“You do just like Thai people.”

I mentioned in a blog post recently that our church was in the process of making significant changes to our Sunday morning worship.  We had been meeting in our homes on Sundays but decided to move our meetings to the second floor of the pizza restaurant.  We also painted the walls and improved the lighting in order to give the room a warmer feel and make it more aesthetically pleasing (the walls were previously a pale green color!).  We also placed a large wooden cross at the front of the room next to some small tables on which we place the bread and grape juice, candles and incense sticks.  Straw mats are placed on the floor for us to sit on during worship.  Our hope is that these aesthetic changes will contribute to making our worship space sacred much like temples and shrines are sacred space for Thai Buddhists.

We also made significant changes to the content of our Sunday morning worship.  When we met in our homes, our worship resembled what a small-group devotional might look like in the U.S.  We sat around the living room, shared a meal, sang songs, had a short Bible lesson and prayed for each other.  Now when we meet on Sunday mornings, we meet on the first floor of the restaurant and have casual conversation for 15-30 minutes until everyone arrives.  The leader then calls everyone together for a “call to worship,” which usually involves reading a scripture from the Psalms or some introductory words to guide our thoughts for that morning.  After this, we each light an incense stick and carry it up the stairs to the second floor.  Upon entering the sanctuary, each person walks to the front, kneels at the cross and places their incense stick in a bowl on the table.  After everyone has placed their incense at the front and sat down, the leader begins the service by inviting everyone to bow three times before Jesus.  There is a specific method of bowing that Thais use in their worship that we try to imitate (we’re still new at it, but Ning has tried to help us get it right).  The rest of the service consists of reading scripture from the lectionary readings for that week, saying prayers, singing songs and, on occasion, hearing a short sermon.  While reading scripture or praying, we hold our hands together in front of our faces in a wai and respond with “sa-tu,” which is the Thai word for “amen.”  Occasionally, we may take the Lord’s supper during this time, but we usually wait until we go downstairs for our meal time.  This is the basic structure that we have consistently from week to week, but there is always room for adding in new elements as the leaders sees fit. This part of our worship time usually lasts from 20-30 minutes.  After this, we usually have our children’s class in the classroom adjacent to the sanctuary.  While some parents help teach class, the rest of us help get the table ready for lunch downstairs. During our Lord’s supper, we take the bread and juice along with our other food we eat for lunch.  Conversation is usually guided by the leader and may focus on a particular question we all answer or may simply involve sharing prayer requests with one another.  This part may last an hour or more.

There are two main reasons we have made these changes to our worship.  The first is a practical one: we were spending way too much time from week to week preparing for worship.  It was difficult to be creative each week and come up with a lesson or theme for our devotional each Sunday, especially when our Thai friends were not as consistent in coming to worship as they had been in the past.  It was draining on us to put together a worship service in Thai, with a lot of thought going into the lesson time, and then not have any of our friends benefit from being there.  We found we were left with little time and energy to focus on evangelism with our Thai friends during the rest of the week.  We’ve always said that Sunday mornings are not the central part of our ministry, yet we were letting the preparation for worship take up too much time from other activities.  The new format, which is simple and easy to prepare, allows for more time to do other things.  The use of the lectionary and not always having a sermon or lesson each week helps in this regard.

