jim larson's thoughts

Just the beginning

16-Apr-08 16:00

Our family went to Buriram Sunday-Tuesday, over the Thai Songran holiday.  At The Well Center 4, Prang blew us away yet one more time with her servant heart.  This time she and her team had put together an event to bless senior adults in her village.  It was completely the team's own initiative and expense--nothing came from The Well's budget.  The Center 4 team served a meal, gave a short presentation about the love of Jesus, gave me an opportunity to talk about that topic as well, then gave each honored guest a blessing with water in the Songkran tradition, a shirt or vest that the team had sewn, and a small cash gift. 

This is what we started The Well for, to see women bringing Jesus to their communities.  It made me feel like our 3 1/2 years so far in Thailand were just an introduction, that the real thing is just beginning. 

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Culture shock

13-Apr-08 01:08

Pear has been gone for a week now.  Apparently she had been planning her escape for some time, and has covered her tracks well.  No one seems to know where she is.  She did show up briefly at her mother's on Tuesday, but rather than grabbing Pear and sitting on her, her mom just asked if she was going to call me and casually let her go. 

The other day Bpon and her little brother helped me look for Pear.  We walked up On Nut Soi 10, Pear's childhood hangout.  Soi 10 is a busy narrow street with absolutely no sidewalks--more like an alley.  I was carrying my computer bag, and had to hold it in front or behind to keep it from being bumped by a passing car.  I am not kidding.  I thought to myself, “What kind of culture builds streets like this?”

We found Pear's father's home.  His landlord was there, said he had not seen Pear.  Then her father walked up, sporting a fresh tattoo on his lower left leg, so we asked him.  He was defensive, as if we were accusing him of hiding her, which we weren't.  Pear's relationship with her father had soured very quickly after she discovered his childish self-centeredness, so it was very unlikely that she would stay with him, but would maybe ask him for a little money.

From there we dodged cars for a couple hundred more yards to a computer game room where we figured we could find some of Pear's friends.  We ran into Mai, about her age, who also said Pear had not been around for quite a while, although she had stopped in a while back to say she was leaving.  

Walking back a different way, we called a couple of Pear's other friends, who both thought she must be with a guy who worked at Soi 15.  He used to call my phone every once in a while, asking for her in slurred speech I could hardly understand.  I pondered about getting the police involved, wondering if they would do anything.  “What kind of culture is this,” I thought, “that lets kids just fall between the cracks and throw their lives away?”

We found Bek, the guy everyone thought Pear was with, on Soi 15.  A homely, unimpressive young man about 20, he was working at a small machine shop.  He looked bewildered and said he hadn't seen Pear either.  He could have been lying.  Maybe if we told the police about him they would find out. Or maybe they wouldn't bother.

That night lying in bed I worried out loud about Pear.  Her mother had said repeatedly to wait until after the Songkran holiday, Thailand's biggest annual festival.  I figured that if we had no word by then we could get her mom to submit a report to the women's and children's police division.  “They won't do anything,” Judy said.  “Don't say that!” I retorted, raising my voice.  “Everyone says that!” 

“Why are you mad at me,” Judy wondered?  I had to apologize.  “I'm sorry, it's not you.  I'm angry at the situation.”

This sort of thing happens to cross-cultural workers from time to time, and it wasn't the first time for me.  Something in the host culture gets to us, and we get mad.  Sometimes it's right, sometimes it's wrong, and I'm not so self-righteous as to think mine was purely motivated.  I do love Thai people dearly and to me most aspects of Thai culture make us as Americans feel loud, rude and disrespectful.  But sometimes problems like this make me angry.  

This sort of laissez faire attitude is not unique to Thailand. It can be found anywhere including America, where many times in our inner-city work I felt incredibly frustrated at the lack of action to prevent kids from gunning each other down.  When we look at any culture through the lens of God's love and justice we will be shocked.  We do have to be careful not to judge or blame, whether another culture or our own, but if we compare the standard of light to darkness, as John does for instance in his first letter, we will be appalled and cry in horror.  People do what they know, and what humanity knows is selfishness.  Individuals, families and social groups will love themselves and little more.  It is God's people who must set a different standard, loving our neighbor just as much as we love ourselves, even if it's a broken kid that many might say is too far gone to help.  

I keep praying for a phone call, or maybe a voice calling from outside at 3am to open the door.

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Not forgotten

07-Apr-08 00:36

Usually when I don't get a post up in a while it's not because there's nothing to tell, rather too much.  Besides that, when there's too much to tell it also means I've been busy.  When you deal with the poor, there's always a crisis somewhere.  Here are a few of the issues that have come our way in the last couple of weeks.

