My Brother Son

Most of you may already know that my beloved friend and brother in Christ, Sontaya, went home to be with Jesus last Monday after being involved in motorcycle accident while driving to see a customer. It has been one of the most difficult weeks of my life.

Son was one of the first people I grew close to at Immanuel Baptist. Only twenty three years old, he had the biggest servant heart I have ever seen. He was always at the church quietly doing whatever needed done. He was something of a designated driver for the church and he went on countless trips to pick people up at the airport and to take them back.

He was instrumental in the formation of the Young Leaders Group, and a constant source of encouragement to me. He loved the Lord with all of his heart and was in the Word daily.

Thai funerals are usually multi-day affairs and Son's was held on two evenings. I was asked to preach at the second service. It was one of the toughest things I have ever done, but one of the great honors of my life. Over two hundred fifty people showed up for each of the services and nearly a hundred went to the burial, even though it was held two hours away and on a work day. Son was loved.

My friend, Sontaya

Speaking at the funeral.

Thank you Pleasant Valley for the flowers you and the youth mission team provided.

Son, Ting, and Eddy... the Three Amigos.

As I will always picture him.

When J came to visit, he immediately bonded with Son and they became very close. Here is J, Vee, and Son on the beach near Khao Lak in southern Thailand. J was crushed to be unable to be with us this past week, but he will see Son again.

Son with Ting, his best friend and roommate. This week has been so very hard for Ting, who is also one of my dearest friends in Thailand.

Ting and Son on a recent retreat. It's as if Son is saying, "Up to you now, buddy!"

opening doors and bowling

For a long, long time now, I have been anxious to make some kind of connection with the older kids in the Ja Rurat slum community. What we do each Sunday with our English and Bible lessons is aimed at too young an audience to have much interest for young teens. I have kind of envisioned a sort of Big Brother/Big Sister kind of program with some of the guys from our Young Leaders group and the young ladies from church. Giving the teens of Ja Rurat a sort of mentor... someone a little older, but that they can still relate to. These teens are at the age where they will be tempted to start using "yaabaa" (meth) and making all the other bad choices which will leave them trapped right there in that community for life. If they had a mentor in their life to talk through those choices with, and to show them there is a better way... wow.

I have already made connections with a couple of them, a fifteen year old girl named Fern (seen elsewhere in this blog) and her buddy Toey. Some time ago, I asked if they would be interested in going bowling with me and a couple of guys from Young Leaders. They said they would. We planned a date three times and each time, something legitimate came up that caused us to postpone. FINALLY, we got it done this weekend, and it was a blast!

John, Seth, Pai, Mix, and Boyd from Young Leaders were joined by John's sister Kara, and Ah Jan Vee's wife, Mewi and we hopped in the van and went to Ja Rurat to pick up Fern and Toey. Last week, Fern asked about taking another friend, Noon. When we got to Ja Rurat, they were very intimidated and not sure they really wanted to go through with this. Finally they came out and joined us (I thought it was interesting they were wearing their very best clothes.) As we walked to the van, Toey asked about taking one more friend, a younger boy named Ja, so we had him tag along, too.

Below are the sights from a great day together.

Gotta have energy, so first stop was the food court at the bottom level of Siam Paragon.

"All right ladies, let's show these guys how it's done!"


Pai, ready to knock 'em down.

Mix doing... well, I am not sure WHAT he is doing.

Seth, doing something stranger than Mix was doing...

John... this is more normal. But then John IS more normal.

Toey checking scores...

Fern... having fun. And that was the point. You know what? She is also learning that Christians CAN have fun. Strangest concept, I know...

Highest score for the day.

Toey is the Champion!

The kids... Fern, Toey, Noon, and Ja, had a fantastic time. They laughed and smiled and interacted (a little) with the guys from church, and I know they left with a whole different feeling about these people from Immanuel Baptist. Doors were opened. My prayer is that this is a turning point that could lead to something that will make all the difference for these kids' lives. And who knows? Maybe for the lives of other teens in that community. Oh, and I think the Immanuel gang had a good time, too.

New Opportunities

Saturday night, we had our first ever English language service at Immanuel Baptist. It was great. The band was wonderful and my buddy Note did a terrific job with worship. Seth sang "When God Ran," which moved some to tears. We are focusing on grace the first four weeks, so I spoke a simple message on that subject. We had about fifty there, which was a fine start, I think.

We have formed four teams, or 'families,' which will share responsibility for putting together the weekly service on a rotating basis. My group gets to enjoy what the others put together for a few weeks now.

Kind of a double header this weekend, as I also preached at the main service Sunday. There, I spoke on Ephesians 4 and Paul's command that we be angry, but not sin. This was in light of the events of the past weeks here. It seemed to be very well received.

