Business as Usually Unusual

 It's Wednesday.

I am sitting in a government waiting room - again - and I'm not feeling that great.

Not sure exactly why, since I've had a very good morning of concentration on sermons and a research paper that's part of my current school work.  Jet lag is mostly done, and up to this point I've not had any of the mild to moderate health issues that can sometimes plague us farangs when we visit. 

But here, after lunch, it is hot.  And it was a late night yesterday taking Evangeline to the airport.  And I did eat that third piece of pizza yesterday, subjecting my system to more wheat that I normally ingest.  So maybe the combination of it all is making me feel just a bit "off".  Or maybe it's because this is the - I've lost count - time we've had to wait in a government office in the past five days or so, and the runaround is wearing on me.

The good news around this waiting is that I can now announce that the New Family Foundation has come to be.  After a nine month application process, on Monday, November 12, 2018 Pastors Suradet and Yupa's vision to expand their ministry has been birthed.  Up to this point we have cared for our children in cooperation with and under the umbrella organization of Asia's Hope, for which we have been so very grateful.  Getting to know Tutu and other Asia's Hope personnel has been a delight, and incredibly helpful in learning about ministering to orphan and at risk children here in Thailand. 

But for some time now, Suradet and Yupa have believed God was asking them to step out and broaden the scope of their ministry to include not only the care of the children, but the raising up of evangelistic teams to go back into the mountains and surrounding villages to bring the Jesus' story to those who barely know His name. 

This has been entirely their own initiative.  

My role, my understanding has been, and is increasingly being understood as being, that of encourager, cheerleader, supporter....but not leader.  And I hold them up as owning this outright.  Somehow, I just get to be along for the ride.

Which is why I'm in the waiting room - again. 

Doing business in Thailand is tedious business, I am learning.  I mentioned the nine month wait already.  But then two Mondays ago, we got the news that the application had been approved and that all we had to do was go to the district office and sign the papers.  Which we did the very next day, only - no papers.  Come back tomorrow.  Which we did, only - we were told it would take an hour to work through the last bits of things (not sure what really).  So we did.  We waited the hour, when everything in me, that still-jet-lagged afternoon, just wanted to have a nap.  And at the end of the hour we were told to come back tomorrow.   Which we did.  And then, we had the papers, just - 200 more baht please.  Really?  O-kaaaay. 

But happy dancing all the way to the car, and much excitement at evening worship that night.

Now on to the next step:  getting the charitable tax number.  Which brings me to waiting in the office and not feeling so good.  This would be only the first of two times in this particular office, but I don't know that now.  I, for some reason, think this time things will be straightforward.

That's because we haven't been to the bank yet. 

Because after we do finally get the charitable tax number, we will now need to open a bank account.  And on Sunday afternoon right after lunch we will creep through gridlock traffic in Chiang Mai where our first attempt will be thwarted by a power outage at the mall.  Not sure why there's no power, and we won't find out.  And the weird thing is that the mall will not be closed.  People will still be milling around even with darkened hallways and coffee shops that can't serve us frappes because - duh - no electricity.  Same with the bank.  Not that the bank serves frappes, but just that we can't do business with the power out. 

Disappointment. 
We thought today would be the day.
 Sad face. 
Then - Hey wait a minute.  Let's try another branch.

So we will creep through more gridlock traffic to another mall - we're looking to open this account at a main office of one particular bank that has been recommended to us - and this mall, yay!, has electricity.  So we will find the bank and then we will wait a bit more until our number is called.  And after that it will take 30 minutes for the bank manager to go through the paper work and tell us something needs to be changed back at the district office before they can move ahead.  Just a slight change in wording is all that's needed.  Sorry, you won't be able to open an account with us today.  Change the papers and come back another day.

Disappointment. 
Because all this requires the signatures of three people, the third party being Yupa's brother, Pi Jen, who has taken time away from work and driven creeped an hour into Chiang Mai to do this with us!
To coin a well-used Thai phrase, "Oy!"

At least the coffee shop in this mall will be able to serve us frappes.  And perhaps the caffeine is what will give us the oomph to make one more attempt.  We get back in the car and creep back to the original mall - which now does have electricity (insert shrug here),  and then we wait in this different branch of the same bank, so that we can be told that we can't open the account until we have an official foundation stamp.  But not to worry, you can get one of those in a shop downstairs.  But by the way, by the time they make it for you our branch will be closed so, you'll have to come back tomorrow anyways.

Aaaaaand we will go order the stamp, aaaaaand then eat supper while we wait, because by now, yes, it actually is supper time.  At least this will be Jen's first time eating at KFC and I will get a picture to mark the occasion, even though he won't like his chicken burger very much.  And at least after this particular long and tedious and unfruitful day, I will still be feeling pretty okay, all things considered.

