A New (Temporary) Home

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

8:16 pm

            Today was my first day at the church plant in Bangkok Noi. Pastor Doug drove me and we arrived around noon. It was a little awkward at first. I ended up taking a nap, because nothing really happens around here until nighttime. It is a very poor community and everyone is out working during the day. I'm staying with a very friendly Indian pastor named Sudhakar. He is married to a Thai named Challim. They have a two-year-old bundle of joy named Lily. A local mother brought her two daughters here tonight. She and her older daughter are going to be baptized in September. Challim told me they wanted to talk to me, but didn't know how to start. I told her I didn't either. I sat in as the mother talked to Sudhakar and eventually I became the topic of conversation. She told me in English that I had beautiful eyes. Eventually we started talking with Challim's help. They wanted to know why I was only staying for one week (I may actually only stay until Sunday). Even though I've only met a few people, they all want me to stay. I'm not used to others having so much interest in me. There is a backwards prejudice here in Thailand (and most of Asia), where white people are looked on as upper class. And it's true, my family would be in the upper class if we lived here. It's strange, because I'm not used to being automatically accepted by others just because I'm white.

            We had great Indian food! Sudhakar made chapati, which is similar to naan just a little thicker. As Lily ate her dinner, about every other minute she would turn to me, shoot me a thumbs up and say, "Yummy!" Then, she would wait for me to give her a thumbs up in return and repeat "Yummy!" to her. Sudhakar tried to do it back to her and she extended her little arm, made a dismissing gesture to him, and said, "Sit down!" then looked to me to give her a thumbs up. We had a good long laugh about that.

            I was nervous about coming to stay here. It is hotter inside than it is outside. They have air conditioning, but leave it off, because they are struggling to pay their bills. They do have some fans, which help, but I'm still sweating most of the time. It doesn't really bother me that much though. I used to complain at home whenever mom and dad would keep the air conditioning high to save power, but maybe that's helping me be okay with how hot it is here. It's pretty interesting to think that maybe God was training me a little for when I would come here! It's still a little awkward, but for being the first night, things are going much better than I expected! It's always the people. Everywhere I go they are so kind and friendly, and only want to make me feel comfortable. They have all really touched my heart and I can feel God's love radiating through them. I'm so thankful for this experience and the idea of staying longer doesn't seem so bad any more!

***If you want to see a picture of Challim and Lily, they were featured in my August 14 post "A Jealous God"***