Redeeming the Time: Practice makes Better...

Well, I wanted to put up that last post (pardon the length) because it was a very interesting study we had done recently, but I also wanted to let anyone who reads this know how it impacted our lives. God gave us an opportunity to grab onto just yesterday (Sunday). It was a very hot day, and the fans in the church just didn't seem to be able to keep up, so it was a bit of a struggle. But we got through just fine. Still, you don't realize how much heat can sap your strength. I teach on Sunday afternoons, tutoring a local doctor's children in English, which is helping to build some key bridges into their lives. Kathi as well is working to build relationships with this family. I teach for an hour, and then we usually go home, eat or whatever, getting rested up for the evening. Well, this family is extremely giving and so invited us to go bowling with them. At first, we were both thinking... ugh... it's so hot, and we are so very tired... bowling seemed like the last thing we wanted to do. And yet, we knew it was an opportunity that God had brought along the way. So we decided to do it, and never regretted it. God proved to be the wiser of us in bringing this opportunity along. And so we were able to put our study into practice, grabbing up the opportunities that come along the way, making time for them instead of holding to any rigid schedule.

So we did go bowling, and apart from my own lousy scores (Leah's was actually much better), what wasn't lousy was the building of relationships with this wonderful family. Their youngest son, who is elementary school age, is usually shy and doesn't EVER speak to us, or anyone else for that matter. But at the end, after we had cheered him on (even with gutterballs), he really warmed up and would at least look at us! So we thank God that His wisdom is much greater than our own, and we thank him for an opportunity to "practice what we preach".

Redeeming the Time: A Study

As part of our adjustment process here in Thailand, we have been reading through the book "Cross Cultural Connections" by Duane Elmer, a must-read for anyone experiencing life in a different culture. Be it missions work or otherwise, this book is suited for anyone heading into the unknown territory of another culture. As we were reading through the book, something really caught my attention in chapter 13. In summary, this chapter is dealing with the issues surrounding time versus event. The issue is whether one sees time as hours and minutes or as opportunities... strictly related to a clock, or more relational. One section in the chapter dealt with "Time in the Bible", where he makes a distinction between the Greek words chronos and kairos, both usually translated as "time". He mentioned Ephesians 5:16, the famous verse about "redeeming the time", and so it got my mental gears turning. Is there credibility to what he's saying? If there is, it changes a few things! This is what I have found then...

Elmer makes a distinction between the two words, stating that,

"Chronos refers generally to time segments, sequences and what we might think of as a specific time or time period. In today's culture, we might think of it as clock time or calendar time."

Of the other word, he states,

"Kairos, used nearly twice as often in the New Testament, approximates the way many people in the Two-Thirds World perceive time. Time is understood not in terms of specific segments but more in terms of opportunity, the right time, the appropriate time or the meaningful time. Thus, kairos people value the moment, the event or the opportunity and try to make it significant and memorable." (pgs 121-122) This then set me off to discover if the things he stated about these words were so.

CHRONOS: In my search, I found about 54 hits for this word in the New Testament, here are some examples.

Matt. 2:7- Herod asks what TIME the wisemen saw the star.
Matt. 25:19- The master in a parable returns after a long TIME.
Luke 1:57- Elizabeth's TIME came to give birth.
John 12:35- Jesus says only a little TIME is He with the disciples.
Acts 14:28,15:33,18:20-23- Speaks of staying in a place for a TIME.
1 Peter 1:17- Speaks of life as the TIME of our soujourning.
Rev. 20:3- Satan to be loosed from the pit for a TIME.

Compare that with KAIROS: In my search, I found about 80 hits for this word in the New Testament, far more than the prior word...

Matt: 8:29- Demons asking Jesus if He will torment them before the right TIME.
Luke 12:56- Jesus speaks to "hypocrites" who cannot discern the TIME.
John 7:8- Jesus does not go to a feast because His TIME is not yet come.
Acts 12:1- King Herod attacks the church "at that TIME" (the right time).
Romans 5:6- At the right TIME, Christ died for the ungodly.
Gal. 6:10- As we have OPPORTUNITY, let us do good...
Eph. 5:16- Redeeming the TIME...

And here are some extra-biblical examples from some common, everyday type correspondences in the world at the time of the New Testament...

1. An Alexandrian contract reads, "Apportion to him TIME (chronos)". In other words, he needs more time to do something.
2. A statement from a lawyer that says, "seizing a favorable TIME (kairos), she broke into my client's house, and carried off the foundling."

The evidence is rather overwhelming in my estimation. While these meanings are not necessarily exclusive from each other, they are generally referring to different things. So when Paul tells us to "redeem the time", is he saying that we need to fill our minutes, hours and days? Is he suggesting we need to be a part of the rat race, or even the Christian rat race? Or could he be saying the opposite? Could he be telling us to make the most of every opportunity? I tend to think so. Frankly, given a choice between a meeting or family matter, people in a third world agrarian culture will opt for family every time. They won't always miss the meeting itself, but they might be a few minutes late. They could not think of brushing somebody off because they might be late to something. In the western world, business is life and life is business. Time is money or at least valued as such. But is that entirely biblical?

