There's a lot going on right now at Hot Springs, and I hardly know where to begin. Most of this only developed over the weekend, so this is all new news.
Let's just go to the flooding in Chiang Mai first.
It's common for areas of the world that experience a 'monsoon season' to have episodes of flooding following periods of relentless, heavy downpours. You can see the preparation for that everywhere in Thailand, where large culverts run alongside the roads, and deep cement gutters, usually covered with steel grating, are a built in part of city streets.
This season, however, has been extraordinary. Last month Suradet and Yupa visited the northern region of Chiang Rai to bring supplies and encouragement to communities hard hit by flooding there. Now it's the Ping River, which runs straight through Chiang Mai, that has overrun its banks, causing major flooding in some of the most densely populated neighbourhoods of the city.
For a three-minute visual, check out this video of the flooding coverage here.
For anyone who knows the area, has walked those streets, shopped those markets, visited at those hospitals, this is way more than just news about a disaster somewhere else. It's real. And very disturbing.
Next level 'real and disturbing' is, of course, how it affects us at Hot Springs.
Good news is that our property is situated at a high enough elevation 45 km from the Ping River with no other rivers or streams close enough to cause immediate danger or damage. Our children are safe and dry. Praise God for that.
Where it hits home, however, is in food shopping. The downtown markets where we fetch fresh produce, fish, eggs and rice are all flooded. That presses a food scarcity outward as people stretch outside of the city to find groceries. This sudden increase of shoppers only adds to the understandable panic buying often seen in any sort of crisis (remember trying to find toilet paper during COVID?).
Suradet tells me they are eating a lot of pumpkin. That's thanks to a productive first time experiment this summer growing an entire patch on the property. When we were there in July, we could see all the blooms at the ends of healthy-looking vines. Little did we know how much we would need it! Of course children do not live on pumpkins alone, which is where other produce from our own garden will be well used. As the days move forward I will keep you posted on the food situation.
Another implication has to do with the coming school break in October. Normally, this is a time when the children can go back to visit family members in the village. As well, the Staff get a short break, and an opportunity to do some of the bigger work projects on the property. Right now, however, many roads to the village are flooded. No one's going anywhere. We will do everything to prioritize the children's care and safety always. This does mean, of course, a reorientation of expectations over the next weeks.
In the midst of this, Yupa's mother Sangwan has just returned from a hospital stay, recovering at Hot Springs because she still needs extra care and attention.
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And one more random thing we just don't need right now, Suradet is dealing with a kidney stone and is in severe pain. He has a procedure scheduled for October 10, but it is booked at one of the hospitals experiencing flooding. We don't know if this will delay his procedure or not, but it seems likely at this point. Having experienced kidney stone pain myself, I do not wish for him to have to endure one minute longer than necessary, let alone have to be in that difficult mental and physical space of not knowing how long this will go on.
Yupa, who clearly has a lot on her shoulders right now, messages me saying, "Nothing is impossible with God."
At the moment, there is really nothing pragmatic we can do. The rains have stopped, so there's that to be thankful for. And officials are talking about opening some dams and other government level interventions. But there is no real disaster relief systems in place for the majority of the population. It will be a while before things can go back to any semblance of normal.
I hate being this far away. Daily contact and updates don't seem enough. So I invite you to pray with me. Pray for the country, for the people, for the food shortages. Pray for stamina and presence of mind for Suradet, Yupa and the Staff at Hot Springs. Pray for supernatural healing, both for Yupa's Mother Sangwan, and for Suradet. Pray that hospital schedules can stay on time. Pray for the children who are experiencing this too, in their own way.
How this affects our upcoming trip - due to leave October 30 - remains to be seen. I will keep you posted on that as well.
