The hot season is a-comin'...

For the past three months, the weather in Bangkok has been unlike anything we expected. There has yet to be an exceptionally hot day and we have been pleasantly surprised as to how cool it has been. After all, we were told that there are three season in BKK - hot, hotter, and hottest!!! The Thais have been walking around in jackets, gloves, scarves, and woolen hats. And there I was - in a T-shirt, shorts, and sandals. No wonder they think the farangs are crazy!!!

That being said, our future hopes for cooler weather were quickly dashed when we were told that it has been forty years since Thailand has experienced weather such as this. In essence, the locals have told us, 'Don't get used to it. It is not the norm.' Well...thank the Lord for the past three months.



We will finish module 2 this coming week and begin module 3 on Thursday. We will have our first taste of the Thai alphabet, reading and writing the language. We have been blessed in that we both feel we are attending a wonderful language school. The teachers - khun khruus - are very skilled and capable instructors. Everyone seemed to make such a big deal about the tones - and the tones are very, very important - but the tones have not been as much of a challenge to me as sentence structure and word patterns. And, as in almost any language, there are same words that have a variety of meanings and that seems particularly true in Thai.

This past Friday, our class spent a couple of hours in a park speaking to Thais. It was a good experience. We try to talk with people we run into at the market, as we ride the skytrain, or meet throughout the day. Usually, those conversations don't last very long because the people are busy and can't make the time to stop and talk to strangers. However, at the park, it was a very relaxed atmosphere and we had the opportunity to speak at length with several people. (I had one woman try to corner me into committing to teach her to speak English!!!)


Chinese New Year has been a lot of fun. The decorations seen throughout the town are beautiful - lots and lots of red color, the Chinese color for good luck. It is not uncommon to see 'dragons' coming your way, accompanied by drums and cymbals.

Last weekend, we went to Chinatown in Bangkok on New Year's Eve with Rocky and Pam Johnson and about 200,000 other people. We thought a parade was coming by for people were standing 6-7 deep along the street. In actuality, the princess of the country was walking the parade route and everyone was waiting for the opportunity to see her. There is such a high degree of respect and admiration given to the royal family. It really is a beautiful thing.

Other than that, we go to school in the morning and study pretty much the rest of the day. It has become a rather comfortable routine.

One night this week, we went to the Baptist Student Center near our apartment and spent the evening conversing with Thai students who are taking English. It was a very profitable and rewarding time, spending a few minutes with several different young men and women.

One of our new friends is a championship caliber badminton player from Japan. We went with him one evening to watch him play. It is an extremely fast game. The players must have lightning fast responses. I included a short clip in this update to show him in action. (He's the tall guy in the gray T-shirt.)



We again appreciate everyone who is praying for us on a regular basis. Your thoughtfulness, encouragement, and prayer support is so important to us on a daily basis. We have had the opportunity to share our faith with a number of people and we will continue to pray the Holy Spirit will take those seeds and bring them into fruition.

Bless you all,
Robert and Kay

Movin' on to Module 2

We have finished our first module in language school and are a week into our second module. Things are going exceptionally well. (Kay might choose to disagree with that assessment, however.) We are beginning to be able to speak in Thai to just about anybody we run into. The conversational topics are rather mundane, however, but those conversations are building blocks to our future success with language acquisition. Besides, how many Thais have 'farangs' ask them if they think pineapples are sweeter than watermelon or if they think Thailand is hotter than Canada...

I got to use a question today in class I've been contemplating. The English translation goes something like, 'When my hair is long, I get a haircut. I like haircuts.' But the Thai translation goes something like 'weelah phom phom yaaw phom kaw tat phom. phom chaap tat phom.' (If you say it fast enough, it sounds like a few explosions going off.) Of course, the all-important tones are absent but you can get the general idea.

We found this manger scene (along with 5 other scenes of angels, shepherds, etc.) in the middle of the largest park in downtown Bangkok. It was quite surprising and a pleasant discovery. So much for separation of church and state in Thailand. Today is January 10th and we still hear 'Joy to the World, the Lord is Come' being played over the loud speakers in the mall. Of course, 'Here Comes Santa Claus' is right after it!!!

We get asked unusual questions every now and then. One particular question has been sticking in my mind. Here's the background.