In Elmer's evaluation of Time versus Event cultures, he makes some interesting comments about the typical western time-oriented culture. He notes that things were not this way until the industrial revolution, when people began punching clocks. On an assembly line, everyone needs to be there, if somebody is late, it holds everything up, and so our view of time began to change. Everything was tied to time, it was money. We measure life by time, we earn money by time, we sometimes even measure our success or effectiveness by time. Why is the wristwatch the most common graduation present? He says this,

"Many of us remember the hectic frenzy around the house trying to get ready on time for church or some event. We arrived on time but at the cost of shouting and tense feelings. Maybe it is still true in your house. Nevertheless, our time orientation served us well for things like gross national product, national emergencies and progress in science. It has, however, often take its toll on relationships." (pg. 119)

That somewhat floored me, mostly because it is so true. Even in something like church, this aspect of American thinking dominates. We view our time the same way the business world views it. We fill our lives with schedules and calendar items and times to be here and there. Then if something comes up, even an opportunity, it is lost because we "have to be somewhere". What has happened?

On page 118 however, Elmer makes another interesting note.

"It is my observation that much of the two-thirds world is becoming more like the west and much of the west is becoming more like the two-thirds world. For example, younger-generation Americans are less time-oriented and more event-oriented. Two-thirds world people, with exposure to the west, are becoming more time-oriented... Everyone has the same twenty-four hour day. Beyond that, however, people think about and use time differently."

In my estimation, nothing could be more true. I've seen clashes between two cultures even in America, where perhaps older generations look at the younger generations with disdain for their lack of concern for time. Likewise, younger generations may look at the older ones with a smirk because they are perceived as being nailed to a clock.

This raises some interesting questions. It is easy to fill our lives, make our schedules crazy, and imagine that we are living our life to the fullest for the Lord. "Look at everything I'm doing". But what are we doing? In the last number of years I spent in the states finishing up seminary, my life was nothing but hectic. I filled it up to the max with events and calendar items, being here and there doing this and that. I barely had time to breath! But towards the end (before crossing the ocean), I began to think, "what am I actually doing?" I wondered, in the insanity of my life's schedule, how many lives were actually being touched by mine? Is it possible to create such a busy life (even with good things), that we miss the opportunities that are afforded to us every day? Are we in such a hurry in the grocery store that we fail to even recognize the existence of the cashier, much less offer them a kind word, much less show them the love of Christ?

Life in Thailand sometimes seems dreadfully slow. It was a huge adjustment coming here. But then, it made me think. Is life too slow here, or is it too fast back int he US? The truth is, it would be wrong to make a blanket-statement about he US in this way, for there are many places, usually rural, where this is not the case. But in more metropolitan areas, it is definitely the case. And it's not like you can just have a daytimer or blackberry burning service or something. You can't ignore the demands of work and obligations, especially in America. But you can look at your life and perhaps take a priority-inventory. I've had to do that, I suppose I was forced to when we moved here. Redeeming the time... Did God intend for us to fill our lives with things, meetings, stuff to do? Or did He intend for us to view time a little more as an opportunity that only comes once?

Perhaps our super-civilization can learn some things from the rice farmers, the goat herders and the people of the field. Does God suggest that we fill our minutes with business and schedules, or that we use every opportunity that comes our way for Him?

Hot Helmets on the Loose!

Can you believe it? The gall of some people. I mean, a church even! Grrr... Oh... sorry. Let me fill you in. We were at the church doing a book study with Jim and Kathi and had a wonderful time, as we always do. It's really a very encouraging time talking about culture shock, and adjustment and learning to accept and love people who are very different, especially when you are the foreigner in their country. Well, the evening came to a close and we went on our way. But as Kathi walked us to the front where our motorcycle was, we noticed something was amiss. Something like our helmets! Now, Kathi had always said that people always admired our helmets. I guess somebody admired them a little too much! I couldn't believe it. That's like stealing somebody's seatbelt! I was about to walk down the street and see if anybody had really cool looking gray and red helmets, but Leah stopped me, imagining that the person could be drunk. So I gave up the pursuit. Besides, they could be kilometers away by then. So no helmets. Kathi lent us one to use until we found more that fit. So the next day, we had to go out and spend more money on helmets. Not something we were planning on, but something you do have to do. The police check all the time and pull people over, plus I've seen what accidents can do, and no thanks. I'll spend the money on a good helmet. Leah had no trouble finding hers, she found the nice blue one. Me, I'm a different story. My melon is so bulbous, it was night to impossible finding one that fit my bean. So I landed on the red one pictured above, it's the closest thing to a fit, though a little tight on the jaw. That's okay though. Better a compressed jaw than a broken head. I'm thankful that we had the money to just go out and acquire new helmets, but let me tell you... it won't be hard to spot somebody going around with gray and red helmets like ours... :)

Teaching ESL: A Different Experience

Well, here we are at the end of the first semester. I began my grading and finished it up this week. Let me tell you, it was a very different experience. First off, grading here in Thailand is quite different. For example, I had two students cheat on a quiz mid-semester. They admitted to it, so I told them I would have to fail them for it and take away half the points, starting them at 50%. They would have had a 100%, but I wanted to make sure they understood they could not cheat in my class. Come to find out, in Thailand passing is 50% and higher. Failing is 49% and below. Ugh. So in punishing them, I still passed them. So most everybody did pass, there was only a couple students who got grades like 17 and 18%. But then it might have helped if they showed up to class more than 4 times! I was very happy with some of my classes, as the students passed with many A's and B's. It felt very good to get the grades in and done. But what felt even better was knowing that God was using our example and influence at the university to get things moving with Surin Baptist Church. The Hayes and the team here in Surin are using the connection with Surin Rajabhat University to create venues of ministry to reach out to the college-age community here.

