Life in Thailand

Our family arrived in Thailand five months ago with many pre-conceived ideas about the country where we were going to live.  Some of these ideas have proven true, but we have been surprised over and over again.  Thailand is a country of extreme opposites: tin shacks in the shadows of sky scrapers, market stalls in front of six story shopping malls, an old lady pushing her cart alongside a Mercedes Benz, and a 700-year-old culture being taught to Thai children with computers.
Upon our arrival, we were immediately struck by the vastly different culture. Everything seemed so busy.  Our field of view seemed jam-packed.  There were people everywhere, and everything was overgrown with lush greenery.  Electrical wires filled the skies, and garbage covered the ground.  The traffic was perplexing, and we held our collective breaths each time we got into a taxi.  We were stared at everywhere we went, and of course, we couldn’t understand anyone.
After a while, we became used to these things, and they became normal.  We now chat calmly while weaving in and out between six lanes of buses, taxis, cars, trucks, and scooters. We know how to get around and how to give directions to where we want to go.  We are now able to carry a simple conversation in Thai.  We are still stared at constantly.
We love living here.  We are located in a suburb just north of the city of Bangkok in the district of Pathumthani.  This part of the city is bustling and crowded, but we are still just a short drive from the country.  Within ten minutes of our house, we can find McDonalds, KFC, Sizzler Steak House, Dairy Queen, and Pizza Hut. There is a mall nearby named Future Park which has over 1,000 stores.  In the time that we have been here, we have learned where we can buy just about anything you can imagine.  Some things that are familiar to us cost a little more, but often we can buy things much cheaper than we could in the States, especially if they are made here in Thailand.  A small bottle of maple syrup costs about ten dollars, but a decent dress shirt can be purchased for about the same price.
Because we are so close to the equator, the sun always comes up about 6:00 a.m. and goes down about 6:00 p.m. Thai people generally rise early and work hard all day.  The average income is about $60.00 a week, but some Thais are extremely wealthy.  As a result, there are two standards of living.  For example, there are small clinics scattered around this area where you can get a physical done for about $5.00.  These are fairly clean but under-equipped.  Twenty-five minutes away there is an excellent hospital with a foreign section where all of the nurses speak English. This hospital is one of the best I have ever seen.  When Amber gives birth to our seventh child next month, we will have had children born in three different countries.
Our biggest difficulty in living here is with our visas. We did not know until we arrived that we would have to leave the country every 90 days until we are able to get our work permits.  So far, we have been to Cambodia and to Laos.  Both of these trips have been long and time-consuming. Once the language school is officially opened, we can get work permits, and they will still have to be renewed once a year.  Thailand is not an open country, and no one can be here as a missionary.  We are here as English teachers who just happen to be starting a church, winning souls, and baptizing converts.
We are blessed to be able to work with a great group of people.  Tim and Missy Shook, their two children, and Miss Shari House arrived here with our family on May 1.  Eddy, Sindy, and Abby Arold, Chad and Sarah Inman, and Jim and Viki Boyce arrived ten weeks later.  All of these dear people are “fired-up,” and we have seen nearly 500 people saved since we arrived.
With the Lord’s help, we have accomplished much.  We have rented and furnished six homes for the team.  We have started a new church. We have begun holding outdoor meetings on Saturdays in highly populated areas, and we have found a building that will be suitable for our language school.  We are having new full color tracts printed for our church.  We have started an English day school.  We are attending Thai languages classes four days a week.  Our days are full, and serving the Lord here is exhilarating.
We have also had time to enjoy some of the uniqueness of Southeast Asia.  We have been able to feed and ride elephants. We visited the city of Ayutthaya, the ancient capital of Thailand, and saw some buildings over 1,000 years old. We have shopped in the huge outdoor markets, have drunk from fresh coconuts, and have seen poisonous snakes. The coldest it has been here is 78 degrees.  The hottest has been 102 degrees, but we have not been through a hot season yet.  We have learned to really appreciate air conditioning.
Thailand is called the “Land of Smiles,” and Thai people are usually very helpful and friendly. Ninety-five percent of Thais are Buddhist, and this has opened the door to the Gospel in a huge way.  Buddhists know that there is a God, that there is a Heaven, and that there is a Hell.  Buddha (who was from India) taught that man was a sinner and deserved to go to Hell. Buddha taught his followers that they could balance their sins by “making merit,” but as with every works-based religion, he could not tell them how many good works would save them.  This has left the Thai people spiritually frustrated.
We very seldom knock on doors.  The city of Bangkok is so populated that the sidewalks are never empty. Approximately 19 million people live here.  You can find a crowd just about anywhere you go.  Most of our soul winning has been done on the street and in housing projects. Over and over we have approached someone with a Gospel tract.  The tracts are gratefully and respectfully received about 99% of the time.
Out team is in language school two days per week for three hours per day. We are all learning enough Thai to give directions to a taxi driver, order food at a restaurant, find the nearest bathroom, and tell someone that the tract we are handing them is a free gift.
Thai is a tonal language with its own script.  This means every word is a four-step process. Let me compare it to Spanish. If you see a word in Spanish, you have to learn what the word means and how to use it correctly in a sentence. With Thai, you have to learn what the forty-four consonants are. Then you have to determine whether the vowel is a long (drawn out) vowel or a short (clipped) vowel. Then you have to determine which of the five tones is being used for each syllable of the word.  Then you have to learn what the word means and how to use it correctly in a sentence.
All of our soul winning is done through interpreters. God has provided us with some wonderful people to be our mouthpieces while witnessing. After we have handed someone a tract, our interpreter asks them if they know they are going to Heaven. If they are willing, we begin to give the Gospel in English while our translator gives it to them in Thai. We are constantly humbled at the spiritual hunger of this country. We have met many who have never seen a Bible in their lives and some who did not even know there was one.
Thailand is a field that is “white unto harvest.” We have had converts weep with joy after being saved. They are so grateful that we are here. The few Christians we have met are overjoyed to learn that we have come to stay, and everyone—I mean everyone—is interested in the language school we are starting.