Austins in Thailand

There are soldiers with machine guns not far from my home. They are young. They look bored. But they have machine guns. I’m thankful there are no tanks!

The coup in Thailand has not affected us much. There is uncertainty. There have been promises. There is hope.

Not too long ago the lady cutting my hair commented on the politics of her country. She stated, “I’m not worried. My king is on the throne. He is our father and he will take care of us.” She was not talking about God, but about the good king of Thailand. But that attitude of trust in another has not only given Thailand great stability, but it points beyond this world to another.

Our world is at war. There are forces poised to tear us apart. There are weapons of war far deadlier than machine guns and tanks seeking us out. Do we have the confidence of a Thai hairdresser? Are we at peace because our father is on the throne?

Over the years we have heard some great comments and questions from both Thais and Westerners in Thailand. Here are just a few of the interesting ones:

 

A Thai woman, perplexed by our inability to speak Thai fluently after only being in the country a few months, asked: “We learn English in our schools; don’t you learn Thai in schools in America?�

 

A Thai friend complaining about Westerner’s driving stated: “Westerners are bad drivers because they go when the light is green.�

 

An American, newly arrived in Thailand, asked, “We can use American money here, right?�

 

When writing an email Thai people make a joke and follow the joke with a row of fives. Five in Thailand is pronounced as “ha� with a falling tone. So. . . . crack a joke and write 555 = ha, ha, ha!

Remember Your Thai Ancestors in the Faith

“We are not strangers, but part of the family of God. We are a building built upon the foundation of the prophets and apostles and with Christ the cornerstone. Christ holds us together. We are a holy temple where God’s spirit lives. . .� Eph 2:19-22

It’s important to remember our foundations. All those who came before us are our ancestors. God has created a great family from every tribe and language. Here are some of your Thai ancestors in the faith:

Moung Shway-pwen was the first known Thai person converted. His conversion is interesting: Thai people were taken as prisoners of war to Burma in the 18^th Century. Some time later, Ann Judson, missionary to Burma, met some of the offspring of these prisoners of war and evangelized them. His name is Burmese, but he was Thai.

Noi Sunya and Nan Chai were martyrs in Chiang Mai on Sept. 12, 1869. The King of Lanna (the kingdom where modern Chiang Mai now stands) felt threatened by their Christianity and forbid them practicing their faith. They refused and were tortured then clubbed to death. Thai Christians in Chiang Mai attribute this sacrifice as one of the factors which opened the North of Thailand to Christianity. Today there are considerably more Christians in Lanna (Northern Thailand) than in the rest of the country.

Nang Esther Naa Pradipasena was the first known woman convert in Siam in 1860.

During WWII the Japanese invaded Thailand. The conquerors were sympathetic to Thai Buddhism, but not Christianity. The Japanese sought to close all Christian schools and churches but were unsuccessful with one Christian School in Chiang Mai. The Siamese Commissioner of Education, under Japanese orders, told Kru (teacher) Amorn, the headmaster of a large Christian School in Chiang Mai, that he must replace all Christian teachers with Buddhists. He replied that he would resign first. It was suggested that he and the teachers merely say they were Buddhists. “That,� he said, “would be easy, but with what result? I am a third-generation Christian and if I deny Jesus Christ, neither you nor anyone else will ever trust me. I will be unworthy to remain principal and, if I am ready to be a traitor to my religion, I will be just as ready to betray my country.� . . . . They relented and allowed the teachers to remain and the school to stay open.

Want to know more? Read the fascinating book, Siamese Gold by Alex G. Smith

 

Winston Churchill Addressing Primary School

After WWII Churchill was invited to speak at a primary school. His speech made quite an impression. He walked to the podium, looked over the children seated politely in front of him and said, “Never . . . never . . . never . . . give up!� Then he sat down. We are fighting a greater, even more important battle. We can never . . . never . . . never . . . give up.

 

What’s Driving Like in Thailand?

“Puffing casually on a filthy great cheroot, he flung the car along steep, winding, unsurfaced mountain roads while a wide-eyed Tweetie Pie toy attached to the dashboard headbanged its approval. He was your classic Buddhist driver: one foot on the accelerator, the other in the afterlife. He lived in a world without brakes.�

From The Trouser People by Andrew Marshall

We were stopped at the red light. Cars and motorcycles; trucks and buses. The time clock next to the light was ticking down in bright green. We all knew how much time we had.

She was in the back of a pickup. Twelve years old? She looked cold in the early morning light. Her younger brother wiggled next to her. Where had she come from? Where was she going? She looked around as if she were seeing things for the first time. Maybe she was from the mountains going shopping for supplies with her family. . . The countdown was 59 seconds.

A young boy was walking from car to car, strings of sweet smelling jasmine to sell. I see him at this same intersection day after day; night after night. Dirty tee-shirt and worn jeans; jasmine perfectly white on the string. Why isn’t he in school? Where is his mother? The countdown was 31 seconds.

A newly washed Mercedes in front; a dirty truck behind. The temple on the mountain in the distance glowed gold under a clear blue sky. The countdown was 19 seconds.

Time seemed to stop. The crush of humanity rushing to stand still with the clock counting down. Down to zero. Down to eternity. Down to a hope sung loud and clear by creation all around us. Down to a grace springing up for all to see. Down to an existence on earth – living or dying; heaven or hell. But does the jasmine boy hear the songs of hope? Does the pickup girl see the grace? What about the business man in his Mercedes in front of me? What about the teenagers weaving to the front of the line on their motorcycles? What about me trapped in the car with the light ticking down?

Eventually the clock ticked down to zero. The motorcycles roared into the distance. The jasmine boy stood on the roadside waiting for the next red light. The pickup with the girl turned and I lost sight of her. I drove on thinking of the faces and lives of just a few caught by the light with time ticking down.

Time ticking down.

 Note:  Look for this article in an upcoming issue of Light and Life Magazine!