I also wanted to encourage anybody who might be considering doing something like this. Do it. It's very feasible. You may only have to raise monies for your initial outfit and passage, setting up living space, airfare to and from, visas, etc... But I find that one could very well live in a place like this on a Thai salary. Other countries, I don't know, but probably. Sure, I'm making 1/3rd of what I did in the states, but living expenses are even more fractional. You buy meals for #1.00, that's about the average rate. The most expensive when we eat out is like $6.00 (for two people). However, it is one of the most taxing things one might do. You are out of any comfort zone, you are in a place where up seems like down and right seems like left. You don't have your cultural map whereby you discern life. And yet it's the best thing for anyone to go through. Because you kind of "re-learn" all those things you either took for granted or never really thought about. Things like, "is someone really a bad person if they are late to something", or "Does somebody peeking in your windows or walking in your house mean they are nosy or trying to invade"? These are the questions you face, and it forces you to go to God for the answers. It would be easy enough to lose your temper and decide the answers based on your own cultural map, but then you'd find yourself hating everybody around you. It forces you to look to the scriptures for what God has really commanded, and what is just culturally assumed. Some things you decide are actual biblical commands (like not bowing down to idols), others are more along the lines of culturally conditioned assumptions (like being late).

Well, all this about grading. But I wanted to encourage anybody out there. Even if you do a shorter-term, like what we are doing for a year or two, it will change the way you see the world. It will change the way you read the Bible. It really comes to life in an awesome way. To see the church in another tongue, another culture. It's honestly a glimpse of heaven, where there will be people worshiping Christ from every culture, family, and language.

Andrew's Rantings: African Americans in Appalachia

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This may seem like a rather odd post, but there is a reason here. One of the classes I teach here at Surindat Rajabhat University is "Socio-Cultural Backgrounds of English Speaking Countries". The scope and purpose of the course is to expose the students to the culture of nationalities they will encounter in the English speaking world. I mainly focused in on the UK, US and Australia. Anyway, at the end we studied art and music. As I researched how to explain American folk music, I began to realize something that I knew but never took the time to consider. See, much of American folk music came from the United Kingdom, England, Scotland and Wales. If you study any of the Appalachian songs from those mountains, you will notice a recurring theme of lovers gone to sea, or people sailing across the ocean. If you think for a moment, there were not too many people in Appalachia joining the navy or taking leisure or business trips across the Atlantic. Not THAT often anyway. The reason for all of these songs is that they came from the United Kingdom, where such travel was much more common. Most of the songs and ballads found in the Appalachian mountains and American folk music in general descended from the British Isles. But American folk music sounds much different than the folk music in the UK, it's very distinct. So I asked myself, "What makes American folk music so unique?"

Ah, now we're getting somewhere. As ghastly and terrible a thing as slavery was, the impact that the African people had as they entered American culture changed everything. Like it or not, America would not be what it is today were it not for the huge influence of African Americans on our society. And this applies even to American folk music. More than most people realize. What is the most American instrument? Perhaps the banjo? Well, honestly that's not an American born instrument, it came from the banjar, an African instrument consisting of a gourd, stick, catgut strings and skin stretched over the gourd. Look at early pictures of the instrument and you'll see that's exactly what early banjos were. Things as "American" as bluegrass and Appalachian mountain music would not sound the way they do had they not been influenced by the rhythm and instrumentation of the African Americans. Don't believe me? Listen to a few banjo licks and you'll hear a rhythm that surely did not come from the British Isles, there's definitely something else going on.

I thought this was an interesting point, because most people would never associate something like Bluegrass or Appalachian mountain music with the African American communities. But when you stop and think about it, there's a lot of association there. These people went through some horrible times at the hands of America (not that they are alone, consider the American Indian nations as well), but they persevered and have in turn influenced America for what it is today. So the next time you hear a banjo and think, "Wow, that sounds really good" (If that is in fact what you think), thank the people who worked hard to make a place for themselves in this country.

The Worldwide Banjo

Andrew playing banjo in Buutsagaan, Mongolia (2003) [Note the Mongolian Mandolin]

Well, it's official... the banjo is the new worldwide instrument of this century. Amazing that while I cannot speak a lot of Thai, I can speak perfect Thai with a banjo, whether playing their songs or songs I grew up with, when I play, the message is plain. In any language. This banjo has been all over the place... Apache reservations in Arizona, the steppes of Mongolia, and now the jungles of Thailand. Now just so you don't get worried about my sanity, there is a point to this.

We had the opportunity to have a unique guest over this past week. His name is Michael, and he is a fellow teacher here at SRU. But he doesn't teach English, he teaches science. Oh, and he's not American, English or Australian. He's Israeli. He spends half the year in Surin teaching, then spends the other half in Tel Aviv teaching. So he is fluent in Hebrew, Thai and English (perhaps others, but that's what I know). Oh yeah, and he is a big fan of bluegrass. If that doesn't make your head spin, I don't know what will.

Since we had met him a month or so ago, and he found out we played bluegrass and such, he has been practically stalking us itching to get into a picking session. So after being hunted down at a fair, we set up a lunch with him at our place. So last week, I picked him up guitar in tow and took him to our house. We played this and that, most I knew, some I didn't. At the end he played and sang a Jewish song from the Bible, but he didn't know where. He is not a believer in Jesus Christ, but I was glad that God gave us this opportunity to be a light and to build a relationship with him. I am praying that God gives us another opportunity to speak more directly with him about spiritual things. He was quite a talker actually, but really wanted to talk mostly about which bluegrass festivals he had been to in the US. After about 20 festivals, we desperately tried to get the conversation elsewhere! We thank God for each opportunity He gives here in Thailand. We are learning the value of relationships. Here, it is extremely easy to build a relationship, at least on a surface level. People are generally open and accepting unless you give them a really good reason not to like you. Keep praying that God will use us in whatever way He sees fit!

