4/26 Back to Ja Rurat

I was scheduled to speak next Friday at church and again the last Sunday in May, at the early service. Last week, my friend Greg Brown contacted me to ask if I could switch days with him, as he had a conflict and could not speak next week. No problem. So I am now going to speak next Friday and Sunday. Then, this week, Vee sends an email saying he really needs me to speak THIS Sunday. So I end up getting this morning and twice next week. The funny part to me is that just last week Vee and I were talking and I told him I was so glad I had not been called to become a pastor, because I could not imagine having to come up with sermon ideas every week!

But all is well. I have not spoken at church for well over a month, and after next week, I will not be on the schedule again until early June.

My buddy, Son, leads worship in the early service. The whole worship team is made up of people I treasure.

Ah Jan Winit translates while I speak on Romans 3, and two of the most beautiful words in the Bible... "But now..."

Ja Rurat was an unusual experience today. It was just Vee and me today. The others could not make it. Just before we arrived, the heavens opened and it rained heavily. The rain kept most of the kids from making it to join us. Just a handful of the real young'uns. Here, Vee leads them in a song.

Vee gets an assist with leading music.

The last Sunday of the month, we always try to have a small party. Today, Vee brought cake. The kids loved it.

My girl Fern, sporting a new hair color. There are a lot of kids walking around right now with bleached hair. I am still not sure if it is a new fashion statement or if it is somehow tied to the Songkran holiday we just celebrated.

After Ja Rurat, Vee and I headed to another nearby slum area to bring some milk and food to the old lady we visited last week. First, you make your way through a maze of narrow walkways.

Hundreds of homes, most about ten feet by ten feet, packed in right next to and across from each other. I often think of the terrible fire hazard. If a building deep inside the community caught fire, hand held extinguishers are all you have because vehicles can not get back here. And when its hot, as it almost always is, there is almost no breeze at all in here, so it is like an oven.

Today she was in her home. About ten by ten, with linoleum just laid on the floor (which is actually better than most places, where they have bare wood.) There is an old battered wardrobe against one wall and that is all the furniture in her house. The pile of blankets on the floor behind her IS her bed, and the bed of her grandson. They just grab blanket or two and sleep on the floor.

Vee and I visit with her and pray for her. I told her today that there are people reading this blog who are very interested in her life and who are praying for her. She smiled and said that if anyone comes from America to visit, they are welcome to come visit her.

The thing that gets me is that this is all she knows. Tomorrow will be the same as today, which has been the same as yesterday. I believe more than ever in my life that God's heart is with the poor, and that we, who have been so blessed with comfortable lives, have deep obligation to make a difference in the lives of those who have so very little.