Drew in Missions

I can see why Drew has fallen in love with Thailand. The scenery is beautiful. We swam in turquoise waters and saw multicolored fish, anemones and sea stars. We visited an ornate Buddhist temple at the top of a mountain. Even in this hottest season of the year, many trees are covered with blossoms. The food has been delicious, and the people are so friendly.

Everywhere, similarities and contrasts between Thailand and the United States abound. Cars here zip down streets, stopping at traffic lights, just as they do at home. But the cars drive on the left side of the road; when catching a ride with someone, I keep walking over to the right side of a car, only to have to walk back to the “passenger” side. Many Thai traffic signals (red, yellow and green lights, just like at home) include a digital countdown of the number of seconds left before the light changes from red, yellow or green. Great idea! It would seem to cut down on driver impatience. Sometimes the countdown starts at 50, or 24, or 86. Also just like in B/CS, drivers continue driving as the light changes from yellow to red.

In 12 days here, I’ve not seen one large SUV or monster truck or Hummer. The cars and trucks are small — Isuzus, Toyotas, Hondas, BMWs, Saabs, lots of little Ford trucks. No Chevys, GMCs or Chryslers in sight. Maybe they’re here, but I’ve not spotted one. Many people ride in the beds of pickup trucks. More than once I’ve seen a family — father, mother, 2 children between them — on a little motorcycle, all helmetless.

I have a little idea of what non-English speakers/readers must contend with in the United States. Thai is indecipherable to me, so I have to search for clues as to what a product is or what a store sells. Photos on a label. Store window displays. Products lined up outside the storefront. I point at pictures on a menu, or just order whatever Drew gets.

Surprising to me, though, is that English is commonly spoken and written. Many highway and shop signs are in both Thai and English. Especially in tourist areas, English is a common second language. T-shirts sport the slogans of American products. One of our taxi drivers speaks Thai, English, French and Arabic.

It’s been fun having Drew take the lead on this trip. All his life, I’ve been showing him the ropes. Now, he negotiates for the best taxi price, he speaks to the train station attendant, he explains local customs, introduces me to new foods and clues me in on what actions are impolite.

There’s so much to tell … we fed wild monkeys at a roadside park on a mountain. We climbed up and down a three-story waterfall. We met people from all over the world. Slept on an overnight train from Chiang Mai to Bangkok. Can you believe that I’ve actually visited a place so exotic as Bangkok?

This has been an awesome trip. So many things are wildly different from home, yet so much is the same. People still take care of their kids, go to school or work, celebrate holidays. It’s great to see how other people live and to contemplate making changes in my own life as I learn new ways of doing things.

Like Drew, I love Thailand, its culture and the people here. I expect I’ll be back.

Well, another birthday has come and gone. I’m now twenty-two years old, a veritable geezer. Despite the fact that I’m well on my way to being an octogenarian, I did not receive the expected gifts of a cane, a tube of Bengay, and Matlock on DVD. Instead, my friends treated me to delicious food and I was given a really cool Thai flag. I also received a card from my Grandmother (Thanks Nan!) and four books from Mom.

The books are looking really interesting. A Thousand Shall Fall is about a man drafted to be a soldier in the Nazi army, who refused to shoot anyone, openly read the Bible, and secretly helped hide Jews and warn people who were going to be raided. I Am America (And So Can You!) is a book dictated by one of my most missed television personalities, Stephen Colbert. She also included a book called Everything Scrabble, which contains helpful strategies for improving your skill, and a Scrabble dictionary. Now I can finally convince them that “Qi” is a real word!

I was in charge of leading singing this morning during church, and that was a good experience. I started off a little shaky, but it’s hard for someone as bad as I am at starting songs on key to deal with that in a new language. That being said, I thought it went pretty well. I think Julie got a video of it, so that’d be cool to post if I can swing it. Let’s hope it doesn’t include stumbling at the start of “Light the Fire.”

Today was our youth group’s first meeting, and it was way better than I could have hoped. I really like the four kids I worked with today, and the other two should be cool, too. For some reason, they all seem to be in an accord about me being super cool. I don’t know why they think so, but I’m not going to complain. They listened well for the most part, although they do seem to have a penchant for interjecting the most random stories that have nothing to do with the topic. This isn’t too much of a problem to me, though, because I’m the exact same way. I foresee staying on-topic as one of our major working points.

Since they are missionary kids, brought up in the church, and attending a Christian school, my thought is that they’ve been taught a lot of Biblical stuff before. They know better than me what they need to learn about, what they think is applicable, and what they’ve heard a thousand times. So I opened it up to them to decide what we would be studying on Sunday mornings, within reason. Asia, the oldest of our group, suggested we work through Max Lucado’s devotional book, It’s Not About Me. The other’s all seemed to be for it, so I’m excited about not only learning new things from the book, but stretching myself by trying to find a way to present it that will be challenging for them, but also applicable and on their levels.

We also set up that we will meet every Monday after school for a little chillaxing and a little encouraging. It might involve food, games, or other fun stuff. It’s going to cut into my day off a little, but it also gives us a chance to hang out altogether, less formally than at a church building. Definitely worth it.

The kids seemed quite excited about finally having a youth group. Obviously, the focus of both churches the kids are coming from are focusing on ministering to the Thais. It makes sense, but they deserve time and attention, and I’m happy to be helping with that. I’m planning to write a lot more about them later, so stay tuned.

I think early on in this Blog, I said I felt like a lot was expected of me, because God had given me so much. God blessed me with spiritual mentors like Chris Fikes and Jon Buchanan when I was in my youth group. Now He’s giving me a chance to bring that back around full circle by being that to these kids. But if I hope to be Fikes-esque or a little Jonish, I’m going to have to work really hard. Keep praying for me, cause I’ve only got about six more weeks here.

Oh, and before I sign off, just wanted to let you know that we may have a guest blogger in the coming weeks. My mom is visiting me, and I’d love to convince her to write something for here. That’d be a real treat for everyone.