Interesting Article

I wanted to share with everyone the nature of some things here in Thailand. While in America, the issue may be homosexuality and the nature of marriage, etc... in Thailand, it is a whole different ballgame. The article says it all. I had to piece-meal it together, so forgive me if it's a bit awkward.

Valentines Day

This is Leah:
Perhaps I should start by saying Happy Valentines day to you all! I look back a year ago today and I am amazed at all that has happened.
I have been asked what I need prayer for at times by friends and family. Often people want to pray for the souls and for the ministry we are working with. These things are all wonderful and good. But prayer for our hearts sometimes is more important. There are times here in Thailand I have experienced an almost overwhelming loneliness and loss. I will be honest and open even if there are some who do not want to think of their missionaries in such a light. There have been days I could not get up, for f feeling the deep want for my family. When you leave behind your friends you leave behind a part of your heart. It was like morning for the loss of a loved one. I could not just hop back on a plane or get in a car ride to see them. On evenings when the phones would not work or the internet would fail I would want to curl up in my bed and not get out. Drew can tell you the many times he had to pull me up and read to me God's promises to encourage me. Did I stop living? Did I stop reaching out? No. I have never stopped.
Before I left for Thailand I was discouraged by a friend who I had put deep trust in. I was told I was not good enough and that we were cowards and that we would fail. In my heart I had a steady calm. A knowing that we needed to go. I have not regreated that choice for one day. It has not been the picture perfect experience. Hundreads of souls have not gotten saved. Churchs have not been planted. But are we still doing God's work? Every time I get up. Are we honoring God? As best we can! Are we missionaries? Yes. I have never stopped knowing that from the beginning. It does not matter what man may say about it. I know I am following God, loneliness and all. And I know he is bringing us through.
Around a year ago Drew and I went through a very hard struggle. I will not go into all the details, but it was a very hard day. This year as it rolled around I almost did not want to celebrate Valentines day remembering the hurts caused by others. But God told me in my heart I needed to focuse on him and not on my pain. That would only bring bitterness. However, we were invited out to a family from our church. Their son had been in the hospital for over two weeks and was finally home! They were so welcoming and happy we all could come. We had an outside barbecue with reed mats and fires and got to talk about the Lord. It may not be a romantic candle light meal for just the two of us, but it was wonderful to build relationships with these sweet friends. When Drew and I returned home we both said it was one of the best Valentines days. Gods Love is so great. I have learned this year that I can forgive past hurts. That I can move on from loneliness and put my heart and focus back on God were it belongs.
When you pray for your missionaries, yes, pray for souls and pray for ministry. But Pray for your missionaries hearts and struggles. They get lonely, they have hard days, and they cry just like you do. Its just in a different country. Pray for those things because they are just as important for God's work.
Leah Marie Kilcup

This Journey we are On

Wow, what a time. I cannot believe the semester is actually coming to an end. I still remember first coming to Thailand and thinking, "Wow, we're going to be here for a long time!" And here we are at the half way mark of sorts! It's certainly been the hardest thing we have ever endeavored to do, and yet we have seen how that God is teaching us and doing things in us that could be done perhaps nowhere else. Perhaps this is the only way God could show us what He is showing us. But that is probably another post, which we'll work on next!

This semester has been wonderful. God has allowed me to see some wonderful things happen here during this school term. I had the opportunity to share Christ with at least 60 of my students in a direct way in my class on cultures of English Speaking Countries. Then around Christmas time, we had the opportunity of introducing many of the students to the church when we helped them learn Christmas carols. We have been given many opportunities to build relationships with the students by involving ourselves in their lives via extracurricular activities. They always seem to ask for Archan Andrew and Leah's help. Incidentally, it is really something that they are on a first name basis with Leah. God has taught us the value of relationships even for sharing Christ. In this culture, it is absolutely crucial to effective evangelism, and so we are excited to see God doing this. As Surin Baptist Church looks to build (and possibly close to this university), we are hoping that any way that God has used us might help and strengthen the future of the church here in Surin. We are thankful for how God has cared for us and taken us through these 6 plus months. We are thankful to the Hayes for being there and doing a Bible study with us on Monday nights. That has given us a sounding board to get our frustrations out where we can deal with them. And we are thankful for all of our Thai friends. While we have left our families in the US, we have gained other families here in Thailand. And so we are very thankful people.

Preaching: The story of Esther

I will not spend as much time talking about the story of Esther as I did with Achan. Esther is much too long. For my second shot at storytelling God's word to Surin Baptist, I focused in on the story of Esther. Here's an interesting one though. You could tell the story and use the phrases "by chance" or "it just so happened that..." numerous times throughout the story. Of course, the point is that nothing happened by chance, but rather by an all-powerful God who was working throughout the story. I zeroed in on the idea that God is working even when we do not see it or understand it. The story of Esther is that way. You will not find God's name mentioned once. That causes some consternation to some, but to any believer in Jesus Christ, the presence of God will be all to obvious in the events. And you cannot just say it is the cleverness of the people in the story. If it were all credited to them, the Jews in Shushan would have been wiped out. Think about some of the elements of the story...

• Is it coincidence that Mordecai is related to King Saul (Kish) while Haman is an Agagite (Agag, the king that Saul spared)?
• It is just by chance that Esther is picked out of all the women in the kingdom to be the next queen?
• Mordecai refused to bow to Haman, not necessarily for religious reasons. Bowing to an official was (and is in places like Thailand) a question of honoring the office. So was Mordecai being holy or disrespectful?
• Was it coincidence that the king removed his queen in a drunken fit of rage, a moment? What king does that?
• How did Mordecai happen to overhear the plot against the king? And how was something like that just "forgotten"?
• Why did the king accept Esther twice after not speaking to her for over a month?
• Was it coincidence that the king couldn't sleep the same night Haman wanted to ask about his gallows idea?
• Was it coincidence that the king wanted to exalt Mordecai when Haman wanted to execute him?
• Was it chance that Haman was the one commanded to exalt Mordecai?
• Was it just coincidence that Haman was hung on his own gallows?