If you walk the streets in Bangkok, you will quickly notice that the vast majority of Thais are extremely clean. Their clothes are laundered and they usually appear clean and refreshed, even on the hottest days. We have noticed that this is true in the rural areas, as well. Though the people outside the cities are much less fortunate, even in the poorest areas, the Thai people still take their personal hygiene very seriously. The house may be falling down and the cattle may be bone poor but, as a whole, the people exhibit a high degree of personal cleanliness. (The average Thai takes several baths a day because of the climate.)

With that as a prelude, the question that was asked of one of our m's was 'Is it true that Americans only take one bath a day?' At first, it seemed like a silly question but the more I thought about it, the more sense it made. The young lady found it incredulous to think that we, as a general rule, feel that only one bath a day was sufficient for proper personal hygiene.

Her question guided me to a couple of very specific points. The reason the Thai people have such a high regard for cleanliness is that (1) they make it a priority and (2) they are consistent with their hygienic discipline. Oh, that we could say the same about our spiritual discipline. (I'm not pointing fingers at anybody for I'm speaking mainly to myself here.)

Day in and day out, the Thais constantly make it a point to maintain that high degree of cleanliness through a conscious, concerted, intentional effort. Do we do the same for our spiritual discipline? I have a feeling that, if we approached our spiritual lives the way the Thais approach their physical lives, the Christian faith, as we know it, would have a much different look.

One of Bobby Renfro's favorite songs was 'All day long I've been with Jesus. It has been a glorious day.' Spending each moment with the Father each day is like taking a 24-hour shower!! Think how clean, though wrinkled, you'd be when the shower was done.

Speaking of Bobby, how our hearts were saddened when we heard of his passing last week. But, at the same time, how our hearts were elated to know he now stands in the presence of our glorious, loving Lord. We are jealous he has already had the opportunity to see our Redeemer face to face. His impact will, indeed, be felt for years to come. I know many of you have expressed your sympathies to Jane, Libby, and Lane. What a generous, free spirit he was. (I have no doubt he's checking the banquet table we will all feast at someday to make sure the green peas are absent...)

Blessings.

In the twinkling of an eye...

This past week, Kay and I went to a seaside resort called Cha-am for a couple of days of R and R. Here's a picture of Kay on the beach 'suffering for Jesus.' There are some really nice parts of living in Thailand with hour long, $5.00 foot massages on the beach being one of them.

On our way back to Bangkok, at one point we noticed that all the traffic on the opposite side of the median had disappeared. Just minutes before there had been numerous cars zooming by but now, there was not a even single one.

There were, however, policemen stationed about every hundred yards or so, blocking all the streets - large and small alike - preventing any car from entering the roadway. We began to muse about what was going on and it didn't take us long to realize that a motorcade ferrying the royal monarchy was about to pass us by.

I strained my eyes, peering down the open road, trying to get a glimpse of the oncoming yellow limo, the King's personal travel vehicle. We knew it was coming...we just didn't know when. We looked and we watched and we waited with camera in hand, hoping to get a picture of the royal family. We knew they had a mansion in Cha-am and were, no doubt, on their way there for some R and R, as well. I must admit, there was a bit of electrical energy in our car. How often do you get to see royalty!!!

And then, before I knew it, whoosh -in a flash - the motorcade flew by before I could even get my camera off my lap. They appeared and then disappeared as quickly as they had come. I didn't get my picture. I didn't see any royalty. The whole series of events happened so fast... they were coming, they were coming, they were coming and then, as John Madden would say, 'boom, they were gone.'

As I reflected upon the experience, I thought of the similarities with Jesus' return to the earth. We know He is coming, we yearn to see Him. We look and we watch and we wait. We just don't know when it will be. The scripture says it will happen in a heartbeat, in the twinkling of an eye. And, just like that, it will be over and it will be too late for those who don't place their trust in Jesus.

We, as believers, must continue to be vigilant, peering down the road, watching for His return. But, until He does come, we must continue to be faithful to share the Good News with those who don't know Him.

Thanks to all who gave to the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering. Your benevolence supports the work of over 5600 missionaries scattered throughout the nations of the world. Every single penny of the LMCO goes directly to evangelistic projects submitted by the 'Ms.' May the Lord's richest blessings be on you all.

And, as always, keep your camera ready...