A Christmas Tale

Earlier this week I had an extraordinary glimpse into life on the Thai-Burma border.  I was travelling alone to a large conference in a rural Karen village.  Arriving in the border town of Mae Sot in the early morning, I found the right Songthaew (an adapted pick-up truck used as a public bus) in the busy central market area.

Songthaews waiting for passengers in Mae Sot's market

With 7 passengers on board, we were soon winding our way through the chaotic, but cheerful, bustle of the town centre and out into the countryside.  After just a few kilometres, however, the bus driver decided that he didn't want to go any further, and dropped me and the one other remaining passenger off at a small police check point by the side of the road.

Miles from anywhere -  police check point

As we waited for another bus to come by, I was beginning to feel quite annoyed at the bus driver.  He had promised to take me to my destination - but now I was stuck here, under a makeshift shelter, miles from anywhere, on a hot and dusty Thai highway!  However, the two friendly police officers soon cheered me up, asking me (inevitably) which football team I supported, and whether I knew David Beckham.

And it soon turned out that, while it certainly was remote, the check point was far from deserted. Within minutes of our arrival, my conversation with the police was interrupted by the arrival on foot of two ladies and a small girl.  It transpired that one of the ladies was seriously ill, and after walking overnight from her village to the road, had just fainted.  Tragically, her 12-day-old baby had died two nights ago, and her friend had escorted the grieving mother, with her two year old daughter, to seek medical attention.  The police officers rushed into action, calling the hospital in Mae Sot to send an ambulance, and ushering the group into a shaded spot to wait for help.

Before the ambulance came, a man appeared, looking for his motorbike.  It had been impounded, he explained a little sheepishly, after an incident at a local Muay Thai boxing match.  With a mildly disapproving air, one of the police officers took down his details and handed him back his bike.

Then the ambulance arrived - which turned out to be an open-backed pick-up truck - to whisk the poorly lady and her daughter off to hospital.  Soon after their departure, a second man approached the check point, asking for help: his son had gone missing several days ago, and he wanted to know how to report the incident, and what he could do to find him.

While this was being dealt with, a bus came past.  One of the police officers helpfully hailed the bus for us, and we got on board, joining about 10 other passengers, along with a orange-clad monk sitting serenely in the passenger seat.  As we pulled away from the small check point, I reflected how, in the normal course of things, I would never have spent those minutes sat by that roadside.

In fact, speeding past in a car, I probably would have barely noticed the existence of this little shelter.  And yet, during my brief visit, I had glimpsed here something of the aching depth of human suffering, the simple beauty of human companionship, and the eloquent grace of human compassion.

And it struck me that, at Christmas time, we celebrate the fact that God didn't choose the easy, VIP route, speeding by on the highway.  Instead, Jesus chose to enter into our suffering and messy humanity, to live, to work, to travel, to wait - and to serve people like those I met under that police shelter.  This Christmas, He challenges me to do likewise.

Speeding by... missing out?

35 degrees C in Bangkok...

Snowmen on a Bangkok roof...

I spent a few hours in Bangkok last week - and despite the humidity, there was plenty of Christmas cheer around.  These snowmen perched on top of a hotel lobby's roof - while a nearby shopping centre boasted possibly the biggest Christmas tree in the city!

Now that's a tree

Not to be outdone, however, a neighbouring shopping mall took a different approach - decorating their tree with giant red baubles!

A novel decorating approach...

So - Christmas trees, Christmas presents, even Christmas snowmen - but Jesus?  He was nowhere to be seen.

15 days until Christmas?

Today is Constitution Day - one of two Thai public holidays during  December.  The other one was last week - the 5th December, the King's Birthday.  Thailand has 16 'bank holidays' every year - seven more than the UK!

Christmas Day, however, will be a normal working day for most people.  Markets will be open, children will be in school, and public transport will be running normally.  In fact, some of the Karen university students that we work with will actually be sitting mid-term exams on Christmas Day.  Add that to the 30 degree heat, and it can be easy to forget that this is Christmas time!

