Learning Thai

Recently our team met with Pat and Peter, a couple that has lived and ministered in Thailand for 15 years. They shared some of their observations on Thai culture and in general encouraged us to continue learning and persevering in our efforts here. I really respected their attitudes toward ministry and cultural adaptation.

One of their observations was that Thais are very spiritual people and that this culture, as a rule, is open to the idea of a higher power. In our few months here I have noticed that as well. Judging from the number of temples and shrines and the amount of spiritually oriented paraphernalia available for purchase I would have to conclude that Thai culture is more oriented towards spirituality than is American culture. Buddhism (mixed with folk animism) pervades every aspect of this society. In a couple of weeks the government will sponsor a national merit making ceremony to raise the morale of the nation following the New Year’s Eve bombings and the ongoing political turmoil. That’s just one example of how attuned this culture is to spirituality. Thai people believe strongly in the importance of the spiritual word, in it’s relevance to daily life, and in the value of a moral lifestyle.

So, Pat and Peter reminded us, our job is not to create spiritual interest or to “bring God” to Thailand. God is here. He is at work. What we can do is shed light on what God is already doing. We can testify to His love and grace and we can gently point out his ongoing presence in Thailand.

When we think about our lives here in that light, this “job” we’re called to seems a lot easier. Thailand is starting to feel more like home (at least sometimes!) That really struck me when we came back from Malaysia. Even though all the Malaysians we interacted with spoke English, and even though there were more English signs there than here in Thailand, we felt off-balance and out of place. We didn’t know anything about the food. We weren’t used to seeing veiled Muslim women. We weren’t sure when or how we were being culturally inappropriate. Coming back to Bangkok seemed familiar, and even comforting. There’s an awful lot that we don’t know about Thailand, but we’ve made a start. Monks are more familiar than Muslims. Pad Thai is a comfort food. And speaking in our limited Thai with a taxi driver seems more natural than trying to decipher a Malaysian taxi driver’s English.

So we'll keep moving slowly forward and trust that God can use us in the process.

-Tom