Learning Thai

One of my favorite parts of our recent trip to Isaan was having a chance to observe and interact with the Christians there. It was very encouraging to see their enthusiasm and the natural ways in which they worshiped, discipled, and evangelized. This is not a church that is run by foreigners or patterned after foreign methods - and that's a good thing!

They are continually taking the gospel into new territory and are seeing amazing results. We heard testimonies and stories of miraculous events that sounded like they could have been taken straight from the Bible. New believers are being quickly incorporated into the life of the church, given responsibilities, and taking it upon themselves to witness to and disciple their friends and family members. One of their key discipleship methods is small-group Bible study, and we were privileged to participate in one of those on the day before we returned to Bangkok.

We drove out to a very remote area - in a large forest where Thailand, Cambodia, and Laos meet. We had to squeeze the truck down a forest path, with bushes scraping both sides. There was no electricity and it was definitely the most rustic home we've visited. The Bible study was held at the house of Mae Sii Jan (roughly translated "Grandma Moon Glory") who has been a believer for about 4 months now. She is already participating on the worship team, since she already knows the traditional tunes on which their worship songs are based. She and her husband ("Grandpa Wild Ox") became Christians through an amazing series of events that I don't have time to describe here. We picked up another man along the way (the one who had shared in church on Sunday about his father coming back to life after he had been placed in the hospital morgue).

We sat on the floor with them, ate a meal, and then Pastor Joi and another church leader engaged in a simple Bible study with them (even explaining their take on Christian funeral practices to the man whose father had died - in the event that he dies again and this man has to work through funeral rites with his Buddhist family).

Each person had a workbook with simple questions about Old Testament stories (they were starting at the beginning) and the church leaders reviewed their answers and helped explain the stories to them. These were people who would have grown up without knowing anything about the Bible and it was exciting to see their diligence and the way in which they enjoyed learning.

Pastor Joi (left) and Grandpa Wild Ox

Mae Sii Jan - we were very impressed by her joy and her enthusiasm for praising the Lord in song.

After the Bible study we were taken on a walking tour of the surrounding forest area and Mae Sii Jan collected red ant eggs using a basket at the end of a long pole.

She dumped the eggs (and a bunch of angry ants) into this tray and poured flour on them. The idea is to get the ants to leave because they don't taste good (although one of the men was picking them off a tree and eating them while we walked in the woods - I think that he was just trying to impress us).

So, now we're back in the city - wondering and praying about when and how we will see God moving in similar ways here.

-Tom