Instead of focusing their celebrations on one day, therefore, the Karen churches tend to celebrate throughout the month of December.  There is a very strong tradition of carol singing - we've already had two groups of young people visit our house so far this year.

Carol singers at our house last Friday evening

And while many Karen Christians will have to go to work on December 25th, their churches will just choose a different day on which to celebrate Jesus' birth - and to use the occasion share the good news with their friends and neighbours too!

A Karen village arranging their outdoor Christmas celebrations

Loy Krathong Day

Today is the Loy Krathong Festival - one of the most colourful and lively festivals in the Thai calendar. As with most folk Buddhist ceremonies in Thailand, Loy Krathong defies simple explanation!  There are many different aspects of the festival, and the details of what happens varies widely across the country.

Krathongs on the River Ping

At its heart, though, this annual festival involves asking forgiveness from the goddess of the river(s) for past sins against her - including, but not restricted to, causing pollution to her waters.  Thai Buddhists make 'krathongs' - small floats traditionally made from banana leaves, decorated with flowers and a candle and/or incense stick. People take their krathongs down to a local river, and, after saying a short prayer for forgiveness and future happiness, float them onto the water.

Abigail and Jacob with their krathongs

Abigail and Jacob both made a krathong in their Thai class today - and after school we went down to the Ping River to see what was happening.  There were specially constructed bamboo piers to enable people to get right down to the river itself. Meanwhile the river banks were crammed with vendors selling a huge variety of ready-made krathongs, as well as Chinese lanterns (a northern Thai twist to the festivities).  Most people come to float their krathongs after dark, and they often combine the visit with a merit-making trip to their local temple.

Krathongs for sale on the riverbank

Thais love to celebrate - so even a potentially sombre festival like this one is accompanied by an array of fireworks, firecrackers and loud music.  There is also a Loy Krathong Parade - with prizes awarded for the best decorated floats, and a beauty contest too.  Last year's festival was a muted affair, amidst the devastating flooding which hit large parts of the country.  This year, however, the Loy Krathong party is in full swing - we can hear the fireworks rumbling from our home tonight - and will continue until early tomorrow morning!

Youth Camp

Some of the young people outside the meeting hall

We spent last weekend with 120 Karen young people at a residential camp on the outskirts of Chiang Mai.  The event was organised by the TKBC Youth, as a part of the TKBC's efforts to reach out to Karen young people living in Chiang Mai city.  The theme of the weekend was taken from John 15:5, 'Be fruitful!' - encouraging us to bear fruit in our daily lives - working, studying, relaxing - in the city.

Some of the weekend's organisers - Say, Joy, Joel and Samer

 The weekend was great fun - starting each morning at 5:00am, and ending after midnight.  There were times of group bible study, worship, games, outdoor activities and various competitions - with a lot of water and flour involved.

My favourite moment of the weekend, though, was on Saturday evening, when I went with a few of the youth leaders up to a nearby viewpoint.  We had an amazing view over the area, and, in the distance, we could just about make out the tower blocks and smog of Chiang Mai.  As the sun went down over the mountains, we stood and prayed for the city, and for the young people about to travel back there - that they would 'remain in Jesus', and be a faithful witness to God.  May God bless this city through them...

Chiang Mai from a distance...

Every Little Helps?

We're no longer surprised to come across Western brands and stores in Thailand. Indeed, it's increasingly common to see Tescos, 7-11, Boots, Pizza Hut and Starbucks shops in Thai towns and cities.  To be really successful, these companies need to adjust their models to fit Thai culture, as epitomised by one particularly famous brand:

Last week, we were in Mae Sai, a Thai town on the Burmese border.  On our way out of town, we called in to the Tescos store.  I was amazed to see that the signs around the store were not only written bilingually (in Thai and English), but also in Burmese!

It struck me just how much effort these corporations put into making people feel welcomed and at home in their shops!  It also challenged me in the light of a conversation I'd had the day before with a church planter working in a Thai community.  He told me that his aim was to encourage a genuinely Thai expression of church - to the extent that a Westerner coming into that church would feel awkward and out-of-place.  Of course, a 'genuinely Thai expression of church' is going to involve more than a smiling plastic figure at the door and translated text around the building.  But wouldn't it be tragic if Thais (or Burmese) are made to feel more at home in Tescos than they are in a church?