1. Pear ran away again.  I am so bummed.  She was to go on a 3-day excursion with her mom.  We sent her to her mom's home Friday night, but on Saturday found out they didn't go because her mom couldn't get off work, and that Pear had gone.

2. A young couple we married a month ago had a major fight right at one of our centers, that included her chasing him with a scissors.  Afterwards she said she really wanted to kill him.  We're still working through that one.  

3. A 19 year-old single mom has a loan shark debt that her ex-boyfriend got into, that requires her to pay about $5 a day for 120 days on a loan of a bit over $200.  It works out to nearly 500% annual interest.  We are talking directly with the gang leaders and asked if we refinanced it for her would they reduce the amount, but were denied.  We're not sure what to do next besides pray for lightning to strike.

4. It's getting to be Songkran time, Thailand's biggest holiday that could be called "National Water Fight".  The water fighting is fun, the drinking, craziness and what it has done to some of our students in past years is not.  We're trying to prepare our students and ourselves, but it seems that already Songkran-related problems are stirring.

I did make it through my Thai sermon last week with nobody laughing at the wrong time.

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Fun with language

25-Mar-08 16:23

I found this on a friend's Facebook page. 

fi yuo cna raed tihs, yuo hvae a sgtrane mnid too  Cna yuo raed tihs? Olny 55 plepoe out of 100 can. i cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it dseno't mtaetr in waht oerdr the ltteres in a wrod are, the olny iproamtnt tihng is taht the frsit and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it whotuit a pboerlm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Azanmig huh? yaeh and I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt!

Fascinating--I can read that easily, but this, John 5:19 in Thai, to me is laborious:
And Sunday I hope to give a whole message in Thai for the first time. Sigh. We'll see if I make it.

Comments (5)

My day before Easter

23-Mar-08 05:04

I was hoping for a light day including some time with Sam but here we don't hope too much for that sort of thing.  Here are yesterday's main activities, roughly in order of occurrence: 

Lent 1000 baht (about $32) to a student who called at 7am asking for help to get to a doctor. He'd had a nasty stomach ache for a few days, getting worse.  We tend to take Jesus literally when he says to give to people who ask to borrow from us, unless they develop a bad track record.  Hardly anyone has.

Did some straightening around the house, collected dirty clothes for laundry.  We have a helper who does laundry and general cleaning for a few hours on Saturdays. Judy and Jaimie were away at the beach with Heather and Hannah Hook, visiting from the U.S.   

Tried unsuccessfully to fix our front sliding screen door, which had fallen off its track and was scratching the floor.  We rent, but tenants here are generally responsible for most home repairs.

Worked on financial stuff for Monday night's board meeting.

Walked Marquita out to the main street (about 10 minutes) to get a taxi to school, to practice with friends for an upcoming lipsync contest. 

Worked quite a while with Pear on learning to play the djembe, an African hand drum.

Talked for a while with 2 girls from Center 3 who came to study but were waiting for the teachers to show up.  Every Saturday a few of our teenagers do remedial study here to prepare themselves to get back into school.

Biked to 7/11 to put funds into my prepay phone account.  Here most people use prepay, which is quite affordable.  This particular phone has unlimited calling for about $12/month.  It can be somewhat unreliable, but works well at home and saves a lot of phone cost.

Discussed upcoming class scheduling by phone with Bee, our Center 1 coordinator. 

Judy, Jaimie, Heather and Hannah returned from the beach, Jaimie with bad sunburn from apparently bad sunscreen.

Helped Judy move a monster 8ft. long fish tank cabinet in our entryway so we can open more windows--it's getting hot.  The tank is empty but the massive cabinet was still impossible to lift.  It fortunately slid well and didn't scratch the stone floor.

Dusted off my bass and Strat guitars and tested out amplifiers borrowed from Center 3 in preparation for Sunday.  The Strat actually had a broken string from just sitting in the case for I don't know how long (I've had no amp).  We've done sort of informal outreach groups on Sundays for a year, but are now launching a definite church plant.

Talked with Heather, Khio and Judy about inventory management changes for our products sold in the U.S..  Heather has been managing our home-based marketing completely as a volunteer.

Lent 500 baht to another student who called needing help for her mother. 

Talked with Dao and her boyfriend/fiance, and fellow staff Khio about future plans for them and Dao's 4 children and neice. 

Helped Sarah Bennett, a photography student visiting for a couple of weeks, get started shooting product shots of some cards.