I think a more important reason for these changes is that we want to make our worship more reflective of Thai culture.  We have always talked about trying to be as contextual as we can with our worship and other aspects of our ministry, but our worship still seemed to resemble our experience in the American church.  One thing we noticed about our worship in homes over the last 2 ½ years is that in many ways it was awkward for our Thai friends.  There seemed to be a sense of confusion about what we were doing each Sunday as we gathered in homes.  The combination of singing songs, reading scripture, sharing about our lives and discussing theology while eating a meal together did not seem to make sense to Thai people.  There are not many contexts in Thailand where this mix of the formal and informal, serious and fun, happens at the same time in the home.  While there are religious ceremonies that take place in the home in Thailand, there is usually a clear break between the formal ceremony involving monks and the informal fellowship/meal time.  I think the problem with our devotionals on Sundays was that it was neither formal enough nor informal enough to make sense to Thais.  We decided to incorporate elements from Thai religious ceremonies that take place at the temple or other sacred spaces (i.e. shrines at the home, other public shrines).  The lighting of incense sticks and bowing are common ways that Thais show reverence and honor to Buddha images or other shrines in Thailand.  We also use candles since Thais typically use candles in their worship as an offering to different sacred objects.  In Thai temple worship, monks will often chant Buddhist texts in the Pali language, which is incomprehensible to most Thai people.  Thai worshippers will hold their hands in a wai while the monks chant.  Though translations of these texts are available, rarely, if ever, do Thais hold a copy of the texts and read along with the monks.  The emphasis isn’t on understanding the words being spoken but simply on hearing the words.  By being present and hearing these words the Thais believe that receive merit and blessings.  While we obviously hope to put more emphasis on understanding the words of Scripture than a does Buddhist temple service by using the Thai language instead of Pali, we do emphasize the hearing of scripture in our worship, rather than reading, as way to transform us.

The immediate questions that arise, even for ourselves, concern the issue of syncretism.  Is it o.k. to mix these elements of Thai culture and Buddhist worship with our Christian worship?  Won’t people misunderstand and think we are Buddhist if we imitate their practices?  These are legitimate questions and we have discussed these as a team.  I’ll answer briefly here why our team thinks these changes are healthy and good for our church in Phayao, but there is certainly much more to say on this issue.  One thing that is clear from studying the Bible, church history and even reflecting on our own experience is that Christian worship has always been syncretistic.  The church has always used elements from the larger culture, even what we label “religious” culture, in its worship.  Perhaps the most obvious example is the words used in the Old and New Testaments for God.  The word elohim in Hebrew and the word theos in Greek are the same words that non-Jewish and non-Christian people used to refer to their deities.  Moreover, Jews were not the only people who offered animal sacrifices to their God; the practice was ubiquitous in the surrounding cultures.  In the New Testament, the practice of the Lord’s supper, especially as we see in I Corinthians, was very similar to the Greco-Roman banquets of the time.  These banquets were both social and religious occasions where people shared a meal and even sang songs to the gods, who acted as the hosts for the meal.  Paul’s criticisms of the Lord’s supper are not directed against the practice itself but against the abuses of the Corinthians; the practice of the meal is assumed.  There are countless more examples from the Bible, history of the church and even from our own worship in America.  There is no such thing as a form of pure Christian worship that is devoid of any influence from the surrounding culture.

The use of elements from the surrounding culture in Christian worship is not only unavoidable, but also necessary if we want our worship to make sense to people.  In fact, it is the reappropriation of cultural material in Christian worship that opens up the possibility of reflection on the meaning of the Christian faith in a particular context.  Often when Christians borrow a practice from the surrounding culture few changes are made to the practice itself (i.e.,  baptism and the Lord’s supper in the New Testament).  What does change is to whom the action/ritual is directed.  For Christians, baptism is done in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit and the Lord’s supper is hosted by Jesus, not Greco-Roman gods.  Similarly, we are intentionally borrowing practices from Thai culture that communicate honor/reverence to someone.  Offering incense is a common way that Thais show honor to idols and shrines, while bowing is an action used both to honor images and people of high position.  The difference between what we do on Sundays and what happens in a Buddhist temple or household shrine is that our offerings of incense and bowing down are directed to the God of the universe and Christ the Lord.  Our worship allows Thai Christians to use actions and symbols of showing honor that are meaningful to them, but yet forces them to reflect on to whom honor and reverence are due.  These actions in the context of Christian worship serve as a direct challenge to the surrounding culture that worships idols.