Changes ahead...

Today is the final day of the Assembly of the Church of Christ in Thailand - a major event held every two years.  About 850 delegates attended, from churches across Thailand, including the Karen Baptist churches.

The Karen delegates formed a choir in the opening ceremony of the Assembly

The biggest talking point at the Assembly has concerned the huge changes planned for 2015 in the  Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN).  On the 1st January 2015, Thailand and the other nine member states of ASEAN will enter into a new and closer union - modelled in part on the EU.  The slogan for the new union is 'One Vision, One Identity, One Community.'

Lofty ideals, perhaps - but there are serious and significant changes coming along with the rhetoric.  From 2015, ASEAN will become a free trade zone, with increased freedom of movement across borders, new transport routes and integration of education and health systems.  A few of the more immediate effects for Thailand will include English becoming ASEAN's official language, to be used in all official and cross-border communication, and Thai school term dates changing to the international (American) pattern.

Information on all ten of the ASEAN countries available at the Assembly

Church leaders have been discussing this week how these changes will affect the church in Thailand - and how we can prepare to meet the new challenges and opportunities ahead.  Along with most Thais, many church leaders are very concerned about the effect of increased competition on Thai businesses, tourism and service industries, as well as the wider economy.  Recent studies show that Thailand lags behind its neighbours in both English language ability and willingness to travel to other ASEAN countries to work or study.

But we have also been excited to see leaders considering the new opportunities which will open up for the Thai churches.  Undoubtedly, from 2015 we will see an influx of people from other ASEAN countries into Thailand - presenting the churches with an opportunity to welcome and help these newcomers, showing them God's love as they find their way in a new country.  And, as one Thai pastor noted yesterday, 'Our mission field is about to increase 10-fold - from 64 million Thais to over 650 million people within ASEAN.'  This could be the moment for the Thai church to develop and nurture a mission vision for previously closed countries - please pray for leaders with the courage and faith to encourage such thinking.

One of the Thai churches' new mission fields?

Bangkok Sights: Monk in a Truck

Complete with a loudspeaker, this monk had taken to the streets of central Bangkok to raise funds for a new temple building.  He was quite a hit with the office workers on their early lunch break!

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No ordinary taxi firm...

Finding home in strange places...

Everything you need to know about England...

A visit to a Karen village is always full of surprises.  Last weekend, I went to Bor Tho Dai Church, a very remote place about two hours drive from Chiang Mai, with some of the TKBC Youth leaders.  Six local churches were gathered together for joint worship and prayer, and it was great to meet so many new people.

While we were having breakfast, however, a poster on the church wall caught my eye - it was all about England!  As part of an educational campaign sponsored by a major international NGO, hundreds of these colourful posters have been distributed to churches in rural areas all across Thailand.

So young Karen children are discovering, for example, that England's national animal is a cartoon fox.  And that the Pearly Kings and Queens on the poster are modelling English national dress.  And, apparently, that Wales and Scotland don't exist!

To spare their embarrassment, I won't reveal the name of the NGO responsible!  They did at least get some things right - and they made me feel a bit homesick for some proper fish and chips and a Sunday Roast!

Breakfast - fish, but no chips!

Sports Day on 29th September

Please pray for the TKBC Youth Sports Day - next Saturday, 29th September.  From 2am-10:30am UK time!  We're hoping that lots of Karen youth in Chiang Mai will come and join in -especially those who aren't yet connected with a church in the city.

A recycling challenge...

When we returned from the UK last month, we were surprised to find a large building site here at the Karen Bible School.  The old wooden dormitory building, where the female bible school students stayed, had disappeared, and foundations were being dug for a new, concrete building.

This was a dormitory building... now a building site

 The following day, however, we realised that there was not one, but two construction projects under way at the bible school.  At the far end of the bible school site, a large wooden structure was being built.

New wooden building under construction

The bible school students at work on the building explained to us that they were building a new 'guesthouse', to accomodate visitors to the school.  They estimated the building could sleep about 30 people. 

