Jak is a blessing to everyone of us. He also knows how to enjoy his strawberry yogurt.
22.11.06
The Wow
I have been reading a book by this guy named Don Miller. The book is called Searching for God Knows What. Don lives in Portland (or he did when he wrote this book), and he has quite a unique style where he says what he believes without a lot of fluff. Often his feelings are not smoothly coated like the Pepto Bismo tablets we take here when the food from the market was not so fresh. However, that is not what I like most about his writings. He writes best when he speaks a word of truth fashioned in a style that forces me to come at truth in a new way. For instance, he was comparing our tendency to desire approval by others to a circus where all of the performers are trying to outdo each other with their extremities and where normality has become a reason for feeling dejected. Miller says, “I think Jesus is saying, Look, you guys are running around like monkeys trying to get people to clap, but people are fallen, they are separated from God, so they have no idea what is good or bad, worthy to be judged or set free, beautiful or ugly to begin with. Why not get your glory from God? Why not accept your feelings of redemption because of His pleasure in you, not the fickle and empty favor of man? And only then will you know who you are, and only then will you have true, uninhibited relationships with others.”
When I relate stories of what is going on in Thailand, I do not purposefully try to focus on the occurrences that would “wow” our friends and supporters and prayer support stateside. Yet, there is in me this desire for you to approve of what we are doing and agree that it is of critical importance. So it is convenient when one of those “wow” stories come along. Yet in the above quote I read that people are fallen and are not trustworthy to judge or determine beauty. In truth we are living for an audience of One. One who has great pleasure in me regardless of the “wow” or lack of “wow” in my day.
Even as I write this, a conviction comes upon me that my definition of “wow” is really messed up. Let me explain by sharing some details from this past week. Last week…
I rode my bike past fields of rice ready for harvest and watched farmers with sickles cut bundles of rice and wrap them in preparation to whack the bundles against the ground to detach the grains. Wow!
My kids studied with their mom and other missionary parents and/or volunteers at a small school called the Family Learning Center dedicated to giving kids a great education and sharing Christ. The kids studied with many children from Thailand and other various countries. They also studied Thai language and learned both Thai sword fighting and T-ball in P.E. Wow!
Our family ate all of our meals outside at our table on the covered front porch area. In Chiang Rai we spend much time outside because we can. The cold season will hardly get cold enough to force us indoors. Bugs? Who’s worried about bugs? All the little gecko lizards running around us eat the bugs. This past week, our table offered a partial view of the mountains when the humidity and the clouds went away. Wow!
Julie and I studied Thai for many hours and processed more about how the written Thai uses various consonant and vowel combinations (including vowels above, below, before and after consonants) in order to create words that are pronounced in one of five tones (middle, low, falling, high, and rising). With these skills we spoke and discerned tones and words with greater accuracy in our neighborhood, at the university, at the market, at the kids’ school, at the church we visited. Wow!
Jak, our newest addition, continued to run around…everywhere. And with him we continued to meet people everywhere we go. A western family with a dark skinned son always stirs up interest. Most Thais have an immediate affinity with him as one of their own. Thais are also much more likely to give him direction and tell him what to do than they ever do with Ben and Kate. Their idea seems to be that he is Thai and needs to learn how to act Thai. Wow!
Our family connected with a small church of college students. Students who love Jesus and want to see the Lord come to campus. They know their friends live trying to keep up with the next curve of fashion or trend in order to be accepted (sounds like a circus to me). Sadly, a majority of the students live each day scraping by and medicating their life with internet café video games/chat, alcohol, and TV game shows or soap operas. We also connected with a prayer movement dedicated to unifying the Christians reaching out to 15,000 plus students on the two university campuses in Chiang Rai (Mae Fah Luang University and Rajaphat University which is the campus we are spending time at and praying for). We prayed for transformation of this university community and of Chiang Rai. Wow!
Ben and Dad played soccer at the local elementary school with kids from our neighborhood. These kids play most every day and we like to join them on the weekends. We now know most of their names (Okay, Ben knows their names and reminds me). Wow!
Our family ordered food from a restaurant two houses down the way (out of a neighbor’s home…no zoning here) and they bring the food over to our home. The couple’s names are Sawang and Chaat. Talk about service, and we get to tell them about Jesus’ life. Wow!