The risks of not using cultural elements that communicate clearly to Thai people are actually more worrisome.  If we decided (like many missionaries and churches have done) to simply import worship practices from the American church, then our worship has little chance to communicate to Thai people.  If bowing and lighting incense are powerful ways that Thais communicate honor, devotion and reverence, why make them leave those actions behind in favor of rituals/symbols that communicate nothing?  Moreover, one of the biggest obstacles for Thais coming to faith in Christ is that they continue to view Christianity as a religion of the West.  Thais often reject Christianity outright because they think it is another example of the West trying to change their cultural heritage of which they are very proud.  Using traditional forms of worship allows Thais to see Christianity not as a another form of western imperialism but as something that is at home in Thai culture and that values their traditions.  We must demonstrate that Thai people can follow Jesus without also adopting American culture.  Finally, I think there is actually more risk for syncretism to occur when elements from Thai culture are not used in Christian worship.  If the church ignores those cultural practices that are central to Thai people and their identity, Thai Christians are likely to continue to hold onto many elements of their culture without reflecting on them critically.  For example, bowing down is an action that is used to honor the king of Thailand.  By using this action towards Jesus in worship we bring the issue of showing honor/devotion to the king of Thailand to the discursive level for Thai Christians.  There is now room for open discussion about how Thai Christians ought to respond to the pervasiveness of devotion and loyalty to the king in Thailand.  Without these opportunities, Thai Christianity actually becomes more syncretistic because many of their cultural practices and beliefs are left unchallenged by their faith.

We think that using elements of Thai culture in our worship will help us communicate the gospel in Thailand more.  Just as we use the Thai language to communicate clearly about our faith, we also want to use Thai symbols and rituals.  This is not to say that we have completely figured out what worship in Thailand ought to look like or that we will not continue to re-evaluate what we are doing.  On the contrary, we hope these changes push us even more to think critically, alongside our Thai friends, about what worship looks like for the Thai church.  I’d be lying to say that our Sunday morning worship is completely comfortable for me.  I am still learning not only how to do these things but also how to connect to God as we do them.  It is stretching my faith, which never happens without a little discomfort.  We are trying not to let what is comfortable and familiar for us control what we do here.  It helps to realize that what I grew up with in church is not the only way that Christians worship, nor are other ways unbiblical or invalid (by the way, some of the Hebrew and Greek words in the bible that we translate to “worship” actually mean “to bow down.” Bowing is very biblical!).  I think God takes pleasure in the variety of ways his children throughout the world show honor to God.

Our hope is that our attempt to contextualize Christian worship will be a blessing to the Thai church and help it to grow both numerically and in its faith.  This last Sunday one of our Thai friends commented, with the sound of surprise in her voice, “You do just like Thai people!”  It was the first time in my four-plus years in Thailand that I have ever heard a Thai Buddhist recognize that what Christians did on Sunday morning was “just like Thai people.”  It’s a small but encouraging sign that maybe we are on the right track in helping to make Jesus welcome among Thai people

Lane and Knox

Just thought I’d share a little video we’ve taken of our kids the last week.  Knox is growing fast and learning new things everyday.  He turns 6 months old next week and his newest trick is sticking his tongue out, which he often does while smiling at you.  He also can turn over onto his tummy now and likes to make “mmm” sounds.  Other than that, Knox loves to watch his brother, be tickled by his mommy and hear his daddy sing.  We enjoy seeing him smile and hearing him coo. We don’t mind that the neighbors let us know often how cute they think he is too. :)

Lane is 3 1/2 and is also learning new things.  He made strides in learning to ride his bike this last week, but still prefers to push it and run alongside it.  His Thai language skills are improving everyday, especially after finishing his first month of summer school.  His “official” first semester of pre-school starts next week, but he already enjoys playing in the sandbox and making crafts with his teachers, Kruu Nui and Kruu Tai.  Recently, Lane has enjoyed playing with his cars and dinosaurs but mostly enjoys playing anything as long as it’s with Mommy and Daddy.  Lane also still loves to throw rocks into anything that makes a splash.  We had two days of almost non-stop rain this week so that gave him a chance to play in the mud-filled potholes on our street.  Check out the videos below.