And then they told me that, with the exception of the concrete foundation blocks, all the wood they were using had been stripped out of the old dormitory building.  Could this be the world's first fully recycled guesthouse?  Just don't enquire too closely about the health and safety regulations adhered to during construction!

Pray for Burma

Last night we received an email asking for urgent prayer for the Karen in Burma.  Please pray...

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

 

Greeting you in the name of Christ from the border. On behalf of our Karen Leaders, may I now call upon you to bind your heart with us to pray.

 

In brief, now, our Karen National Union (KNU) and the Burmese Government have set the New Dates for Third Round Negotiations Meeting on 3rd - 4th September 2012. And this time they will focus on the guarantee of safety for civilian and the building of trust progressively at every level of negotiations. Specifically, the relocation of Burma Army troops away from Karen State, and a proposed Code of Conduct.

 

The KNU General Secretary, Naw Zipporah Sein, will again lead the group. She strongly believes in God and trust God that, 'if  God is with me and the group, He will provide what we need, for we are representing the Karen civilians'.

 

My dear Brothers and Sisters, she is the first lady among our Karen People that held this post and in the midst of hardship, difficulties and strong pressure she led the KNU for 4 years with strong and faithful heart to God and His people.

 

Prayer requests:

 

• Protection in travelling for the Karen delegation. 

• Pray that God’s spirit will remain in their hearts, their thoughts and their talks so that the hearts that are hard like stone will become softer and God's power will be with them.

• For Naw Zipporah as she leads the group - God will give her power, strength, knowledge and wisdom so that whatever she does will be filled with God's power, grace and favour.

   

‘For how can I endure to see the evil that will come to my people? Or how can I endure to see the destruction of my Countrymen?’ Esther 8:6

 

May God Bless you all in His Holy Service!

 

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Your sister in Christ

29th August 2012

Good sports?

We live here in Chiang Mai on the site of the Karen Baptist Convention's Bible School.  One of the highlights of the year is the annual Bible School Sports Day, which took place last week.

Team Matthew (left, in red) and Team Mark (right, in blue)

After dividing into 4 teams - Matthew, Mark, Luke... and Teachers (!), the games began. The morning programme was fairly traditional - football for the boys, volleyball for the girls and a 5km run for everyone.

 But the afternoon is where the fun really begins.  No good Thai sports day is without an eating contest - and this was no exception.  The competitors began with a plate of snacks including a hard boiled egg, a wrapped pastry, orange juice, sticky rice and a banana.

The looks of concentration on the athletes' faces was intense - and it quickly became apparent that strategic decisions about what to eat first were vitally important.  The food race ended with an old classic - retrieving a sweet buried in a plate of flour.

The big surprise this year, however, was a brand new competition - lawn mowing.  Each team was given a strip of grass to mow - they were given marks for speed, and for the quality of the cut.

The race leader - and eventual champion - of the lawn mowing contest

The Sports Day eventually finished with a lot of water balloons and 50 worn-out students!  (And, of course, a neatly mown lawn... this was well planned!)

Building blocks

One of the questions people often asked us during our Home Assignment ran along these lines: 'What's it really like, on a day-to-day basis, living in Thailand?'

Hopefully, over the coming months, this blog will give you some insight into our daily experiences living and working here in Chiang Mai.  For now, we're still in a period of transition - re-adjusting to the climate, the cuisine, the culture.

At times that transition can feel jarring.  A few days ago, we were at Legoland celebrating Jacob's fifth birthday.  This morning I was standing in a pool of mud listening to a bible school choir singing in Karen during a worship service to mark the start of construction for their new dormitory building.  Stepping from one of those contexts to another in such a short space of time isn't easy!

Legoland

Foundation Stone Ceremony for the new dormitory building

And the most difficult aspects of that adjustment aren't the languages involved or the weather conditions, but rather the less-visible cultural leaps we need to make.

