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2 weeks helping out at the Christadelphian Thailand Learning Centre in Chiang Mai Read more
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  • Thailand (Chiang Mai)
    Day 11

    Wet, Wet, Wet

    April 14 in Thailand ⋅ ⛅ 38 °C

    Jake had arrived back at the TLC from his ‘border bounce’ just after we had gone to bed last night.
    He had needed to cross the border and re enter Thailand because he was staying longer than the maximum 30 days allowable under a tourist visa. The nearest country is Myanmar but there are no land border crossings open between them and Thailand. This meant that a crossing into communist ruled Laos - the only landlocked country in south east Asia - was what was required.
    A 5 hour drive to ‘Friendship Bridge No. 4’, a shuttle bus across no man’s land of the Mekong River for a stamp on the passport and then a return is officially a ‘border bounce’. However Jake chose to stay a night in Laos in a National Park treehouse in the jungle which he said was an amazing experience. About 30 or so zip lines were needed to be traversed as this is the only way into the house.

    Today commenced in the usual way with breakfast and then the Memorial Meeting. Both before and after breakfast work was underway to complete the tables and bench seats to take to the Long Neck village tomorrow.

    For Loss and I, the rest of the day was rather damp, despite the weather being hot and dry.

    The plan was for everyone to head into Chiang Mai city (about half an hour’s drive / ride away) to get to the epicentre of the Songkran festivities. It is absolutely huge here in Thailand and the students really wanted to be part of this on their free afternoon. There were just not enough seats in the van to accommodate everyone, so Loss and I were designated to scooter in while the rest vanned in.
    We met at the Tha Phae gate which was one of the main gates through the ancient city walls into the Old City. Those in the van got stuck in a traffic jam due to the festivities and had to disgorge their occupants quite a distance away.
    On the scooter we were able to weave in and out of barely moving vehicles (mainly utes full of people and water appliances in the back) and we scored a parking spot just meters from our destination and then waited for the van occupants to arrive.
    There was an incredible carnival atmosphere with only one theme - water. The whole area was heaving with people and every few seconds you would be wet by someone passing by.
    Abi and the McGeorge boys decided that their little pump-action water pistols were not powerful enough and stopped to buy a much higher powered version with full backpack water storage. This gave them much more serious firepower and from time to time we were all on the wrong end of some well directed ‘friendly fire’.

    After an hour or so of this it was time to start heading off. Loss and I bid them farewell, rode back to the ‘One Nimmon’ precinct for some food and drink and eventually got back to the TLC just on sunset and only slightly after the others.

    It was a moisture laden day and the locals never seem to tire of the activity.

    Loss and I got drenched by all the hoses, buckets and water pistols on the ride there.
    We got drenched again repeatedly during our walk around the city centre area.
    And then we got drenched again by the roadside snipers on our ride back to the TLC.

    Yes indeed, it was wet, wet, wet.    Read more

  • Thailand (Chiang Mai)
    Day 12

    Culture cancelled

    April 15 in Thailand ⋅ ☀️ 37 °C

    A full blown thunderstorm this afternoon put paid to our plans to visit the Karen Long Neck cultural village to deliver the newly made tables and seats and to conduct Sunday School. Apart from the fact that the timber (and us) would have gotten soaked, the village would have been a slippery quagmire with torrents of water running through the Main Street.
    We’ll need to find another time to make the delivery.
    The morning was typically busy and hot. Loss and I were not required around lunchtime today so we slipped away for a delightful lunch a few minutes up the road at Fleur. The location was incredibly unlikely but the food, coffee and ambience of the place were excellent.
    The afternoon rainstorm also cancelled the heat.
    For the first time since we arrived it was pleasant enough during daylight hours to feel inclined to get some real exercise. I donned the joggers and went for a brisk walk but after a short while I was forced to retreat to avoid the crowds still celebrating Songkran by drenching passers-by with water. There is only so many times you can smile while being made soggy yet again.
    Some board and card games were also enjoyed. As you can imagine, the Farang participants were highly animated, loud and competitive.
    Pre dinner Bible reading was presented then the boys all left for our night off. Into the crowded Chiang Mai city with festivities still in full swing, we enjoyed a 1.5 hour massage followed by dinner at an upmarket(ish) burger joint called Rockme burgers.
    With strategic footwork we managed to navigate the streets back to the van with only Sam becoming a water victim. We dropped Sam off at a motel that he and Abi were staying at for the night (as tomorrow is their day off) and the remaining 3 of us motored back to the TLC at 11pm.    Read more