Spent a while with Pui, who returned after running a way a month ago for whom she hoped would be the guy of her dreams.  He turned out to be more interested in his friends and video games than in her. 

Worked with Pear some more on the drum.

Onn called--a woman she knew from bars where she used to work called asking for help for her two teenage neices.  She wanted them to come talk to me.  They showed up last night at 11:30.  Only one neice came, whose right eye was stuck closed from apparent pink eye.  She was also exhausted, and lay down on a couch and went right to sleep.  Her aunt came and picked her up at 6 this morning to take her to a doctor. They are all undocumented from Onn's country, so have limited options.  They also reported that the younger neice, 17, has worked as a maid for 2 months with no pay, apparently being taken advantage of for working illegally.

One of our teen students called after midnight, saying she was trying to get home to her province of Surin but was stranded at the bus station there, that her mother wasn't sending anyone to pick her up and everyone else she tried to call wasn't answering.  I said I'd be happy to help however I could but Surin was a good 6 hours away.  She said to never mind, she'd figure something out.

Overall, a fun but busy day, but bummer that there was almost no family time.  Spring break is coming soon--hope to get some good time with Sam then. 

Comments (1)

Beyond borders

21-Mar-08 15:14 The other day Ohn returned from the nearby country where she was born, which for political reasons I will not name here.  She went there last month to get her birth certificate and passport.  Ohn is one of our older students, who before she joined us nearly 3 years ago spent 16 years working the Western night scene in Bangkok.  She lived nearly all her life with no papers, and therefore attended very little school.  However Ohn is very bright, talented and self-educated.

Returning to her home village for the first time since age 6 naturally felt strange.  She had not even seen her mother in 10 years.  “I felt lonely, afraid,“ Ohn says.  “I couldn't believe those were my relatives.“  But more than that, from the first day she saw that her village of 400 homes was full of brokenness and the negative effects of modern poverty.  Drugs, drinking, gambling and teen sex are the norm.  “Every teenager uses drugs,“ Ohn reports.  There is little employment, but everyone knows about the “opportunities“ for women in Thailand.  Ten women and girls, as young as 14 years old, asked Ohn to bring them here to get bar work.

Interestingly enough, Ohn discovered that years ago there had been missionaries in her area.  Older people, she notes, have some memory and knowledge about Jesus, but are afraid to talk about it in a country where religious freedom is suppressed.  That didn't stop Ohn, although she acknowledges the need to be careful, to share Jesus by example first.  “I talked about giving, I talked about hope.  For them there is no tomorrow, no hope.  I talked about love.  They had no understanding of love other than romance.  They have a very strong class structure, even more than Thailand.  No one associates with anyone across class lines, but I talked to everyone."  Ohn's mom noticed the difference, and asked her what happened.  “I'm a Christian now, Mom.”

It's Good Friday.  For all my years growing up I was taught that Good Friday is a day to be sad that our sins put Jesus through hell, but to be thankful that He did it.  And it is that, but so much more.  There is a seldomly noted missionary side of Good Friday, when the full weight of Jesus' words, “take up his cross and follow me“ are blasted at 120 decibels.  We are to love like this, to go this far to give it.  It's not about going outside of our comfort zone.  It's about going into others' suffering zone.

Ohn has been talking for some time about wanting to start an outreach of The Well in Thailand that both reaches women coming from there to work in the night trade as well as their families and communities back home.  We will be writing a strategic plan over the next few days.  There is no longer a question in Ohn's mind about how far she needs to go.  “We have to do it,“ she declares. “We need to do it.  If we only see and think about it, but not do anything, nothing will happen.“ Comments (2)

Head bashing

17-Mar-08 00:27

Yesterday when Plah went to visit her family in Bangkok, her aunt sprung the news that there was a Western guy ready to pay good money for her.  Plah is an intelligent, 92-pound 17 year-old with bright round eyes and full lips setting off an oval baby face.  She would hold her own in a cuteness contest with anyone on the planet. 

Plah came to Bangkok with her family not long ago and was taken to work at a bar.  It only took a day on the job for Plah to decide it wasn't for her.  She came to The Well, followed shortly after by her 16 year-old sister. 

Once again Plah was faced with standing up to her family--an incredibly tough task in East Asia where family loyalty is everything.  She flatly turned down the offer, prompting her aunt to fly into a rage.  Plah's aunt threw her down, fell on her and whacked her head against the floor, causing a minor concussion.  Then she ripped off Plah's shirt and called the neighbors to take note of her disobedient niece.  Thank God the concussion was mild enough that Plah was able to run away and get back to her home at The Well Center 2.  She had some vomiting and of course a nasty headache, but she will be fine.  Plah says her family doesn't know where Center 2 is, but even so we will need to be on our guard.

