Too Much of a Good Thing

If you find honey, eat just enough--
     too much of it, and you will vomit.
Proverbs 25:16 (NIV)


Our house is surrounded by rice paddies.  However, over time, some of these rice paddies have been filled in in order to put up houses and commercial buildings.

If Thailand has any kind of grading ordinance, it is not evident.  People fill in land as they please; where the water drains off to is not their concern.

Our house sits on such a fill area, and immediately to the east is a rice paddy--or at least it used to be a rice paddy.  However, so many areas have now been filled, the water that falls on this part of town all seems to go into that field, and the water cannot get out at a reasonable rate.  So now, it is actually too wet for rice.

The owner spent a lot of effort planting rice this year.

When he was done planting, the paddy looked pretty good.  But notice the red colors in the foreground--that is from runoff from the field on the other side of our house.  The water runs down the road in front of our house and into the paddy.

At this point, the paddy should look like this nearby one.

However, after a slow-moving monsoon system came through, all the rice has died and now we have this nice pond beside our house.

While paddy rice needs lots of water, there is a limit to  how much it can take.  As hard as it is to fathom, even rice paddies can be too wet!

There is s flip side to this, at least for me.

One of the nice things about having this pond next to our house is the evening and nighttime sounds from the frogs and other creatures.  It kind of reminds me of growing up with a pond in our backyard.    While some may consider the noise annoying, for me it is like a constant lullaby throughout the night.

I recorded some of the sounds this past week.  (I recorded the audio while standing in the house.)  I added the audio to some wetland pictures from Thailand--the types of places you might expect to hear these sounds.  The first part of the video is the evening sounds.  At some point in the night, the composition changes.  The second part of the video has those early morning sounds.

For more about these wet areas where frogs live, view my blog Nong.

First Love

Today was an interesting day.  Our plan had been to go to a temple complex in Bueng Khan Province (just east of here) that involved walking on a walkway attached to the side of a cliff.  About an hour out, however, the road was closed due to flooding.  We could have detoured, but that would have taken too long.

Plan B was to go to a Forest Temple in Sangkhom, which is in Udon Thani Province, not too far from Phon Phisai.  From pictures we had seen, a bunch of deer are allowed to wander the complex.  What also interested us was the fact that there were so many large trees near there.  But when we got there, we found the gate locked and no one to let us in.  We did take time to enjoy a walk under the big trees, though.

Big Trees in Front of Sakunasai Forest Temple

By then it was lunch time, so we drove into the town of Sangkhom and found a restaurant.  The name of the place was Rak Thuh Tee Suit Nigh Lok Khao Kaeng, which translates: I love you most in the world "rice curry". (A "rice curry" restaurant is a place where you get a plate of rice and choose from a selection of prepared dishes to put on top.)

Perhaps there is an origin to the name of the restaurant that makes sense, but it seemed a bit strange to me.  But it made me think of the letter Jesus had John write to the church in Ephesus, which included the statement: You have forsaken your first love. (Revelation 2:4)

My first love should not be chicken curry over rice.

My first love should not even be my wife.

My first love should be Jesus.

Jesus told us that the greatest commandment is Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. (Mark 12:29-30 ESV)

But oh how easy it is to get these priorities messed up.

I'll end with this song that I came across last week, which is a fitting prayer about getting these priorities right.
(Click the title to listen on You Tube)

Awaken Love

Kim Walker-Smith

Take me back to the moment of surrender 

Heart completely Yours    

Unafraid, just a child within Your presence 

Trusting in You, Lord    

Pre-Chorus

Walk into this place 

I give You space 

Come and move around me

Meet me face to face 

Stir my heart 

Awaken love within me 

Chorus

Jesus, come. Jesus, come 

My first love, my first love 

Jesus, come. Jesus, come 

My first love, my first love

Bridge

I have wandered from Your love 

Thought my strength was strength enough 

I am done relying on myself 

You're the one who breaks my chains 

You're the one who calls my name 

I will look to You and no one else

Limitations of Letters

Last week, on our day off, we took a trip to see a skywalk. The skywalk is about a two and one half hour drive west from here, the other side of the city of Nong Khai.  When we got there, we found out it was in Sangkhom District.  When I saw the sign for Sangkhom, I was a little surprised.  I though Sangkhom was just south of Phon Phisai, where we live.

Looking down into the village of Sangkhom from the skywalk

Well, I wasn't imagining things, I just had not looked too carefully at the Thai spellings of the two places.  Because Thai has more vowels than English, plus tones that English doesn't have, plus different vowel lengths, it can be difficult to render names into English.  The Thai names for the two Sangkhoms actually look quite different from each other.

สังคม vs. สร้างคอม

สังคม translates "society".   สร้างคอม most simply translates "build a computer", but I have a feeling it means something different, I'm just not sure what.