All of these things should make anybody stop and wonder, "what's going on"? The answer is clear: God is working. And how many times do we wonder in our own lives, "Where is God right now?" God is always working, He never rests or sleeps, He is constantly caring and watching over our lives.

Preaching: The story of Achan

I had the opportunity to preach while Jim and Kathi were away, Jim in the US teaching a course on missions, and Kathi in Poland visiting her daughter. At any rate, I was very nervous about the opportunity and wrestled with what to do. As my Thai is not quite up to par (at all), I had to use a translator. Jim and I have talked much about using the form of storytelling to communicate the message of God's Word to Thais. There's much to say about that. Namely, the fact that most of the Bible is written in story format should clue us in to perhaps using a story format to communicate those messages. Perhaps taking a story in the Bible and dissecting it into 3 points and a poem does just that. It dissects it. And dissected things are usually dead. Anyway, this isn't a polemic for narrative preaching. The truth is that I have been learning the power of a story, even in proclaiming God's word. Is it any curiosity that Jesus Himself used stories so many times to help people understand the sometimes confusing and seemingly paradoxical messages He brought to them? How would YOU explain something like the New Covenant to Jews in that day? To them, it seemed like a hostile attack on the law. So Jesus taught in stories.

All that to say, I gave a shot at it on January 20th, preaching out of Joshua 7 on the story of Achan. If I had to give the sermon a title, it would be "When you cannot rewind." Funny thing about the story of Achan, there's something that few people seem to have noticed. Of course, many know the story. Israel defeats Jericho and is so excited about God giving them victory, they just want to keep going. So Ai is next, at which 36 soldiers end up dead. A bit of a shock, as it indicates that God is not with them, leaving many asking "What is going on?" Including Joshua. He's on his face complaining to God that they were better off on the east side of Jordan, that now God's name is going to be run through the mud, and Israel looks abandoned. God's answer is classic and simple. "Get up". The fact was, nothing was being done about the problem, so God reveals that somebody took something from Jericho when it was supposed to be offered as a complete sacrifice to Him. Enter Achan. Apparently, he knew better than God and decided the expensive Babylonian coat and gold was better off in his tent than in the fire. So now 36 people are dead, 36 families are fatherless and husbandless. To put it frankly, Achan is looking like quite the selfish jerk here. And that is quite the truth! He's really the one responsible for all of this. So God tells Joshua to divide the people up by tribe, clan, and family, down to the heads of each individual family. It all funnels down to Achan. As Joshua stands in front of Achan though, he says something odd. He doesn't say, "You're in for it now" or "What were you thinking?" No, he says, "My son, give glory to the Lord, the God of Israel, and make confession to Him." Hmmm, maybe not what I would have said. Here's the kicker, Achan does what Joshua says. And we know the rest of the story, it's not really a "happy ending". Achan confesses, they find the stuff, and burn it and himself as a punishment. By the way, in case that sounds overly harsh, think about it this way. The stuff that he stole was committed to be a sacrifice to the Lord, literally a burnt offering. When Achan stole that, he also took the fate of the items. He wanted connection to the goods? He got it, but he also got its destiny. Anyway, he is executed and Israel goes on to defeat Ai. So Achan's the bad guy, right? Yes. No.

See, what people don't realize is that Achan actually glorified God as a final act. The last thing that Achan does in his life is bring glory to God. And didn't he? Joshua asked him to do just that, and he DID. So what's the point? Even if it's the last thing you do on this earth, you can ALWAYS make a right choice, no matter how bad or how many wrong choices you have made. We are never resigned to just do wrong. This I presented as it is, a story. I asked some questions at the end and did my best to drive home the point that the story itself makes. I hope and pray it was a blessing and a challenge to the people, or even to you! No matter what you have done or might do, with the Holy Spirit indwelling us, we CAN always choose to do what is right.

SIFF: Surin International Folk Festival

These are our prestigious tags. They got us in for free. Notice: We are Thai Staff!

Here's Leah talking to her Italian distant relatives! She figured it out!

This is the performer from China. She sang very well, but VERY high and VERY loud!

Somewhere around mid-January, Surin Rajabhat University, where I work, put on an international folk festival. I was told that they would invite people from different countries, and so I expected some of what I saw, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, etc... But I did not expect to see Lithuania, Italy, China and Norway there! There really WERE people from all over the world at the festival to perform their traditional music and dances.

Honestly, the most impressive was the Philippines. They had the most animated dances, jumping and flipping, and doing things with candles and light. It really was amazing to see. And perhaps it was a little taste of heaven in this sense: In Revelation 5 it speaks of people coming to Christ from every family and nation and culture on the earth, and later singing and speaking His praise. So while these people were not necessarily praising the true God, it was interesting to see different cultures, hear their language and see their interpretation of life.

