Day-I've-Lost-Track--Chiang Mai

Happy Valentine's Day! Rather fittingly, on today's agenda is the House of Love!

We flew from Bangkok to Chiang Mai yesterday morning--a very uneventful, comfortable flight of about an hour and a half or so. The main benefit was that between the airports and the plane itself we spent half of the day in air conditioning.

I have decided, however, that Chiang Mai is much more to my taste than Bangkok. Partly, although still hot, it is somewhat less humid here--so it's more bearable to my northeastern personal climate control. And this city itself is very green--trees and shrubs all over the place, so it's a much more pleasant setting. There's a river (not sure of the name) that winds through the city and our guesthouse is right across the street from it. Although the river shows the wear and tear of decades of close human habitation, it's a nice little moment of peace in a very busy city.

We were met at the airport by Pat Brown, missionary here in Chiang Mai. Her husband Lamont teaches at Payap University and Pat teaches English, among many other responsibilities in their mission here. We had lunch at the Thai Baptist Mission offices and met a Norwegian Baptist missionary who is working with the Lahu. I apologize that I didn't write down his name and I won't even attempt to spell it phonetically!

We then proceeded to the Lahu Bible School. The Bible school is partially supported by International Ministries, along with a consortium of other global partners. We were met by John Phillip, general secretary of the Lahu Baptist Convention. He and Duane (translating for one another where necessary) introduced our group to the students at the school and vice versa. The students are there for three years, and then some may go on to seminary. However, the Lahu Bible School teaches their courses in the Lahu language, whereas seminary is taught in Thai. Learning in Thai creates problems for the graduates who would then be serving in Lahu churches among Lahu-speaking congregations--the students would only know the Thai words in the religious setting. Therefore the Lahu Bible School really focuses on giving the students everything they would need to serve effectively in Lahu church setting in the Lahu language. Students from the school go on to be pastors, evangelists, Christian education teachers, and so forth.

The students (both young men and women) range in age from 18-21 or so, although there is one 16-year-old enrolled. They are recommended to the school by their churches or local area. They board at the school and go home a couple of times a year on break. Most of them come from villages up to 5 hours away by bus. There are also married students with married student housing right on the campus. John was very pleased to be able to show us the recently built chapel and classroom buildings--a vast improvement over what they'd been using for several years. Generous gifts from Korean churches made these buildings possible. They have plans for continued growth, as God makes the funds possible.

The students treated us to praise and worship songs (yes, I have plenty of pictures and even a video recording I'll make available as soon as I'm home and can download everything to my computer). They brought us a snack of the most amazing oranges I've eaten in a long time, some rose apples (sort of a cross between an apple and a pear), and a special Lahu New Year treat that consists of sweet sticky rice pressed into small pieces and coated with sugar. It tasted much like popcorn, without the crunch.

We took our time on the campus--it was a beautiful day, and there was so much to see. The students and teachers were quite gracious and welcoming--and it was just as much fun to run into them after they'd finished their official responsibilities, changed into their down-time clothes, and were "hanging out" as students do the world over.

Later, after we checked into the guest house, several of us went to explore the night market here in Chiang Mai to compare it with the one we'd been to in Bangkok. I have to say, I was much more impressed. In addition to the normal tshirts, knock-off purses and watches that you see sold on streets all over the world, there were many true artisans. There were excellent jewelry designers, artists, sculptors, photographers, and other crafts people with their booths tucked in and among the booths selling little plastic balls and Thailand souvenirs. It was an enjoyable evening and several of us got a jump start on Christmas shopping!

Overall, when I returned to my room last night and was reflecting on the day, I was struck by how global mission truly is. Yes, "global" in that we have American Baptist missionaries engaged in service around the world--but, more importantly, "global" in that those missionaries work in partnership with missionaries from other denominations and Christian organizations from all around the world as well. The bulletin board at the mission office here has a map of Thailand with photos of the missionaries based in various places posted around the map, with arrows drawn to their location. A short overview of the missionary's photos revealed several from the United States, certainly, but also names from Norway, Sweden, Korea.... We truly are a global society and although it's easy to blame that for some of the world's problems, while here you can only celebrate that we are in partnership with Christians from so many other countries. We could never accomplish anything by ourselves--it is only through joining with others that we are able to help God in God's mission.

Today we're off to the New Life Center and to the House of Love. I'm very excited about the opportunity to visit these missions that, once again, I've heard of and read about so often. It'll be wonderful to put faces with names and have conversation about the issues and ministries happening here.

Have a Happy Valentine's Day--and as the preacher for the worship service at NightLight Ministries in Bangkok reminded the women who work there--celebrate God's love for you on this day!