Whew! It’s been an exciting, event-filled and humbling month serving in Chiang Mai so far with ZOE International.
First of all, our God continues to be amazing in providing for us. We were able to find a home to rent after only one day of showings. I personally think it had a lot to do with the precise parameters that Lori-Ann sent our Chiang Mai realtor before our arrival. The purchase of our new used car also didn’t take long. We later found out that the mini-mini-van (yes, you read that correctly) we picked out is pretty popular among missionaries here.
For a new, foreign missionary there is a lot of time spent processing paperwork and obtaining certificates from the Thai government. For example, we put in five hours to obtain our Thai driver’s license…in what we are told is record time. However this may appear on the surface, the methodical processes actually make sense in this culture as the Thai people like to do things carefully. And it is not a bad thing for us Westerners to practice patience when we are so used to “hurry, hurry, hurry.” Still, obtaining all the documentation that is required of us here was among the most challenging circumstances we have ever faced together.
We got to jump into our first assignment before August ended, shadowing and assisting a short-term missionary team that served with us for ten days. This was one of the largest teams ZOE has hosted with 25 members arriving from different parts of the U.S. It was a joy to get to know them and minister together. One of the highlights of being with this team was our working together with the ZOE Ministry School students (college-aged Thais committing to an intense, 2-year servant leadership training) to minister to a village south of the city which included an overnight stay in sparse conditions. The outreach served a two-fold purpose: sharing the Gospel and educating the villagers about human trafficking.
It was a beautiful time. Out of about 100 households, only 4 families in the village had a member who was a Christian…and this was a village known to throw rocks at Christian visitors. Yet, after spending the afternoon visiting homes to pray and inviting families to an evening outreach, 95 people came out despite super-heavy rain. We heard afterwards that the village’s shaman professed Christ that same night! The picture below is of the school outreach the next morning to the children of this village.
It’s been a month of so many ups and downs and feeling like we are running around at 100 miles an hour. Some of the highs were really encouraging. Spending time with the ZOE children, the Ministry School students, the ZOE Thai staff and our fellow missionaries has been so uplifting. Despite their previous hardships, the children are so joyous and giving and the love of Jesus just pours out from them. The Ministry School students and Thai staff are the most humble, hardest working, fervent, God-loving servant leaders we have ever met. The missionaries we work with have warmly welcomed us and helped us with processes that we would never have been able to figure out on our own. We believe they are the best team in the world. All of their examples challenge us daily to grow in our faith and love for Jesus.
Our early experiences here have also brought to light how very differently we approach challenges that come up. For example, on the day we purchased our car, the owner of the dealership told us to follow his employee into the city to get our registration completed at the DMV. We were absolutely clueless as to where to go or what needed to be done so we were more than happy for the help. But despite having a personal guide, we were on edge the entire time for the following reasons:
1) After we drive off the lot, we noticed that the gas meter is on the very last bar and we had no idea how far we had to drive.
2) Our guide was very friendly and wanted to be helpful…but barely spoke any English. Of course our grasp of the Thai language was worse than his English. And we did not have our guide’s phone number if we got lost which probably didn’t matter anyway because of the language barrier.
3) Simpson was still new at driving on the LEFT side of the road–among the horde of motorcyclists who seemed intent on committing suicide at every turn (it only appears that way, there really is a method to the seemingly incomprehensible traffic madness).
We were a nervous wreck by the time we arrive at the DMV. Our expectation is that we will just park, walk into a building and be quickly done with it. But this is not the case. Our guide wasn’t able to explain the process to us so we just follow him in this very long queue of cars. The cars would move for a bit, we stop and wait for a long time, then we move again. After so many car lengths of progress, we would turn off the engine to conserve gas. It was oppressively hot and humid but we couldn’t use the A/C since we kept shutting down the car. I’m really stressed out because I’m convinced we will run out of gas by the time we get to the front of the line. As I am trying to get a grip and keep from panicking, Simpson asks, “Hey, are you hungry?” He had spotted a group of vendors selling food about 30 feet away. Incredulous that he would even think of food, I quickly reply, “No!” He says, “I’m gonna grab some food, you want anything?” Then I repeat, “No!” So Simpson proceeds to leave me in the car all by myself saying, “I’ll be right back.” My personality is such that I would rather stay with the car (with my husband) and get this job done before contemplating anything else. I couldn’t understand how he could be hungry. I later learned that he was also stressed (obviously not as stressed as I was) and eating was his coping mechanism. BTW, over the years, in our history of stressful experiences together, I’ve found that SLEEPING DURING THE STRESSFUL EVENT is Simpson’s second-most preferred method of dealing with stress. That is a story for another time. Sigh. So much love and appreciation for this wonderful husband of mine!
We miss you all so much. We miss being known and all the connections built over the years of friendship. We miss the food and the conveniences of home. We miss the hugs and warm smiles of your faces. This has been hard. But we know that He is refining us and showing us more of Himself. God is teaching us to look to Him to define us and reminds us that He loves us completely and that we are fully known by Him. God is also strengthening our marriage. We react differently under stress and we have a new appreciation, love and respect for each other through this transition stage.
We ask for your continued prayers, especially as we learn the Thai language so that we may effectively minister here. We pray for you and ask that you please contact us and let us know how we can be praying for you specifically.
We are also excited to tell you about Road of Justice. Please check out how you can join the fight against human trafficking at roadofjustice.com.