On the walk to church, I came across what I assume was a peace march, led by a group of monks and then Buddhist nuns...

After church, of course, back to the slums. I was pleased to see that some parents had helped their children post some of their coloring pages from the previous week. Little victories add up!

The last Sunday of the month is a little party, with extra games and snacks. Party day today!

This is the Bangkok I love!

The view this evening from my balcony. Rain coming on. Sure is nicer than the view my balcony has had the past week or so. And the cross atop the Church of Christ Thailand building across the street serves as a reminder that God loves this country and these people...

Back to the slums... getting back to normal

After three weeks away, it was good to get back to the slums and to the kids there. They were glad to see us, too.

I am guessing fifty showed up today at JaRurat, which may have been a record. At one point I counted forty and there were several kids who left and were replaced by others. That many kids, all wanting to show you their work, really wear you out fast.

Buddy, I know the feeling!

At Wisiwa, starting things off with a song.

Ah Jan Vee and Ting, keep things going.

Bad, bad week in Bangkok

As most of you know, it has been a terrible week in the history of Thailand. At long last, things have settled down and I am back in my condo, ready to get back to a more normal life again.

In a nutshell, a group of rural poor supporters of the former prime minister camped out in a major retail area, protesting against the current government. Several thousand protesters forced the closing of two major shopping malls and many other hotels and businesses for eight weeks. When negotiations for a peaceful settlement of their grievances collapsed last week, the government decided they had to act to clear the protest site. Last Friday, the army began sealing off the protesters, setting up a blockade around a fairly large area of central Bangkok.

Because my condo is inside that blockaded area, my emplyer requested that I leave and stay in a hotel near the office. I packed a small bag and finally found a tuk tuk driver willing to take me, since by the the Sky Train was not operating and the streets were closed, so no taxis were available.

A stand-off took place betwen the "redshirts" and the army for several days. Finally, Wednesday morning, the army acted, and began taking action to displace the redshirts from the protest site and to arrest their leaders. There was a lot of gunfire and loss of life, but by 2:00 p.m., the leaders had surrendered to police, or had fled. Sadly, the followers were incensed by their leaders capitulation and they went on an arson spree burning many buildings in town. Arson targets were primarily banks and the stock exchange building, but also included Central World, the second largest shopping mall in Asia.

Thursday's headline from the The Nation, following a night of burning.

The crackdown begins, as soldiers near a red shirt barricade at Visctory Monument.

The view from my hotel window.

What I would have seen from my condo had I stayed. This is almost an exact view from the roof of my condo.

Elevated view from an area not far from my work place.

One Center shopping mall near Victory Monument. Destroyed.

Central World Mall before this week.

Central World today.

A notice in the elevator of my condo. Don't go on the balcony or rooftop because you might be mistaken for a sniper and shot!

My condo is the tall building on the far left. Normally, the street, Petchaburi is a bumper to bumper parking lot. It has never, ever looked like this.

Things are almost back to normal now. Plans are announced to rebuild Central World in six months. My Thai friends are saddened beyond words by what has happened. They all love their country deeply and know that scenes of violence have been broadcast around the world. They want everyone to understand that what happened this week is NOT the real Thailand. I am sure that the people here will go forward now with real resolve that NEVER AGAIN will anything like this happen in this amazing country. Some of the best friends I have ever had are here, and these people I love so much are NOTHING like you have seen displayed on TV the past few weeks. Thailand is so much better than this, and will work so hard to erase the memories of this awful week.

Thai Buddhist Wedding

Nun (her real name is Sirinun), is a project manager where I work, and I assist her as kind of a consultant. Well, a lot of us took time out from the awful fighting outside, to celebrate her wedding this morning. I thought folks might like to see some sights from a Buddhist wedding...

The happy couple kneel, as a group of monks chant for several minutes...

The monks then take these things and hold them in front of their faces as they chant again. This is a common practice. They do the same thing at Thai funerals.

Two loops are woven from a specail string and they are placed on the bride and grooms heads with the strings connecting them. Guests are invited up and given special sea shells filled with scented water. You pour the water on their hands and pronounce a blessing, such as "I wish you great health and happiness."

The bride and her mother.

The happy bride...

Another Busy Sunday

Wednesday night, I spoke at church about Living in Uncertain Times. It dealt with both the circumstances facing Thailand right now, and the circumstances we sometimes find ourselves in, in our personal lives. Afterward, Ah Jan Winit said he felt it was a message the whole congregation needed to hear, so he asked me to share it again at the main service this morning. It is encouraging to think something you've shared has had meaning to others...

Then it was back to the slums to teach the kids about vowels... A, E, I, O, U. It was unspeakably hot and humid. Heat index something near 110.

Learning those vowels!