Arriving back in Bangkok on December 5th in one of the first planes to land at the newly-opened after the sitdown airport is very different from usual in one respect – usually there is a line of people to go thru the few immigration booths that are open. But this time there are more officers open to accept immigrators than there are immigrators coming into Thailand – ha!
Some poor taxi driver comes up to me outside and tells me that it is “only” 600baht to downtown. I tell him it is only 35baht by bus. He looks at me and says i’ve been here a long time, then looks down, dejected. I tell him i hope he can get some business soon, and he brightens up and walks away. Thai people are a very “maipenrai” people, not lingering long over things. One security man is playing games on his cell phone, and the other one is walking around smoking a cigarette with an absent look on his face.
My friends are ready at their 14th floor apt., working on the 1858 Great Controversy in Thai and Romanian. After the intense time in Myanmar with several hours each day spent in a complete detailed proofreading of this book, i’m in full-aware mode, and hit the ground running. It is so nice to see especially the Thai translator really giving this translation priority in her life. Up to now it has seemed like just about everything little thing has been an excuse to lay off work on this book, but now it the attitude is opposite – she’s got fire!
The days flow nicely, with at least part of nearly every day spent with this 1858 Great Controversy book. Even at the Bangkok Chinese Seventh-day Adventist Church, the studies i’ve held with around 7,8 people go well. The first Sabbath back is the last one with my only Thai church friends, and we part, encouraging each other to stay true to Jesus. The next week we finish the book, and all of us are quite moved at how God has planned to save us in a beautiful home forever and ever. I’m quite moved too at what the two sisters who’ve been the mainstay of our study group do for me. May God especially bless you two, and may you stay strong for him.
I try to stay out of the “outside”, keeping my trips to the market and supermarket as low as possible. When i do have to go out, i get a face-full of vertical smiles again, reminding me how Myanmar has some good points. I’m glad the little daughter at the apt. likes to go up and down the stairs with me to get water. 224 down, and 224 up. Often we stop in the large garden on the 6th floor on the way up, enjoying the little bit of safe green in the big city.
The husband has made a nice little chart with the numbers 1-41 on the left, and the same on the right. One side is marked “Romanian”, and the other “Thai”. I think his goal is to give a spur to his wife, and it does seem to have some effect, as she knows that marking off something will bring a smile to her husband’s lips. The daughter even gets into it, wanting to mark everytime some progress is made.
Getting a ticket to Japan i thot would be pretty easy, as i’ve seen several advertisements touting round-trip fares for around 10,000baht (300usd). But when i actually go to buy a ticket, i’m told that the fuel surcharge makes the price almost double – bikkuri!!! Finally i settle on using 20,000 miles on my Korean Air mileage, and pay 3,500baht (100usd) for fuel surcharges.
My last Sabbath is spent up at Muak Lek with a new pastor there – S. After Friday evening supper, the two of us go to the Mission College church and are suddenly met with, “and now let’s break for foot washing”. I look blankly at him, saying something about how it is OK to have Communion on Friday, but i’m not at all prepared at heart for this, and he agrees, driving us back to his place where we do a detailed study of chapter 32 of the 1858 Great Controversy. Perhaps that what God had in mind for us in the first place? I’m happy that he seems very eager to study, and doesn’t use his “pastor” credentials to try and push anything onto other people. He spends a lot of his time reading the Thai King James Version. Next morning at church i go to the Sabbath School Lesson class led by the college treasurer, and where the school president is. Everyone seems ok with the idea that the SDA church is not the only place to get saved. Of course i know that most of the saved will never have stepped inside a SDA church, but i also believe that we need to be calling other people out of their churches into the SDA church. This idea of they are ok where they are, and we are ok where we are is very dangerous i believe.
At lunch i have a good talk with several people, and see that there are some who are seriously concerned about the lowering of the standards inside the SDA church, and at the Mission College campus itself too. One man offers to donate to help print the Thai 1858 Great Controversy which is encouraging. One family who were friends from the past, but after i wrote a email about their implicit support for their school’s observance of Buddhist festivals and ceremonies, i never got any reply, so thot they probably joined the large number of people who are angry with me. Well, they assured me that while they did not agree with my email, they thanked me for it, and assured me that they were not angry at all 🙂
I want to meet my Thai friend here who has fallen into the world, and back up, and now i’m wanting to encourage him and check his condition. He is vaguely distant, letting me know clearly that he is just like people are saying – he’s not strong, but thinks he’s OK. Well, i let him be, and go into one of the boy’s dorms where i see 3abn playing. There sprawled on the sofa is the son of the 1858gc Khmer translator 🙂 We have a deep, nice talk about what needs to be done in the church and in the college and how we need to get serious and ready for Jesus. Before we know it, it is 7:30pm, and he invites me to stay in his room for the nite for which i’m very thankful. The next morning we have a pretty good talk with a couple of people who come by our breakfast table in front of the cafeteria. This young man has a plan to use a bicycling club to get students interested in doing evangelism, by going to places near the campus, and helping the people know about Jesus. May God bless and be with him.
Making it back to Bangkok in the afternoon, i spend the last bit of time packing, and being there for my friends as they work hard on translating the book. In an interesting twist, i end my stay with both of them having finished detailed proofreading up to chapter 33! The wife and daughter leave for northern Thailand on Monday nite. I will miss them.
Tuesday nite i said goodbye to the husband, whom i also will miss.
My suitcase is very heavy. I learn later that it has 30.8kg crammed in it. I’m only 46kg, so you can guess it is hard to move around. Two of the wheels are broken, so you have to handle carefully to get to roll on the ground. I get off bus number 62 one stop before Victory monument around 9:45. My plane leaves at 1:35am, so no problem right? I ask Right? when i see bus 551 go the other way. I thot they all stopped going this way too, but oh well, i’ll cross the 6 lanes of traffic best i can to make sure i catch it. 30 minutes later, here it comes – yea! and goes……. RIGHT? I’m getting worried now. If the next bus doesn’t stop, what to do? I only brought enough money for the bus, and cannot take a taxi…oh wait, i do still have a hidden reserve of thai baht, so if have to, can take a taxi, but sure don’t want to touch it. Fortunately the 10:50 bus lets me on, and we are at the airport bus terminal within 30 minutes. After another 10 minute wait the express shuttle bus comes, and i’m in what must be the coldest moving vehicle in the whole country. The outside temperature indicator is flashing “23C” – perfect! Inside is flashing “13C” – deadly! With the cold chairs in the waiting room, i’m feeling a bit strange before even getting on the plane. But yes! I’m glad to be on, and glad that i used the Korean Air Skypass program, as they gave me an extra 10kg suitcase allowance, which let on my heavy bag with no questions asked.
Father, please bless especially this family that is doing their best to try and get this 2nd most precious book in the world into the Thai and Romanian languages. I thank you for the many great experiences i’ve heard here, with the school, with the Chinese church, with the people at Mission College, and with the scattered, torn flock – mostly up in the north – please Lord, please be with them. Don’t let any false shepherds lead them down the wrong path, and may they always keep their eyes on you – Jesus Christ.