Slowing down, from a frenetic Western pace and focus on results and activity, to a more relaxed, relationship-based approach.  Opening up, being willing to welcome guests into our house at inconvenient moments, rather than expecting a phone call and a time.  Becoming attuned to subtle changes in social relationships and hierarchies, and making sure we're paying appropriate respect in the right places.

If we don't manage to make those leaps, we'll simply be unable to effectively share our faith with those around us.  For now though, it feels a little like hovering between two worlds - after all, how do you get your head around the reality that a massive theme park built out of plastic bricks even exists in a world where people are struggling just to survive?

A warm welcome back home...

We got back home last Wednesday, after a brief visa stop in Bangkok.  It feels good to be able to unpack our suitcases properly after 4 months of travelling.  There have been some significant changes while we've been away - of which more soon - but some things don't change. 

Chloe and Jacob happy to be reunited with old toys!

Within two hours of getting home, we had our first power cut - thankfully only a short one! We've been gradually re-adjusting to overnight lows of 27 degrees C, which are starting to seem more manageable now.  More positively, we've been warmly welcomed by our neighbours and friends.  Abigail and Jacob have had a great start to their new school year, and are enjoying catching up with their friends too.

And I don't think I've had a single conversation yet with one of my Karen friends which hasn't involved the Olympics - despite Thailand's disappointing performance in London, many people followed the Games closely.  I'm not sure that they really understood much of the Opening Ceremony though!

How our Thai friends think of the UK...

Coming soon to a church near you...

The Maycock family!

Half Time: Reflections

Two months ago today, we had our bags packed and were just about ready to leave Chiang Mai.  Two months from now, the same suitcases will be out again, and we'll be wrestling once again with weight allowances and how to pack enough toys to keep Chloe entertained on a 12 hour flight.  So what will we be remembering from the first half of our Home Assignment?

1. Significant family moments

There have been many - from Pete's brother's wedding (above) to Chloe's dedication (below).  Chloe's first steps; family birthdays; days out.  It's great to be able to celebrate these things in the same time zone!

2. Impressive scenery  

Framlingham Castle, Suffolk

We've visited some Great British sights - castles (above) and beaches (below).

3. Encouraging church visits

We've visited three of our supporting church groups so far.  It's amazing to walk into a church building and find a notice board covered in the photos we've sent from Thailand - people really do pray for us!  And one fun thing that's happening this time - Abigail and Jacob helping to explain to other children about life in Thailand!

Abigail and Jacob explaining about Thai wildlife

Time now for a very British cup of tea - and a refreshing half-time orange.

Thai Drama

How did this group of young Karen Christians (right) come to be performing an evangelistic drama to villagers in Northeast Thailand, hundreds of miles from the closest Karen settlement?

These 6 young leaders were part of the Karen Baptist Convention's first ever Youth Mission Team - reaching out to ethnic Thais in one of the least-reached parts of Thailand.

Their two week trip (21st April - 7th May) saw the team engaging in one-to-one personal evangelism with local villagers, and inviting them to an evening programme of drama and music.  But the Mission Team also got involved in a whole range of other activities, to build up relationships with the local community and encourage the tiny churches they were visiting.

 Some of the Mission Team have excellent levels of English, so they were invited to teach English in local schools.  Others led sports workshops, craft activities and gave guitar lessons.
The summer heat would have made physical activity hard going - but the team managed to lay a concrete floor for two of the local churches, which was a great practical help for these believers.

The greatest impact, though, may have been on the team members themselves.  Ople, a young man full of passion for God and a hugely talented young leader, emailed me last Saturday. He told me that the trip had been a life-changing experience for him:

"One thing I learned was Karen people also have ability to do a cross cultural evangelism.  I was really proud of this trip.  It was first time for us and we should record it as Karen's history!"

I'm delighted that BMS, through a grant to the KBC's Youth Department, have enabled Ople and 11 other young Karen to have their first taste of cross cultural mission.  I'm so pleased to see young Karen leaders emerging who are increasingly aware of their own responsibility to respond to Jesus's Great Commission.  I'm excited to see how things develop: what might God do through the Karen to build His kingdom among the Thai people!

The drama is still unfolding - but there's no doubt in my mind that history is being written.