March Recap

Smog in Phayao

Last month we had our annual team retreat. Originally we planned to have our retreat in Chiang Rai, which is only a 1-hour drive from Phayao, but we changed our plans because the smog in Northern Thailand reached very unsafe levels. Every year, during the months of January-March, farmers prepare their fields for the planting season by burning all their agricultural scraps. You can imagine what thousands of farmers burning their fields can do to the air quality during 3 months of almost zero rainfall and no wind. Also, many people in Thailand rake the leaves in their yard and burn them instead of throwing them in the trash, only adding to the problem. The smog is a recurring issue that has bothered me since we moved to Phayao, but this year was especially bad. Pollutants in the atmosphere reached levels almost triple the highest level that is considered “safe.” I even noticed this year that my breathing was more labored and I had a weak cough for almost 3 weeks. Even though we have talked to people about the smog every year since we’ve been in Phayao, this is the first year that our friends seemed to take notice of the problem. The smog was so widespread that even the government made it an important issue, as it has been in the news and there have been several signs put up around town encouraging people to stop burning of all kinds. Unfortunately, the issue is complicated, since slash and burn techniques have been used in Thailand as long as people can remember. Thais also believe that burning their scraps actually improves their chances for a good harvest the next year, so there are economic considerations as well. Like many developing countries, Thailand lacks the infrastructure and the law enforcement capabilities (and, often, willingness) to stop people from burning. As a church, we hope to find ways to encourage people to change this dangerous behavior, but we know that the problem is beyond what we can do on our own. Thankfully, it looks like the government is realizing the severity of the problem (especially when it begins to affect tourism numbers!) and may be more diligent in preventing the smog next year. We pray that things will change, both for our own sake and for the people of Thailand. Take a look at the before and after pics of the smog below:

Annual Team Retreat

To get a break from the poor air quality, we moved our team retreat to Pattaya, which is a beach town just southeast of Bangkok. Our annual retreat is important as it gives us time as a team to relax and also time to plan for the coming year. With 8 children on the team and the busyness of ministry and family life, it is difficult to find time to have important discussions as a whole team where everyone can be present and focus. So, we always rent a house that has enough rooms for all of us so we can be together and have conversations while the kids are asleep. This year, we spent time re-casting our vision for the next several years. We are still in a time of transition as people are coming back from furloughs and we are slowly turning over responsibilities at the restaurant to our Thai employees. We are excited about changing the focus of our ministry as we come upon the 3-year mark of our arrival in Thailand. While we are not surprised by how slowly the ministry has been these last 2 ½ years as we have been very intentional in our approach to church planting, we are anxious to see our church grow more in the coming months and years. Talking about our vision and getting it on paper helps our team to be on the same page as we move forward. One thing that became clear from our retreat is that we are all passionate and confident about what God will do through us in Phayao. While our first year was spent on research and our second year on establishing the restaurant and making connections with the community, we think the focus of these next 2 years will be on drawing people into Christian community and making disciples of Christ. We have strong relationships with people in Phayao and pray that God will use these relationships to call people into God’s kingdom.

Jeremy Visits Phayao

We were excited to have a good friend, Jeremy Hegi, come spend a month with our team in March. Jeremy is a good friend of mine that I first met while serving as an intern in Chiang Mai but got to know well in graduate school at ACU. Jeremy has spent several summers serving at different churches throughout Thailand, in Bangkok, Phuket and Chiang Mai. He has a passion for ministry and a heart for the Thai people. Jeremy contacted our team about joining us in our work in Phayao. We are all very receptive to the idea of Jeremy working with us and invited him to come visit for a month. Jeremy’s time with our team was very encouraging and we all think it confirmed that he would be a good fit with our team and a blessing to the ministry here. Jeremy has been very intentional about trying to decide what to do next as he has recently finished grad school at ACU with two degrees, a Master of Divinity and a Master of Missions. Jeremy is still in the decision-making process and his time in Phayao is a very important part of that decision. We know that whatever Jeremy decides, whether to come to Phayao or serve God elsewhere, God will use him to bless others.