One funny thing did happen. See, the Thais were having trouble understanding what one group wanted. Could you guess it? That's right, the Italians. They were asking where the kitchen was, and the Thais could not figure out why they wanted to know where the kitchen was. So of course, they turned to their resident Italian, Leah Kilcup. She was dragged over to the Italian table where they were told, "she's Italian". As their nature would have it, they began rattling off to her in Italian. Now Leah does understand some Italian, but not at 90 mph! So she did her bes t to get them to slow down long enough for her to understand. Come to find out, they wanted to clear the table and wash the dishes, and needed to know where the kitchen was to do so. Leah explained that in Thailand, they do EVERYTHING for you. After a while, they came to terms with the way things are done here, and let the Thais clear their table. But you could tell they felt a little awkward. It was really a neat experience, I told Leah she was with "her people". We laughed about it, but the truth is that we are here to serve however we can. Even if it is interpreting in languages we don't really know. I did have another Thai student come to me and ask if I could interpret for the Israelis. I don't know Hebrew THAT well at all!

Playing Catchup: New Years in Rayong

Leah feeding a sea turtle. He's a biggie!
Leah with her braids. Pretty islandy, eh?


Andrew very cold in the back of the truck!

Whoa! Long time, no post! It's amazing how things get so out of hand. Though I do go to other blogs and see they haven't posted for six months at a time, so it somehow makes me feel justified or something in my own neglect. Not really. Well, let's get everybody up to speed on things around here. First, New Years. We went to the beach in Rayong, a nice little town about 5 hours from Surin, and two hours from Bangkok. It's kind of between the two cities but south. Anyway, we had a wonderful time with many of the people from Surin Baptist Church. The Jones were able to join us from Bangkok as well.

It was very nice to be able to spend so much time with our Thai friends. We took a boat to an island where we could enter the gulf of Thailand. I must say I've never seen water like it, apparently much like Caribbean water, blue and transparent. Not like the beautiful brown or gray water in Ocean City, Maryland! Leah stepped out on a limb and got her hair done at the beach. They did her hair all in braids, tons of them. It didn't stay long, but she was the adventurous one to try it out. We took a bouncy ride back from the island, saw some fisheries, and ate lots of wonderful Thai food. It was a nice little vacation and a great way to get to know some of the people better. We watched the New Year come with Amanda, Orawan and Ya on the beach just talking about this and that and watching some guy about 20 meters away set off fireworks. We thought we were going to get blown up. He wasn't exactly following any regulations. Coming back from Rayong, it decided to get very cold. This was only a problem because four of us were riding in the back of the truck. Brrrrr! (Thought I'd NEVER say that here in Thailand, but it happens) This was more of a personal note to let you know what life is like. We really enjoy when we can take a break and catch a change of scenery, it was very renewing in our hearts and spirits and we came back ready to go at it again!

Caroling in Thailand

So what's Christmas like in Thailand? Well, we will be posting a couple of times about all we did and saw during Christmas this year. I wanted to take the first chance to tell you all about a really neat opportunity we had before Christmas. One of my classes had an assignment to do a number of things in celebration of Christmas, one of which was to go caroling. So they loaded up a sleigh (cart) with gifts and somebody dressed like "Santa", and we embarked on our quest. We walked all around the campus at Surin Rajabhat knocking on the doors of the faculty and singing them a couple of Christmas carols. Oh, and there were somewhere around 75-100 students doing this! Yikes, quite a group. Usually you go caroling with maybe 5-10 people... not here! It was a wonderful time though. I brought along my guitar and we sang song after song until our voices were petering out! We walked around and by barking dogs, packs of dogs, and dogs on patrol.



We went for quite awhile, until everybody was exhausted! But it was a great opportunity to see these kids singing the praise of Christ's coming to earth. Now, granted. Many of them sang without really understanding all of significance behind the virgin birth or the coming of the Messiah, but they certainly understood something. Jim and Kathi were able to be there as well, which was wonderful. So we all had a part in building yet more bridges to these college students. I thank the Lord that He has put us where we are, and look forward very much to what He will do in the future! Thank you all for praying so much, God is at work all over the world!

Tribute to a Great Man

Well, it's been awhile since the last post. December has been an extremely busy month! Within the first two weeks in December, we took a week's leave to go back to the US for my Grandfather's funeral. It was quite an event. I've never been so proud to be related to somebody like this. My Grandfather's body was laid to rest in Arlington National Cemetery on December 10. It was a great trip home seeing family and friends and telling everybody we could about all that God is doing in Thailand. But the real reason for making such a long long long (did I mention the flight was long?) journey was for my Grandfather. He passed away in September, but because of being buried in Arlington, there was a wait for the service there.

My Grandfather was given so many honors. For starters, they took his casket from the hearse and laid it onto a caisson (horse drawn carriage), pulled by a team of horses. Following behind the caisson was a riderless horse with a pair of boots turned backwards in the stirrups. As they were preparing the procession, a military band played "Amazing Grace". Finally, the procession began, and family and friends walked behind the caisson and the horse. Fittingly enough, the horse that walked behind the casket was a rather spirited horse, who bucked and kicked enough that my mother said, "He would have wanted this kind of horse...". We followed the procession through the mazes of memories of heroes gone by, until we came to my Grandfather's plot. There, the soldiers carried his coffin to the burial site, where a short graveside service was held. They folded up the flag and fired off a twenty-one gun salute. Taps was played, a lonely and somber tune against the stillness of that cold and gray December day in Virginia. Oddly enough, the whole time we were in Maryland, it was basically gray and cloudy. But that day, God saw fit to give us some sun peaking out, just for the ceremony.

It is an honor to follow in the footsteps of this great man. I have many precious and dear memories of sailing the Chesapeake with him, eating at Riverdales, getting yelled at for having my hat backwards, picking at crabs, drinking root bear, eating basically raw meat, talking about the civil war... I really could go on and on. Standing there on that cold day I thought, what will my life amount to when it is my time? What will my life have accomplished when people are standing around my grave? In this I find great hope, it is not for me to determine that. God asks me to follow Him each day, and as I obey and seek His will, He will give me a life of purpose and meaning, found in Him!