It strikes me, even before all the bank nonsense, while I'm waiting now in the charitable tax number office not feeling so good,  that this is such a colossal waste of time!  (Perhaps not unlike how you're feeling now, having read through all this tedium and still not knowing if we got the bank account opened.)   I have a fair bit of school work to do while I'm here, and I'm not getting any of it done just sitting here waiting, scoping out where the bathroom is, just in case. 

The inefficiency of it, yes!  I think that's what making me feel off.  No control.  At everyone else's whim and mercy.  Parties not communicating with one another.  Offices not opening on time.  There's no common pause day so businesses and even government branches might be closed on any given day in a totally inconsistent, and rather inconsiderate manner, I might add.  This is my best farang voice of indignation speaking.

"Jai yen, yen," Ahajah Ruth.   They will say this frequently throughout the afternoon.  It means, 'settle down', or also could be translated, 'take a chill pill".  Clearly, my frustration is showing, even though I'm trying to smile my way through. 

But later, in the second bank wait, I will reconsider. 

This waste of time is quite fruitful, actually.  (Yes, you did hear this Type A, efficiency-addicted, first- born female say that.)  Because how else, but by going along for this tedious ride, can I know it from the inside?  As we move forward into a future of even deeper partnership, how else can I understand what happens in any given business transaction? 

Business as usually unusual.

This is what I’m here for. 

And ironically, this is exactly what my studies are about right now, and the topic of the paper I’m not writing as I sit here, waiting.  Learning together, being together in the midst of real Thai life in real Thai time, which is oh so different from what it's like back home.  This is one of my main points as to "reciprocal learning strategies".  Just "being with" is so important.

So, sitting here, not feeling good, not writing my paper or getting at anything else "productive", is actually exactly what I’m here to do.

Funny how that works out when I let it.

A Few Photos For now

 I find myself somewhat distracted this afternoon.

The day started well, and I was able to hunker down into some good work, preparing for this Sunday's sermon (a surprise to be asked, but fun), next Sunday's sermon (taught in Thai so lots of prayers please), some of the school work I am doing in conjunction with this particular visit, and getting everything ready for tonight's Bible and ESL lesson.

When the afternoon came and I wasn't feeling the need for a nap, I still didn't have too much of a brain left for a full out blog post.

So...I offer some random pictures as a way of a more visual report.

 Here's Olion, one of the dogs at Hot Springs.  

Fun fact: the black patch on his head isn't natural.  

It's hair colouring, just to make the kids laugh.

We sent Evangeline home on Tuesday night with the usual tears.  

Everyone loved how well she embraced our Thai family, and misses her very much. 

  A few shots of our trip to  Doi Suthep last week.  

Suradet looking pensively over Chiang Mai, 

the city he is so passionate to hear the good news of Jesus.

And something very old at a Buddhist monestary in a garden preserve 

in the middle of the city.  My first time there.  

 Some vibrant colours in the flowers as well.

 

 Yupa leading prayer time on Sunday.  

Sunrise, just because I can't help myself.

And maybe my favourite picture of the trip so far 

(not including Evangeline's professional shots).

Our kids eating breakfast under the dining table at sunrise.

And to be perfectly honest, the distraction is largely because my mind is quite occupied with two extremely challenging circumstances at home.  A friend at Highview is on her last leg of a very difficult journey home.  I wish I could be with her.  And our grandson Jayden has had quite the ordeal, hospitalized for the past six days due to breathing difficulties.  He's on the mend, but...I wish I could be there too.  So I'm feeling this reality of two worlds pretty intensely right now.

It's part of the territory, I know.  But I'm sorting it through, leaving it with a God who knows all things and orchestrates His perfect plans.  Letting this press me deeper into intimate trust.

Perspectives from Week One

 

One of the best things about inviting new friends to come visit Hot Springs is how I get to see everything again from a brand new set of lenses.  This is particularly true when the new friend is a graduate of film making at WLU and is taking in her experiences, at least in part, through the eye of her art form.

With Evangeline's permission, I offer these 'sample shots' as a framework for describing our first days here.  (All photo credits: Evangeline Wilton)

Home at Hot Springs

With apologies to those that have reminded me of the dismal weather many are enduring in southwestern Ontario right now, I have to say, this November in northern Thailand has been amazing.  The cool night gives way to warmer days with little to no humidity to speak of.  We pretty much stayed at Hot Springs for the first four days, allowing our bodies the time to adjust, which I have to say is so much easier without the heat.  This means we were able to enjoy the relative quiet of the countryside, and the simple beauty of the mountains that surround us here.

