Sticky Rice & Being Made in the Image of God
While we were trying to sort out our visa problems in Bangkok earlier this month, I remember going for a walk with C1 and C2 to look for some food for dinner. We came across a lady selling sticky rice and shredded pork on the street. It's something my boys like, and we decided to buy four. But we ended up with more. How?
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- Written by Dave Chang
- Category: Personal Reflections
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What's your name?
What’s so special about a name? Well, we once heard that in the past Thai’s would give their children ominous nicknames to ward off evil spirits. But now, most Thai nicknames are cute, one-syllable words (many are even adopting English words like: First, Apple, Cream, Coke, Milk, Big, and Boy). Yet, recently God used Corban’s name for me to share about our faith (by the way, Corban’s Thai nickname is “salapao,” which means pork bun in Thai!).
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- Written by Lila Chang
- Category: Life in Thailand
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Going Bananas
Thailand is a fruit paradise. The climate allows for wondeful ‘summer’ fruits all year round. Bananas, mangoes, pineapple, guava, and many other fruit, half of which I cannot spell since I’ve only seen them in Thailand and probably only know the Thai name.
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- Written by Jonathan Thomas
- Category: Serving in Mission
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Spirit worship in Thailand
A few weeks ago I was visiting a Thai friend on a Tuesday morning. I don't generally go visiting in the morning, but this visit gave me a new insight into spirit worship in Thailand. Phi Saaw, my friend, was busy replacing her offerings of fruit and water on her many shelves of idols. Once she had refilled each glass with fresh drinking water, put new candles in front of each idol, she lit a number of incense sticks and prayed in front of each shelf.
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- Written by Trish Bartleet
- Category: Life in Thailand
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Shoes at the door
One of the customs I love in Thailand is removing my shoes before entering a home. The purpose of this custom is based on the fact that most of the dirt brought into a home is stuck on the bottom of shoes. Therefore, in order to keep the dirt out, the simple solution is to keep the dirt on the shoes outside the door thus ensuring we do not walk dirt into a clean house.
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- Written by Bruce Bartleet
- Category: Life in Thailand
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How much risk is too much? How much is too little?
One of the topics that comes up in conversation as we prepare for adventure ministry is “risk”. One of the goals of Adventure Camp is to get the kids to do activities that they perceive as risky. While we always strive to make these activities as safe as possible, we want the campers to feel uncertain about the activities so that they must fight their fears and overcome the challenges they face. Over a number of years, we've seen a number of the young people grow in confidence and willingness to try new things because of the “risky” adventure activities that they have done on camp. For Christians, risk is an important topic as well...
Christians need to be willing to take risks in our personal decisions, in our social interactions and in our use of personal finances in order to be faithful to God and to bring him the glory he deserves. The Bible generally uses the word ”faith” because the risks we take are undergirded by our belief that God desires these actions and he will help and support us as we do them. I think that maybe the word “risk” strikes a better chord these days than “faith” though. It has a grittier, more immediate, emotional impact. Most of us wish to live within our comfort zone, yet God keeps calling us to step out in order to serve him and to show his love to a needy world. There’s an old Steve Camp song that I love. It challenges me to be willing to do all I can for the Lord. The chorus goes like this, “Oh, to gladly risk it all, oh to be faithful to His call / Abandoned to grace yet anchored in His love / Living dangerously in the hands of God”. Hudson Taylor, the founder of CIM-OMF, summed it up perfectly when he said, “Unless there is an element of risk in our exploits for God, there is no need for faith.” May we all be willing to abandon ourselves to God’s grace and live riskily in response to our faith in him.
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- Written by Jeff Callow
- Category: Serving in Mission
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Waving Hello!
Thai culture is unique and wonderful, very different from my own warm South African upbringing. We first noticed this in 2014, when we first arrived in Thailand, and quickly learned about appropriate ways to behave in public using gestures which are considered acceptable and normal. However, after arriving from our first home assignment it felt like we had to go through it all over again.
We were so excited to get back to Thailand after 6 months in S.A. How would our Thai friends react when they saw us again? We didn’t think about all that because for 6 months we traveled throughout S.A seeing family and friends again after 2.5 years, it was loud, intimate (hugs and kisses) and waving while still far off.
But we quickly had to ‘snap out of it’, and remember to smile, wai and bow slightly while inwardly containing the urge to hug or speak loudly. Imagine the embarrassment after our feverish waves were returned with a smiles, bows and wais. All part of our daily learning experience as church planters in South Thailand.
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- Written by Jonathan Thomas
- Category: Life in Thailand
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