Inside the Mind of a Thai Student...

In case any of you are interested and want to see some of what my Thai students are up to, I started another blog to post some of their work online. The purpose for this was to encourage them to do their best. See, each week we have a bit of a contest in my Creative Writing class. Whoever writes the most creative assignment gets it posted on the blog as the winner. They seem to really like the idea. Either way, it also is interesting to see their perspective on things, so check it out if you feel like it!

http://srucreative.blogspot.com

Keeping You Up to Speed

Well, it's been a little while since the last post. Let's see, that was elephant roundup, eh? Well, much has been happening since then. Our cat is putting on a little more weight, that's good. I'm always afraid I'll step on him and put him in intensive care or something. We've had some opportunities come up with my 3rd year English Majors at SRU. Apparently, they are supposed to put on a Christmas program at SRU, and asked myself and Leah if we would help them with the songs. So we agreed, I will be playing the piano, and Leah helped them learn parts for five out of the nine songs we are performing. They caught on really fast, even with the parts. Most of the group are girls, but there is one guy who has braved the rigors of all this choral stuff! We are praying we can be an influence for Christ with them. The one girl in the class, May, is the one heading this up. Which makes sense, because she goes to Surin Baptist. So basically, we were able to introduce a whole class of college kids to the church every day this week, as we practiced in the evenings. Later in December, we will help them with their performance at SRU, and then go out caroling with them. (They go around to faculty houses and sing the carols, so they wanted me to accompany with the mandolin)


In other news, our music CD is almost done. Some of you may or may not have heard about this, but we have put together a collection of recordings from the ladies here at Surin Baptist. It's a bit different. Most of them are songs from America, translated into Thai. They are some of the favorite songs of the people here. There are a couple that are purely Thai hymns or spiritual songs. However, as I was in charge of instrumentation, it is mostly Appalachian style. Well, there is one song we do with the Thai instruments, but the others are all guitar, banjo, mandolin, you get the drift. So... what do you call this new style of music? Hence, we created a term "Thaippalachia". I will post the cover we designed here. The title is "Living for Christ", which is one of the Thai songs they sing. It's a beautiful song about the new life found in Jesus Christ. Something that almost has new meaning, living in a culture that is so much Buddhist. To find a Christian usually means they have put up with some level of being ostracized, or experiencing some kind of setback for following Christ. I don't know whether we can actually sell this thing, what with copyrights and such, but we are looking into how we can get it out. Either way, it's been a lot of what we've been doing recently, and I think what we have in the end now is well worth the time and energy!

Pray for us as we are traveling back to the States for a week. My Grandfather, Colonel Brown (affectionately known as Pop-pop by the grandsons), passed away a couple months ago, and as he is being buried in Arlington National Cemetery with full military honors and so on, the funeral itself was scheduled to take place much later. Hence, we travel now. But God has worked this out perfectly, so we are excited about the opportunity to say hello to everybody again. I will probably write again after that, I know it will be a very thought provoking ceremony. So pray as we travel. We have an 8 hour train ride to Bangkok. Then waiting for 10 hours until our plane leaves, then flying for about 20 hours until we arrive in DC. Ugh. Not the most fun in the world, but it's better than swimming!

Till next time!

Andrew

Elephant Roundup

Sai reading her part during the presentations (she is in the black with the white on the shoulders)

Well, we just got through the Elephant Roundup in Surin for 2007. This is the big event that is centered in Surin. People come from all over Thailand, even all over the world just to see this event. It lasts for about 4 days and all takes place in my backyard! Every night, there was a concert (at the loudest decibels of course) just across the street, and a fair that is running even to this day. The fair was really something, just like an American carnival with rides and everything, but instead of artery clogging stuff, you could buy bugs or papaya salad, or pad thai. Incredible, we were loving it. Why, they even had Thai bingo going on around every corner. The only difference was the ear-drum busting volume at which the leader bellowed out the numbers. Absolutely deafening.

Elephant Buffet- check out the jaws on this guy!

The first real day started with the presentations by the local schools. We went around with our Thai teacher, Khru Wee, who was given a microphone (always dangerous for a Thai, they love 'em) and proceeded to have us try out the Thai words for every vegetable or fruit featured on the floats.

Hey! No snitching!

It was very good practice, and it was televised. So we are famous... somewhere, we just don't know where. It was a really neat thing to see, the school kids put a lot of work into the floats and the presentations. There was all kinds of Thai dance and traditional music being played, and Sai from Surin Baptist read the English welcome for her school. They had her in all the traditional regalia, she looked great, and did her part perfectly. Made us so proud! She was just one big smile the whole evening.

The elephant Stadium in Surin, just down the street from our house!

The next day, I was told by Khru Wee that I needed to be at the "Elephant Buffet" in the morning. So I finished up my morning class and hurried over to the main road. There, they had large tables piled high with melons, sugar cane, cucumbers, bananas, and various turnips and roots. The elephants paraded in and proceeded to tear into the tables of food. Everybody sat behind the tables and fed the elephants. It's kinda weird to be sitting across the table from a couple ton galoot who is feeding his face with everything in sight. They are so huge and slow, but so very precise with their movements. They are strong enough to do incredible damage, but careful enough to take a melon from a child's hand. Amazing.