I don't know what to say.  Why are people so mean?  Why does this stuff happen to innocent girls in so much of the world?  We all know it does, and it's why human trafficking is getting so much interest.  And to be honest, if I posted an image of adorable little Plah, those big eyes would no doubt cause more than a few readers to click the Donate link here.  Maybe someone might even click Contact Us and offer to come serve.  For privacy reasons I won't post a photo, but if you wanted to do either or both of those things of course I wouldn't mind.  Maybe I'm twisting arms here, but it's not manipulation when it's the awful truth, is it?

Seeing Plah last night sitting up on her mattress, her voice weak and round eyes saddened, I imagined doing some head bashing of my own, Chuck Norris style.  But Good Friday is coming up, reminding us of the fact that following Jesus calls us to defeat evil through suffering under it.  So instead I pray desperately and write a blog post.

Comments (3)

Miracles

11-Mar-08 14:47

I promised an update about the fun things Prang and Michaela are seeing at The Well Center 4 in Buriram.  Michaela thankfully has written it for me .

We now have close to 60 enrolled in 4 centers.  The latest newcomer--a 19 year-old whose boyfriend took off just when their son was born 2 months ago.  Without a miracle we're soon going to have to start turning people away--out of space, short of workers, funding getting tight.  It's a nice problem to have, but we're praying for that miracle.

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Forced rest

07-Mar-08 16:31

I started getting a scratchy throat 2 weeks ago.  That turned into a fever and I think the worst, most persistent sore throat I've ever had, lasting 3 days.  Swallowing was torture--I was actually learning to avoid it.  Only a double dose of ibuprofen made it tolerable.  It looked irritated, not infected, but I started on amoxicillin just in case. The sore throat went away, but I've still been fighting bouts of low-grade fever for the last week.  All together I missed 5 days of work, and was only 50% when I was working.  I know that calls for medical attention, but to be brutally honest I am not much for going to doctors.  I'm better now.  

So for better or worse, while I have had some forced rest over the last 2 weeks, it only meant Judy had to work harder.  Last night she exclaimed, "The Well is my entire life."  Yeah, I know. 

There have been some extra discouragements lately.  We've been hit by some bouts of extra immaturity with some of our students.  One teen left a few weeks ago for a parent's nightmare in his upper 20's with a 6th grade education, ample tattoos and no solid work record.  What does she see in him?  We don't know.  Then last week Pui, the 16 year-old who was gang-raped in November and has been staying with us, ran off, or snuck off, for a guy as well that we have never met.  At The Well Center 1 we've seen some disheartening meanness and rudeness, prompting Judy to suggest that maybe we should shut the place down and make everyone rent rooms outside.

None of this is new--it's just one reason why things never stop for us.  Yet even in discouragements like this there is always light.  Pear, who turns 14 on Tuesday, is growing more solid and adorable each day.  Gai and Miaw, a young couple we've worked with for 3 years, most of that time separated, are doing great and were remarried last Sunday.  Another student we love very much returned last week after a 9-month absence.  The young husband of one of our teen girls became a Christian 2 weeks ago.  Prang and Michaela in Buriram are seeing amazing things happen practically every other day.  More on that in another post, maybe tomorrow.

And of course, sickness makes one especially grateful for health.  Pain-free swallowing is a beautiful thing.

Comments (6)

Goodbye Larry

28-Feb-08 19:26

I just found out that Christian rock pioneer Larry Norman passed away last Saturday, February 24 at age 60.  Welcome home, Larry.  Thanks so much for taking back the good music. 

I could mention a lot of Larry's songs that inspired me, but probably none more than this one:

I am a servant, I am listening for my name
I sit here waiting I've been looking at the game
That I've been playing and I've been staying much the same
When you are lonely you're the only one to blame
 
I am a servant, I am waiting for Your call
I've been unfaithful so I sit here in the hall
How can You use me when I've never given all
How can You choose me when You know I quickly fall
 
So You feed my soul and you make me whole
And you let me know You love me
And I'm worthless now but I've made a vow
I will humbly bow before You
Oh please use me, I am lonely
 
I am a servant, getting ready for my part
There's been a change, a rearrangement in my heart
At last I'm learning there's no returning once I start
To live's a privilege, to love is such an art
But I need Your help to start
Oh please purify my heart
I am Your servant

©Larry Norman
Words and Music by Larry Norman
 

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