We figured out more about Chiang Rai. This is a city with a population of 200,000 and yet growing to be much larger. Most people from this northern Thai rural region come to this city as the hub of trade and work. This last week we watched construction companies add on to the “Super Highway” a road that runs through Chiang Rai and connects Thailand and Burma. The plan is for this road to eventually go to China. We also watched construction workers working on new buildings at both universities and in the city. The city is growing and is considered as an important link to China (I think you can imagine why that might be important). Chiang Rai has no Starbucks or McDonalds (like Bangkok does) so visitors with certain addictions beware, but progress is opening lots of doors to the west here in Chiang Rai (not that Starbucks is real progress, it is just a bunch of monkeys sitting around looking cool drinking coffee…myself included for a “tall drip” when the occasion presents itself). We also discovered that minimum wage in Chiang Rai is 142 Baht for a day of work; in Bangkok it is 184 Baht for a day of work. And in America minimum wage is 1,566 Baht for a day of work (considering a $5.15 U.S. minimum wage). Wow!
I figured out how to download pictures to my blog. Wow!
Please pray for these four things:
1. For the Lord to give us discernment, wisdom and favor as we connect in the Rajaphat University community. Connections with people who will be leaders for a church movement on campus. Deepening friendships with Thais.
2. That the Lord would strengthen our language skills.
3. For the Lord to give us boldness in sharing our faith especially during this holiday season.
4. Health, perseverance, and encouragement.
We are thankful for you. Enjoy the holiday season. Here, we are about to celebrate His Majesty the King’s birthday and Constitution Day. Please drop us a holiday card; we love your pictures and notes. Our new address is:
The Pennington Family
P.O. Box 27 Bandu Post Office
Chiang Rai, Thailand 57100
Our love,
Brent, Julie, Ben, Kate, and Jak
When I relate stories of what is going on in Thailand, I do not purposefully try to focus on the occurrences that would “wow” our friends and supporters and prayer support stateside. Yet, there is in me this desire for you to approve of what we are doing and agree that it is of critical importance. So it is convenient when one of those “wow” stories come along. Yet in the above quote I read that people are fallen and are not trustworthy to judge or determine beauty. In truth we are living for an audience of One. One who has great pleasure in me regardless of the “wow” or lack of “wow” in my day.
Even as I write this, a conviction comes upon me that my definition of “wow” is really messed up. Let me explain by sharing some details from this past week. Last week…
I rode my bike past fields of rice ready for harvest and watched farmers with sickles cut bundles of rice and wrap them in preparation to whack the bundles against the ground to detach the grains. Wow!
My kids studied with their mom and other missionary parents and/or volunteers at a small school called the Family Learning Center dedicated to giving kids a great education and sharing Christ. The kids studied with many children from Thailand and other various countries. They also studied Thai language and learned both Thai sword fighting and T-ball in P.E. Wow!
Our family ate all of our meals outside at our table on the covered front porch area. In Chiang Rai we spend much time outside because we can. The cold season will hardly get cold enough to force us indoors. Bugs? Who’s worried about bugs? All the little gecko lizards running around us eat the bugs. This past week, our table offered a partial view of the mountains when the humidity and the clouds went away. Wow!
Julie and I studied Thai for many hours and processed more about how the written Thai uses various consonant and vowel combinations (including vowels above, below, before and after consonants) in order to create words that are pronounced in one of five tones (middle, low, falling, high, and rising). With these skills we spoke and discerned tones and words with greater accuracy in our neighborhood, at the university, at the market, at the kids’ school, at the church we visited. Wow!
Jak, our newest addition, continued to run around…everywhere. And with him we continued to meet people everywhere we go. A western family with a dark skinned son always stirs up interest. Most Thais have an immediate affinity with him as one of their own. Thais are also much more likely to give him direction and tell him what to do than they ever do with Ben and Kate. Their idea seems to be that he is Thai and needs to learn how to act Thai. Wow!
Our family connected with a small church of college students. Students who love Jesus and want to see the Lord come to campus. They know their friends live trying to keep up with the next curve of fashion or trend in order to be accepted (sounds like a circus to me). Sadly, a majority of the students live each day scraping by and medicating their life with internet café video games/chat, alcohol, and TV game shows or soap operas. We also connected with a prayer movement dedicated to unifying the Christians reaching out to 15,000 plus students on the two university campuses in Chiang Rai (Mae Fah Luang University and Rajaphat University which is the campus we are spending time at and praying for). We prayed for transformation of this university community and of Chiang Rai. Wow!
Ben and Dad played soccer at the local elementary school with kids from our neighborhood. These kids play most every day and we like to join them on the weekends. We now know most of their names (Okay, Ben knows their names and reminds me). Wow!
Our family ordered food from a restaurant two houses down the way (out of a neighbor’s home…no zoning here) and they bring the food over to our home. The couple’s names are Sawang and Chaat. Talk about service, and we get to tell them about Jesus’ life. Wow!