The Burmese army reenactors march in

On Saturday, they held the actual Elephant Roundup. This was positively amazing. About 300 some elephants paraded at one time into the arena that they have built. They did cultural shows, elephant demonstrations, and even a reenacted battle. I've never seen anything like it! Our own Archan Jim narrated in English for the "farang" guests. You're looking at the show and understanding the amount of elephants running around in front of you, but it's hard to really fathom that. My favorite part by far though was the battle reenactment. It was Thailand against Burma in costuming that was reminiscent of a couple hundred years ago. So there were swords and spears and such, but also cannons.

The fighters engage! Lots of action!

Very cool costuming though! They had explosions going on all over the field, it was really incredible. Then at the end, they had the king come out on the biggest elephant, a monster of an animal all decorated with gold, and they played the kings song. This is a song that they play all the time here, at 8:00am and 6:00pm every day. So everybody knows it, and is supposed to stand out of respect when they play it. So it made for quite an ending!

Thai traditional dance at ancient ruins

That night we went to a cultural show at some ancient ruins near Surin. Dr. Li and her family took myself, Leah and Amanda to see this. We were expecting to pay for the 100 baht seats (about $3 USD), but she insisted on paying for this, because she was the elder of us. So we let her, assuming this was a cultural thing. Well, this was actually because we didn't sit in the 100 baht section, we sat in the 3000 baht section. Right behind the governor of Surin! Yikes! I felt seriously under-dressed. They started off with a fashion show of Thai silk dresses, so Leah and Amanda were loving that. Then they did a cultural show telling stories of the ruins and legends, etc... There was such beautiful lights and sound, dances and music. All in all, it really gave me a new-found appreciation for this culture and their ways. There are so many things here that ring true of biblical culture. Like the agricultural rice-farming communities, even Thai dance is probably a lot closer to the dance described in the Bible. It puts things in a fresh light. For instance, the descriptions in the Bible of the early and latter rains and how that affected the harvests. Well, here in Thailand things have to happen just right for a good rice harvest, something that a lot of the dear church people depend upon for survival. Too much rain and it drowns the rice, too little, and it withers. You get the picture.

So that was basically the elephant roundup. We had a little more trouble getting around as there were tons of people and literally tons of elephants walking all around Surin. I found myself dodging people and elephants as I motorcycled around the town. What an experience!

-Andrew

A Wonderful Opportunity at SRU

I am still amazed at our Lord. I am honored, humbled... everything at the wonderful chance I had to let these college students know about Jesus. That is all I wanted to do with them, was to let them know that God loved them so much that He came Himself to take care of our sin that we could do nothing about. And I think they understood it. I used many illustrations, both verbal and pictorial, as well as a song at the end. I taught them "How deep the Father's love for us", but had it written in their notes in Thai. I wanted to make sure they understood what it was all about. However, the rest of the lesson was in English (as it is an English class after all!), so I repeated and restated what I was trying to get across. I started off by clarifying some things about Christianity, such as where did it come from. Many people here view Christianity as a European or American religion, so I told them how it really started in the land of Israel in the middle east. I was hoping that would help them to think of this as something that could be for them, instead of writing it off as an attempt to Americanize them.

I told them the story of the gospel as the story of God redeeming mankind to Himself. Think about it, is there a more beautiful story, really? An all powerful God creates man for friendship, and that creation rebels and breaks the one rule that He had set. Because of that, man is separated from his God. Throughout the years, man's attempts to reach God are futile because of his own sin. So God comes down to man Himself and takes the punishment for that sin in the person of Jesus Christ. Because of this, man can be reunited with God. I said more than that, and not using those exact terms, but at the end, I really felt they understood what was being said. And I know they understood the song. I told them over and over again that God loved us so much, that He allowed His own people to kill Him in order to bring us to Him.

I had much freedom to say what I wanted to say, and I certainly am grateful for that, but I was cautioned against pressuring the students. So I simply left it open to come and see me if they had questions about anything. I don't know if they will, but I know they heard about Jesus today. Thank you to all who were praying for this. I want to let all of you know how much we appreciate the prayers, we are excited about the opportunities that God has given us here and are working to make the best use of each one!

I am not sure how many of the students had heard of Jesus before, but I am thankful to God for the chance to present our Savior in such a way. I have found that being here in Thailand makes me think about many things, see things in ways I had not thought of before. It tends to put things in perspective. As I was teaching today, presenting Christ to people who had no idea about this life, it dawned on me yet again the raw power and the incredible love contained in the story of the Jesus. Sure makes it worth dying or living for Him!

Drew

Opportunity of a Life-time...

Hello all you who are praying out there! I wanted to give you a quick prayer request. This week in my "Backgrounds of English Speaking Countries" class, the subject is on religion in English speaking countries. I am planning on taking this opportunity to tell the class about Christianity. Of course, it's not just going to be a history lesson on the church, rather I am going to take them on a 1.5 hour tour through the Bible, looking at what God has done with man, and how that climaxed with the person of Jesus Christ. While I will probably not teach this the exact same way I would in the States (Thailand is open to the gospel, but one shouldn't be careless), it is an incredible opportunity to show them the Way the Truth and the Life. I am going to teach them the song "How deep the Father's love for us" as I believe it embodies the gospel in a clear and powerful way. I have it in Thai with a transliterated copy that I can sing with them. Please be praying that this goes well. Oh, and it's a class of about 60 students, the biggest one I have! But these are the opportunities afforded to me by my position here at SRU. So I praise God that He has put me here and will do the best with the opportunity He has given me. Thank you all, and know that I will report how it goes. I plan on leaving it open ended (I don't think an invitation would be in order...) and inviting them to learn more at the English Bible Study we have on Sundays.

All our love!

Drew