  • Thailand (Chiang Mai)
    1
    Day 13

    Slow news day

    April 16 in Thailand ⋅ ☀️ 36 °C

    No click-bait on the title - today was pretty much a ‘steady as she goes’ day.
    Meals, lessons and weather continued much the same as previously without an afternoon storm.
    Just two main points of interest stand out for today.
    The first and most encouraging thing is that one of the students is expressing interest in taking her Bible study further with us- which is a big part of what all this is about- so that’s exciting.

    The second point of interest was to go to the farmers’ markets this afternoon again. As I’m teaching John the Baptist tomorrow, I was hoping to get some of the fried bugs we saw for sale last week to share with the class but alas, that vendor wasn’t there today. In fact the market was severely depleted due to the ongoing Songkran celebrations.
    The other notable thing at the markets were that there were quite a number of the Long Neck village girls there doing their shopping ‘incognito’.

    Due to the fact that the Long Neck village derives most of its income from tourists paying an admission fee to come and stare at them and take photos - the powers that be pressure them to wear scarves over the neck rings when they are out in public so that they don’t provide a free photo opportunity. All rather sad.

    Tonight was a lesson and craft activity based on the theme ‘What would Jesus Do?’ It seemed to be well received and enjoyed.    Read more

  • Thailand (Chiang Mai)
    Day 14

    This is what it’s all about

    April 17 in Thailand ⋅ ☀️ 37 °C

    Today was a particularly exciting and satisfying day. When Sam told me the news at morning tea I felt a shiver run up my spine.

    We have been steadily working here with the students on all aspects of the learning program and of course focussing on Bible studies. One of our longer term students today confessed his need and desire for baptism and this will happen, God willing, on April 29 or 30.

    Somchai is a lovely young man and has been steadily growing in his faith and understanding. Many others before me have spent time with Somchai and I have had a couple of sessions with him (including our 4 hour marathon a few afternoons ago). Sam had a one on one session again with Somchai this morning.

    You might remember from my previous post that although I felt Somchai was ready for baptism, he wasn’t quite sure himself. Today Sam (among other things) went through the Ethiopian Eunuch story with him and Somchai confessed his belief and quoted Acts 8: 37 - ‘I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God’ (see the screenshot of Sam’s WhatsApp post to us all here this morning).
    Although Loss and I will have returned home before Somchai’s baptism, we hope to join in via Zoom - as I’m sure will others who have been here before us.

    Well nothing was really going to top that for news today but there are a few other things to report.

    Sessions went well this morning and after back to back solo teaching sessions Loss and I were ready for a brief respite.
    We jumped on the scooter and headed off 5 minutes up the road to another local cafe - DB Slot - for an excellent pre-lunch iced coffee in air conditioned comfort. It was very tempting to sit there and keep working through emails and other stuff in the comfort - in fact I deliberately delayed our departure by ordering a second coffee - but we had to be back by lunchtime as I was scheduled to do a test Zoom call with Ric Steel and the I.T. team at Rathmines in preparation for our linkup during tonight’s preaching night at Bible School.
    This all worked perfectly well. The internet and Wifi is surprisingly quick and robust here; probably better than we enjoy at home.

    After lunch Loss and Sam were doing ‘computers’ with the students. As I headed up to take a photo, I noted they were learning about ‘What is a USB drive?’ and learning to type in English on a QWERTY keyboard. All very basic stuff for us, but for most of the students the laptops they are using is the very first time they have laid their hands on a computer. Having said that, they are not without some knowledge of technology as smart phones are ubiquitous.

    This afternoon I spent a little time booking a couple of activities for tomorrow, as it is our scheduled day off. It will be our last opportunity to have a bit of an explore around this part of Thailand as Friday morning they are working us hard here at the TLC before we leave for home just after lunch.

    The live Zoom cross to Bible School just before dinner seemed to work really well. I must confess to being a little nervous as we were waiting for the connection as there are so many aspects of it that are outside your control. A little bit of ‘lag’ made it a bit challenging when responding to questions and we accidentally found ourselves talking over the top of Ric at the other end.
    Hopefully it might spark a little interest in the continuing work here.