We figured out more about Chiang Rai. This is a city with a population of 200,000 and yet growing to be much larger. Most people from this northern Thai rural region come to this city as the hub of trade and work. This last week we watched construction companies add on to the “Super Highway” a road that runs through Chiang Rai and connects Thailand and Burma. The plan is for this road to eventually go to China. We also watched construction workers working on new buildings at both universities and in the city. The city is growing and is considered as an important link to China (I think you can imagine why that might be important). Chiang Rai has no Starbucks or McDonalds (like Bangkok does) so visitors with certain addictions beware, but progress is opening lots of doors to the west here in Chiang Rai (not that Starbucks is real progress, it is just a bunch of monkeys sitting around looking cool drinking coffee…myself included for a “tall drip” when the occasion presents itself). We also discovered that minimum wage in Chiang Rai is 142 Baht for a day of work; in Bangkok it is 184 Baht for a day of work. And in America minimum wage is 1,566 Baht for a day of work (considering a $5.15 U.S. minimum wage). Wow!
I figured out how to download pictures to my blog. Wow!
Please pray for these four things:
1. For the Lord to give us discernment, wisdom and favor as we connect in the Rajaphat University community. Connections with people who will be leaders for a church movement on campus. Deepening friendships with Thais.
2. That the Lord would strengthen our language skills.
3. For the Lord to give us boldness in sharing our faith especially during this holiday season.
4. Health, perseverance, and encouragement.
We are thankful for you. Enjoy the holiday season. Here, we are about to celebrate His Majesty the King’s birthday and Constitution Day. Please drop us a holiday card; we love your pictures and notes. Our new address is:
The Pennington Family
P.O. Box 27 Bandu Post Office
Chiang Rai, Thailand 57100
Our love,
Brent, Julie, Ben, Kate, and Jak
21.9.06
After the Coup
What’s in a coup Thailand style? Many are wondering what is truly happening in Thailand. Here in Chiang Rai little has changed since Tuesday evening. Wednesday morning we woke up and received a call from the director of the kids’ school. She explained that we would not have school that day because the military had taken over the Thai government and ordered all schools, banks, and government offices closed for the day. Back in Colorado growing up we would watch the news on some mornings to see if we were going to have a snow day. Here in Thailand our kids watch the news for coup days.
What is this all about? Prime Minister Taksin has made numerous corrupt decisions including cheating the system so his family could sell parts of his company tax-free. As the public spoke out against him, he created ways to silence people like controlling some government institutions and TV programs that aired discontent. Last spring there were many public demonstrations and discussions ultimately culminating in the prime minister stepping down from his position. After much persuasion, Taksin stepped down and allowed the deputy prime minister to take over, but when he did not agree with how things were going he stepped in as the “caretaker” prime minister until the new elections in October. Most people feel Prime Minister Taksin is attempting to keep his power through his political party. People felt it possible that by some means he would have enough support (or buy enough votes) so that the next election would put his party in power again. Prime Minister Taksin does have quite a bit of support from the poor and less educated for some of his social programs.
So, in Thailand, when you want your P.M. out and removal by civil means has not worked, you wait until the P.M. is gone, drive some big tanks up to his office, clean out his desk for him, and declare military rule for the next year. Interestingly enough, since WWII Thailand has had a military coup 18 times. The world reacts by saying, “This is not the way a mature democratic government acts.” I agree with the concern, but there are a lot of cultural issues here that come into play. For example, what do you do when you feel like the guy in charge cheats and trying to take care of this problem “the right way” only provides more time for the cheater to undercut you and continue in his cheating? You and I would say let the system work, but when the system is not working, and has not worked before, waiting can be quite discouraging.
Also, Thais are a deeply peace loving people. When we hear that the military is taking charge, it sounds quite heavy handed. However, it seems to me that Thais were not surprised at military intervention and military intervention in Thailand does not seem to be synonymous with violent intervention. Rather military intervention means the intervention of authority, and Thais know how to follow authority well. Besides, the military has pledged their allegiance to His Majesty King Bhumibol (Thailand is a constitutional monarchy similar to England) and received his backing. In Thailand, if you have the king on your side you have the Thai people on your side. Everyone loves and is devoted to His Majesty King Bhumibol. Presently in the 60th year of his reign, the Thai people wear gold shirts on Monday and Friday to display their love for their king. On a Monday or Friday, it is quite difficult to find a Thai without a gold shirt.
