After a wonderful visit to the States, it was a little bit difficult to readjust to life in Thailand again. I had forgotten how different it is here. Thank God for grace! I had to say goodbye to some of my best friends here on the day I got back. Brittany and Witt are already back in the US and will get married in June and then go to seminary. I also said goodbye to Saichol, as I had realized that we are going in different directions. Thank God for revealing the truth to me.
Chiang Rai, Thailand is a beautiful city. It is surrounded by mountains and lush greenery. It is near the northern border with Laos and Myanmar. I got to visit two different missionary families there this week. The first missionary family is an American woman married to a hilltribe man; they have two boys. They minister to the tribe that the man is from. Most of the people in this tribe live every day only thinking about how they will survive. He is very different, however, because he is very well-educated and has an earned Ph.D. His Ph.D. program was in English and he speaks five languages. His mother lives with their family and she is a sweet older lady who has Alzheimer's disease.
I had to laugh when I heard this story about her. She lived most of her life in a village, washing clothes by hand and cooking over an open fire. As you can imagine, moving into a house with lots of electric appliances was quite a shock to her. She truly believed that the people on TV could see and hear her. One day, she saw a man speaking her dialect on TV. She kept asking him where he was from. She didn't understand why he didn't answer her. She started to learn the truth when her family showed her a video of herself from her son's wedding. They asked her how she could be in the TV and outside it at the same time. She was partly convinced when her "TV self" could not answer questions, but she never fully believed that people don't sneak into the TV through a secret door in the back of the TV set.
She had just been to the village when I arrived, and she brought several tasty treats back with her. Some examples were miniature plums (arroy mach... I mean very delicious) and plump brown beetles (cooked of course). The name for the beetles in the tribal language means "What is it?" I think everyone was asking that question because I didn't see anyone eat any of the beetles while I was there.
I also visited a missionary family that recently moved to Chiang Rai from the Philippines. I met them while they were staying in Cleveland, Tennessee. Dr. Quinley taught one of my classes and it was incredible. I really enjoyed visiting with the Quinleys.
Tuesday is the big day! I'm starting work again and I'm very excited about what the Lord has in store for my students and for me this year. I'll keep you posted!