    Tonight was a ‘Bible Art’ session with Abi upstairs. While all the other students seemed to be engaging with this it was also so encouraging to see Somchai (who had finished this project a while ago) using this time to pore over his baptism notes and lessons with Ebenezer :)    Read more

  • Thailand (Chiang Mai)
    1
    Day 15

    All Creatures Great and Small

    April 18 in Thailand ⋅ ⛅ 34 °C

    Up at 6.45am to head off to make the most of our day off. The plan was to make it a mix of activity and relaxation.

    We scootered off after a coffee and a bite to eat and headed north for the Mae Rim Elephant Sanctuary experience.
    After taking the slightly longer and more scenic route we arrived right on time for the 8.30 start.
    A short video explaining the history of the sanctuary and how the 6 elephants we would be interacting with had all been rescued from cruel operations such as logging. A quick change into some rather unflattering ‘Elephant keeper’ clothes and we headed out to start feeding the elephants copious quantities of bananas and pumpkin. Everyone is encouraged to interact with them by touching, patting and even kissing!
    Next was getting into a muddy dam with the elephants to give them a mud bath and they made sure we also go a bit of the same treatment.
    We then emerged from that dam into a ‘clean’ dam to wash them (and ourselves) all down. Finally we said goodbye to the elephants, had a warm shower and then a swim in a really nice ‘human pool’. This was followed by some lunch which was excellent.

    It was now the middle of the day and it was hot. We scootered about 40 minutes into central Chiang Mai to the Shangri-La hotel. For a small fee you can use the pool and facilities and this was most welcome. Drinks and a poolside snack and several swims was a great way to spend a couple of hours.

    We eventually reluctantly left the Shangri-La and scootered out to the Chiang Mai Night Safari. The ethics of this very large establishment are somewhat less robust than the elephant sanctuary.
    We din’t see any cruelty to any animals but they (especially the tigers) are very trained to perform ‘tricks’ and unnatural behaviour for the entertainment of the crowds.
    The safari tram was well done. Many of the animals were of interest but we perhaps didn’t get as excited about the kangaroos and emus as some of the other visitors.

    At the conclusion of the night predator display which was very well done, we bumped into Sam and Abi and the McGeorge boys who were there as a treat for Theo’s birthday.
    On to the scooter again and off to Sense Garden for an hour long massage then One Nimman for a 10pm dinner.
    A quick refuel on the way back to TLC and we had made the most of our free day - almost making it run into the next day :)    Read more

  • Thailand (Chiang Mai)
    Day 16

    Farewells

    April 19 in Thailand ⋅ 🌙 31 °C

    It is time to leave.

    The ‘Grab’ (Thailand’s version of Uber) has arrived and the tiny Honda hatch looks to be about the same size as a Smart Car. We manage to shoehorn ourselves and the luggage in and with more than a tinge of sadness wave goodbye to the TLC crew.

    Our last morning here was busy. Morning Devotion then back-to-back teaching lessons meant we went out with a bang and not a whimper.
    Phone calls home, last minute packing and an impromptu handover briefing for Tim Bailey who had just arrived to take over where Loss and I left off occupied the rest of our time until our micro transport arrived just before 2pm to start us homeward bound.

    It’s been just on two weeks but it has gone by in a flash. As always with these types of endeavours there are moments of disappointment and frustration but these were far outweighed by the very rewarding work with which we have been involved. Most gratifying of all was to be working closely with other like-minded sharers of our Hope - and especially to see the progression and commitment to baptism of another one of Adam’s race.
    All the students (and Ebenezer) seemed genuinely grateful for our efforts and we feel we have made a special connection with them. We have helped sow the seed and we rely on God to give the increase.

    Although Loss and I have travelled to a fair number of destinations overseas we have previously spent very little time in Asia. Our two weeks here in Chiang Mai is by far the most extended visit to this region of the world.
    It has been enjoyable and rewarding and in addition to the work at the TLC we got to see and experience some amazing local sights.

    We will miss the camaraderie of our little group here. If the program continues into the future we would definitely like to come back and help again - but perhaps at a different time of year when the mountains are not obscured by smoke and the temperature doesn’t top out at 40 degrees every day :)

    And we will miss those frequent, inexpensive massages . . .    Read more

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