This is not to say that there weren't a fair share of little adventures.  Like when Suradet showed us a hole in the ground at least 15 cm in diameter and said that it was the entrance to a spider's home. Or like how I now know how to kill a scorpion myself.  Or the discovery of rather large snails.  Or the mysterious disappearance of one of Evangeline's sandals after worship one morning.  Apparently the dogs think farang shoes are more interesting.

Evangeline is proving to be a quick study in the language, picking up new words and phrases every day, and taking the initiative to use what she's learning in conversation.  This, plus the daily reading of the English books we brought with us, has given way to her being very easily embraced into the family.  I personally am enjoying the deeper conversations that happen over meal times as Thai culture, philosophies of ministries, and our own spirituals journeys provide us with lots to process as we get to know one another better.

Sunday Morning

My heart is so full.  I am with a sweet and simple and exuberant community of faith who want nothing else but to be together and lift their faces toward the God who redeems them from hopelessness.  My feeble attempt to speak anything at all into these precious folks with lives more complex than I can ever imagine, is followed by another powerful time of prayer and Communion.  I am humbled to be included.  How is it that I get to be here, doing this intimate thing we do together as the Church?  How amazing it will always be to me that somehow God saw fit to give me such sweet, spiritually intimacy with people half a world away.  These are the questions that keep me breathless, keep me grounded.



Thai Style Planning

By Monday we feel ready to head out for an outing to the Umbrella Factory and surrounding shops.   But two of the kids are running a fever and won't be going to school.  Nothing serious, but enough to keep us home again for the day.  At least that's what we think.  Being more used to 'going with the flow' by now, I open my computer to go with plan B and work on the sermon I will be preaching in Thai at the end of the month (a long and somewhat tedious process of writing given the translation necessary).

Literally two paragraphs and 10 minutes later, Suradet arrives to suggest that we could take a quick visit to Hot Springs Park.  So plan B gives way to plan C - girl's morning out.  This ends up including treating the female staff (and ourselves) to Thai massage, lunch, and the purchase of a traditional Thai skirt and top for Evangeline.  With a call home to find out that the kids are doing fine and won't be needing to see a doctor today after all, we do a 'quick' side trip to a seamstress in Yupa's home village of Ongkan to finish off the skirt with proper seams and a belt.  She is teased that there will be an extra charge because she is so beautiful.  This tall and lovely mysterious creature from a land far away.

We stop to watch Yupa's Mom fold banana leaves around portions of fermented herbs to sell at her noodle hut later.  Then there's a stop at the 7/11 at the end of the road to reactivate my Thai phone, and buy iced coffee for the Dads who have stayed home with the sick children.  By now all this 'not having an outing today' had taken us to 3:00 p.m. 





Time enough to prepare for evening worship Bible and ESL before supper.


And that was the day.  The day of not going anywhere and not really getting much 'done' either.  And it so feels like I'm in Thailand.

Tuesday we actually do visit the Umbrella Factory and I wonder again at the slow skills of carving wood and making the paper and stringing the umbrellas and painting the beauty onto them.  This visit I notice something I hadn't before, that Princess Diana had visited here in 1988.  There are pictures and a 7 meter umbrella made for the occasion.  The picture shows her standing in the exact spot I am now.  And it seems a small world and an enormous world all at the same time.

On a matter of functional business, part of being a children's home in Thailand, we were to stop in for a quick signing of some needed papers at the district government offices, a leftover errand from the day before when we were told to come back today.  Today we are told to wait for an hour.  After an hour we are told to come back on Thursday.  And now we are back home and it is again 3:00 p.m.

And so it goes.

English and Being Strong and Too Many Ka-nomes 

With all that can't be planned in these first few days, I am even more grateful for the preparation I've been doing, and the help of Ann and Derek at Highview over the past several months, in order to move us now through a three unit study called "Strong, Smart and Savoury", a series of lessons aimed at helping us live more Biblically.  This of course includes our ESL segment every night, focusing right now on a vocabulary list of 100 words, getting the gist of English verb tenses (something the Thai language does not have), and pressing into phonics with the help of the English books we have brought.  "Fox on a box" and "Shark in the park" provide ample examples and samples.

At the 7/11 I also purchased some little cake like treats - 'ka-nome' - to use in our lesson on contentment.  It's surprising how happy we might be to be given one, until the person next to us is given ten.  In the end they are all shared evenly, and a smiley face sticker is added to the zippered pouch holding all our little lesson tokens to remind us how be be strong for God.

So, this is what takes us through all the hours and minutes.  Just being here doing it, living it, knowing it, feeling it.  And then, spent, laying down a the end of the day, sleeping well in the cool of the overnight, refreshed in the morning to being again with sleepy, gentle singing.

There are more plans.  But, we'll wait and see.  A lot of that going on right now.