Crossing into Sangkhom District, half an hour south of Phon Phisai

A challenge we constantly face working with different  cultures and languages is being misunderstood.  Sometimes we just say the wrong thing, but sometimes we are misunderstood because of limitations related to language or culture.  People will sometimes ask about something back in North America, but it is hard to explain because there is nothing like it here, so I have to make comparisons to things they already know, even though they are inadequate.

Jesus faced the some issue when talking to people.  How do you describe what the Kingdom of God is like when we've never really seen it and it is a bit beyond human understanding. We've seen some parts of the Kingdom of God, for sure, but certainly not all of it.  So Jesus used parables to describe the Kingdom of God--lots of them.  So the kingdom is like a mustard seed. Or a farmer.  Or a pearl.  Or a net.  Or a treasure.

Or...?

The good thing is that there is a Bible in the Thai language, so there is only one level of language limitations to people understanding God.  Otherwise, the people I work with would not just have to deal with the issue of human limitations understanding the things of God, they would also have to deal with my limitations in communicating it.

Because of these things, our focus in working with the church here is to get the people reading and memorizing scripture.  We try to help them understand the context of the various scriptures, but we also pray that the Holy Spirit will guide them in their understanding of God's word.

There is so much more I want to tell you, but you can’t bear it now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own but will tell you what he has heard. He will tell you about the future. He will bring me glory by telling you whatever he receives from me. All that belongs to the Father is mine; this is why I said, ‘The Spirit will tell you whatever he receives from me.’
John 16:12-15 (NLT)

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.

Nong

This past month we moved to the province of Nong Khai.  Nong Khai is one of a whole lot of places in Thailand, especially Isaan (Northeast Thailand), the has the term "Nong" in it.

Nong has two meanings.  One meaning is pus.  The other meaning--the one for which many places derive their names--is a swamp or bog.

The Korat Plateau, which is the landscape on which Isaan is located, consists of mostly undulating, low-relief landscapes.  Because of this, there are many areas from which water drains slowly or not at all.  Consequently, there are lots of swamps and ponds (some ponds are made with a little help from humans).  The only two provinces in Thailand that are named after nongs are both in Isaan: Nong Khai and Nong Bua Lamphu.  Sometimes they will name the nong after the creek (Huai) that is dammed up to make it--though it looks a bit funny to me to see a pond called a creek.

One of the cuter names here in Isaan is Nong Song Hong (หนองสองห้อง), which translates: Two-roomed swamp.  It gets this name because there is a pond with two main chambers located in the town.

Many of these nongs in Thailand are adorned with water lilies or lotus plants.

Here are a few of the nongs in Isaan:

Huai Kan Luang Reservoir
A Nong in Phon Phisai created by putting a dam on a low, flat area.

Nong Mon in Sakhon Nakhon Province

Nong Krok in Sisaket

Nong Sa-ang in Sisaket

Even my back yard in Connecticut had a nong in it.

Nong Russell in Wolcott, CT

One has to be careful with how one says the word "Nong".  The pronunciation varies only very slightly (it has a similar, but different tone) from a very common term meaning "younger" that is used to refer to people younger than oneself or to servers in restaurants.  Even the firstborn of twins would refer to his younger twin as nong.

A "Nong" preparing my coffee
Probably doesn't want to be called "swamp" or "pus"

Since we are in our upper years now, a lot of people we meet are younger than us, so we use the term nong a lot.

I'm not sure that these younger people would appreciate being called "swamp" or "pus", but perhaps they would be forgiving of a foreigner.  I don't think I have made this mistake yet, but, being a foreigner, I probably have.  If so, forgive me.

I'd like to think we'd have mastered this tone thing by now, having spent 6 years in Thailand already, but that is not the case.  Learning the Thai language is a constant thing, and now we will attempt to learn some Isaan dialect as well.  It is not that we have a need to be experts, but we do want to be able   to explain the gospel clearly in a way that people can understand.

I can echo the words of Paul (except the part about the chains):

³ And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. ⁴ Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should.
Colossians 4:3-4 (NIV)

What Are We Called?

The adventure begins.

This has been a whirlwind of a week.  After spending a week going though our belongings, selling some things, giving other things away, the moving truck showed up.  That was only last Friday.

Loading the moving truck

After the moving truck left, we did some last minute cleaning--of the house and then our sweaty bodies--and then jumped in the truck to try to get to Phon Phisai before the moving truck--sometime the next day.  We spent the night in a hotel along the way, but were off by 4 am on Saturday.

Arriving in Phon Phisai, we found that our road was flooded.  In places the water was over a foot deep (good thing it had gone down some, the neighbors said.).

Our road the day after the flood

When the truck arrived a few hours later, the church members helped us to unload.  Then we went to Nong Khai to buy a bus ticket, came back home, did some shopping for groceries, and then collapsed in bed.

On Sunday, after church, we took a van to Nong Khai (about an hour drive) and then got on the overnight bus to Chiang Mai.

Waiting in the Nong Khai bus station

We were headed to Chiang Mai to formally launch our team and do some planning.  There were lots of questions to try to answer.  One question was, "what will we call the team".  Sorry--haven't answered that one yet.

