Goodbye Raul
Tonight our team had a going-away party for Raul. After a year in Thailand he'll be returning to Costa Rica on Monday. In that year, he as accomplished a lot. He was the first intern to come to Thailand from Latin America. So, in addition to all of the challenges and adjustments that all of us face moving to a new culture, Raul faced another whole set of difficulties. He came from a conference of churches that not so long ago was considered a mission field - with raising his support, they had to make the switch to becoming a sending church, and that's not alway an easy transition to make. He came to Thailand knowing only a little bit of English, and even though many of the Thai-learning aids (dictionaries, books, etc.) are written for English speakers, he's done an impressive job of picking up the language. For most of his time here he was the only native Spanish speaker on the team, and even though Dan did a good job of translating, Raul also put up with a lot of English at our team prayer meetings and worship services. In the early days I'd communicate with him in a mix of Spanish and English, but before long we were able to communicate mostly in Thai.
It didn't take Raul long to begin making friends in his neighborhood and he's had the privilege of seeing God use him to make a significant impact on their lives. We've appreciated his passion for working here and are glad that he is determined to return, hopefully even bringing a new team of his friends with him.
I'm sure Raul would welcome your prayers for his return to Costa Rica - that his adjustment would go smoothly, that he would be able to convey his vision for future work here with clarity, and that God would continue to work in the lives of the friends he is leaving behind.
-Tom