Everyone I speak to seems happy about the coup. They recognize that Taksin is a selfish leader and seem unsure about the best way to respond. The Thai news has shown people in Bangkok bringing the soldiers food and flowers to thank them for ousting the P.M. The one significant concern for Thais is how this will affect their economy. The Baht lost more than a forth of its value in 1997 due to some corrupt dealings and that fact has not been forgotten.
What can you do? We firmly believe that God is shaking things up in Thailand. As I pray for Thailand, I am convinced that the people are looking for something solid and enduring in which they can trust and hope. We believe right now is a significant time for the Thai people so we are asking our friends to take a day and fast and pray for Thailand. Pray that God would use this event to turn the hearts of the Thai people to Jesus. Julie and I have been praying specifically the end of Hebrews chapter 12 ,”So don’t turn a deaf ear to these gracious words. If those who ignored earthly warnings didn’t get away with it, what will happen to us if we turn our backs on heavenly warnings? His voice that time shook the earth to its foundations; this time—he’s told us this quite plainly—he’ll also rock the heavens: ‘One last shaking, from top to bottom, stem to stern.’ The phrase ‘one last shaking’ means a thorough housecleaning, getting rid of all the historical and religious junk so that the unshakable essentials stand clear and uncluttered. Do you see what we’ve got? An unshakable kingdom! And do you see how thankful we must be? Not only thankful, but brimming with worship, deeply reverent before God. For God is not an indifferent bystander. He’s actively cleaning house, torching all that needs to burn, and he won’t quit until it’s all cleansed. God himself is fire!” (The Message)
James Fraser, a humble prayer warrior missionary used powerfully by God in China during the early 1900s said it this way, “I believe it will only be known on the Last Day how much has been accomplished in missionary work by the prayers of earnest believers at home.” We need and appreciate your partnership in prayer. Thank you for your willingness to cry out to the Lord for the nations of the world.
In other news, three weeks ago we moved to Chiang Rai. It has been a challenging but peaceful transition. We are still getting settled because we are working on the house we live in. We negotiated a deal with the landlord so that we get to pay cheap rent for three years while we close in the covered car park area and covered kitchen area. This will add on a family room, a bedroom and a bathroom. Adding on is an inexpensive way for us to enlarge this little house that is in a great location. The house is a short drive to the kids’ school as well as to the university we will be working with. The workers have become great friends, and we are learning how in Thailand things are done a little less formally. In other words, if it looks “about right,” it probably is. I spent the first week putting in a kitchen because the kitchen that came with the house was basically a counter back in a room that was connected to a covered area for parking cars. The new kitchen is now in order and it looks “about right,” praise God. We gaze out our windows and see our neighbors’ homes scattered through rice fields and mountains. Amazed at the tropical yet mountainous beauty while biking on a nearby road, Ben shared passionately, “Hey Mom, I think this looks like heaven!”
Ben and Kate started school a couple weeks ago. They are attending what was formerly a homeschool co-op that is in the process of becoming an accredited international school where about 40% of the kids are from Thailand, some kids from Taiwan, and other kids from the U.S. and other western countries. Many of the parents from the school work with non-profit organizations or missions/foundations in the surrounding area. Ben even has a teacher who is from Germany. Quite a fun, diverse place! The kids, and mom and dad, love the school. The Family Learning Center asks parents to be involved in the school in some manner, so Julie is teaching Bible and history for the combined second and third grade class first thing in the mornings. After home schooling for three years now, this school is a great place for the kids to continue supportive learning while Julie has the opportunity to focus in on Jak and learning more Thai. Praise God for another answered prayer concerning educating our children well overseas; this is an enormous blessing to us sharing Christ in Thailand. And Jak is definitely keeping us entertained as he runs, laughs, attempts to communicate, dances and gets into all sorts of his siblings’ things.
Last week Julie and I resumed Thai language study. The next 6 months will provide the opportunity to get our Thai language to a deeper level including our reading and writing. The Lord has provided a gifted language teacher here, and we are excited about doing a major chunk of classroom language study, something that we have yet to do. Please join us in praying as we enter this new community in this area surrounding Rajabhat University.
Thank you for praying for us:
Pray for the change in Thai government leaders that God would use this season to turn the hearts of the Thais to Jesus just as the Lord worked powerfully in Thailand in the time following the tsunami .
Pray that each member of our team will develop deep relationships here and that we would share Christ boldly with our friends
Pray for joy in the language learning process that we would laugh often as we work towards speaking, reading and writing Thai at a six grade level.
Pray for our family as we make the transition to Chiang Rai: routine, friendships, house project completed quickly and efficiently, knowing how to pray for northern Thailand, and thankfulness for God’s faithfulness in leading us here and providing for us.
Peace of Christ,
Brent and Julie
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