But here we are.  The Isaan Team, Or Nong Khai Team. Or Phon Phisai Team.

The Unnamed team

We also tried to decide on a name for the new church that has been started.  I tried to draw inspiration from a sign I could see across from the Hotel we were staying in.

But we figured that "support for wealth and peace" might send the wrong message.  So we decided on using the name of the village it is in: Ban Dawn Pho (Sacred Fig Hill Village) Church.

After a few days in Chiang Mai, we took a bus back to Chiang Khong, where Junji and Hitomi were waiting for us with our car.  We drove back to our old house to pick up some plants and then headed back towards our new home.  We drove a few hours on Friday, then all day Saturday, dodging some thunderstorms in the mountains of Loei province.

Stormy Weather in Loei Province

Now we are just a few hours away from home, having spent the night in the city of Nong Bua Lamphu.  This city draws its name from Nong Bua--Water Lily Pond--which is located in a park in the town.

Anyway, by whatever name our team is known, we are ready to head back to Phon Phisai to nurture the fledgling church that God is using Somdy to help begin.  This task of caring for the church seems a bit overwhelming.

Called to Care for the Flock

We are reminded of the prayer of Solomon:

Give me an understanding heart so that I can govern your people well and know the difference between right and wrong. For who by himself is able to govern this great people of yours? 1 Kings 3:9 (NLT)

The church may not yet be great in number, but we still need God's wisdom as we lead.

Partial Fulfillment of Perpetual Wanderlust

I.e. On the road again

That's how it seems sometimes.

Today we are on a journey to Isaan to find a place to live for the next few years.  While I was planning the journey, I noticed that Google Maps traced out a route that was a bit shorter than using the more major roads.  It would cut about 2 hours of travel time.

But I was a bit dubious.  I was thinking that we would be ready to spend the night somewhere along that lonely stretch, and it did not look like there were a lot of options for lodging in the the small villages along the way.  I had pretty much decided not to go.

But then we made good time getting to the turnoff for the shortcut--and that in spite of stopping by the motor vehicle department to renew vehicle registration.  So I figured we should go for it.  A few miles in, we came to an intersection and as I rounded the corner, my brain made a mental jump.  A sense of adventure kicked in as we entered what  for us was new terrain.  This is not an area frequented by foreigners.  There are not many people to speak English to.

Eventually we made it to Nakhon Thai--or "Thai City", as it translates.

It was interesting looking for a place to stay.  We drove by one place that Google Maps showed, but the outward appearance was not too inviting.  So we turned around and went to another place we drove past earlier.  There was a registration booth, but no one was there.  There was a bell to ring, so we tried that. No response.  So we drove down the road further and saw the Petch (Diamond) Resort.  Like the previous place, there was no one around.  We rang the bell that was there.  No response.  But there was a phone number on the window, so we tried that.  That met with more success.

A few minutes later, a couple of people showed up on a motorcycle to help us with our rooms.  By this time, there were several of us waiting.  We decided to splurge and spend some extra dough for an A/C room--$15 altogether.

Is the pretty girl included with the room?

The resort might have more visual appeal at another time of year.  Right now it is the end of dry season and the fields are bare. A cow and her two calves were trying to scrounge up a few morsels in brown soil.   Soon, the paddies will be flooded and shortly after that they will be green with new rice.

View from our room

The better days of the Diamond Resort are behind it.  Still it is nice, quiet place.  Like the place we stayed a couple nights ago, the  rooms have names instead of numbers.  "Diamond."  "Gold."  We are in "Silver."

Diamond Resort

The resort is in a residential area with a lot of run down homes.  This is a farming community and it appears that there is not a lot of money to be had.  We took a short drive to the first restaurant we could find.  "End of the Sky" (Plai Fa) is a Thai style buffet where you cook your own food.  When we first arrived, we weren't sure the place was open because it was so quiet.  But soon the place was bustling.  Many people were getting take out, which means they would give you a bag and you can fill it for 200 baht (about $6).  So people were loading up their bags with raw meat and fish to take home.

We ate our fill and headed back to the resort, then went for a walk down some of the alleys. The people were friendly, although obviously not used to seeing much in the way of foreigners walking down their streets. One woman pointed out where the Seven Eleven is--I guess she figured that's where a foreigner would go to get food.  (She was right.  We had just been there to get some food for breakfast.)

End of the Sky Restaurant

Tomorrow morning, we will head out towards Nong Khai.  We are about an hour drive from the Khorat Plateau--which is the region known as Isaan. Then it's about 4 more hours to our final destination. We are excited to be looking for a place to live.  We have no idea what we will find.

We are going to a District called Phon Phisai.  It is the next district to the east of the city of Nong Khai.  As we go to Phon Phisai, we are mindful that God is already there.  "For what great nation has a god as near to them as the LORD God is near to us whenever we call on him?" we read in Deuteronomy 4:7.  As we journey into what, for us, is the unknown, we are glad that God is near to us.  All we have to do is call on Him.