want to be a part of.  It's not always easy. We've had a couple of occasions where people started spreading untrue rumors to try to sow division among us (this by people who call themselves Christian). So far, fortunately, those who have tried to divide us have only caused us to draw closer together. The enemy wants us fighting and bickering rather than loving and accepting one another. He wants us to be ugly, and not attractive.

My hope is that it may be said of us who follow Jesus what Paul wrote to Philemon: "because I hear of your love and of the faith that you have toward the Lord Jesus and for all the saints." (Philemon 1:5 ESV)

Sad

A picture is worth a thousand words. Read it and weep.