Jeremy being kid-piled.

Other Happenings

Since everyone has returned from furloughs, we have been able to continue our trash pick-up ministry on a consistent basis. We try to do this twice a month and we still believe that a persistent effort on our part will be powerful testimony to Phayao about our faith in Jesus. Almost every time we pick-up trash, we are joined by one of our Thai friends.

We are also in the process of changing our Sunday morning worship to help it be more reflective of Thai culture. After evaluating how our worship has gone the last 2 ½ years, we decided it was time for a change. We had been meeting in homes and having informal devotionals and bible discussions over a meal. For now, we are going to meet on the second floor of the pizza restaurant on Sunday mornings. I spent some time observing worship in Buddhist temples around town to get a better understanding of what Thais typically do in worship. In order to reflect this more, we are trying to make the second floor a sacred space, much like a temple is sacred space for Thais. We are improving the lighting and painting the walls to help in this regard. Our first worship service at the restaurant will happen this Sunday, April 22^nd. I will give you more details about it in my next post.

The pizza restaurant has been in somewhat of a lull, as business has slowed recently. We have only been open six-months, but we still want the business to thrive more. We have started opening during the evenings on Friday and Saturday and now have delivery. Pray that we are able to make money so we can use it to bless the people of Phayao.

Moving Towards Evangelism – Part 5

Evangelism is wrong since religion is a private, individual matter of opinion.

 

 This is the fifth perspective on evangelism that I think is unhealthy and yet found often among our churches in America and missionaries abroad.  At first, it may seem strange that either churches or missionaries would think that evangelism is wrong, much less that this kind of thinking would be common among them.  However, I think this is an example of how the thinking of our pluralistic culture has had a profound impact on our churches.  You might be surprised to find how many ministers, missionaries and lay believers think that evangelism is wrong at worst and unnecessary at best.  But, honestly, when was the last time you heard a sermon or Bible lesson that focused on evangelism or even mentioned the word “evangelism”?  And while perhaps few Christians would admit that they think evangelism is wrong, most reflect this kind of thinking in the way that they live.  Many of us avoid sharing our faith because, at some level, we have a negative view of evangelism that we have adopted from our culture. 

 

Evangelism has become somewhat of a bad word in Western culture.  People react negatively to what they perceive to be efforts at evangelism, or sharing one’s religious beliefs with others.  Thus, we hear in the news about criticism of people like Tim Tebow, Josh Hamilton and other Christians who use their highly public profile to speak about their faith.  Also, people tend to be wary of people who talk about their faith, and most people avoid discussing religion all together because they do not want others to think they are evangelizing.  On a Western ex-patriot web site here in Thailand I recently read some comments about our pizza restaurant.  One man posted that, while we he wanted to try our pizza, he would not visit our restaurant out of fear we would come by the tables and “evangelize.”  Another man concurred, saying he would not come back if we did.  The word “evangelism” has a negative connotation for much of our culture.

I think there are two main reasons for this.  First, we need to admit as a church that we have helped create this negative image by going about evangelism in ways that are disrespectful, manipulative and arrogant.  Evangelism, to many people, means having an arrogant confidence about the truth of one’s beliefs and being unwilling to listen to others.  It may also mean using coercive techniques to get others to become Christians.  We can certainly understand negative reactions to evangelism that treats non-Christians simply as potential names to be added to the church attendance sheet.  Also, often the only message people have heard is how God is going to punish them if they do not believe in Jesus.  Thus, it is also understandable why many ministers, missionaries and churches no longer think evangelism is a good thing.  Who wants to be seen as belligerent and arrogant?

Secondly, our modern culture has determined that religious beliefs belong in the world of value, not facts.  Our choice of religion is seen in much the same way as our choice of ice cream.  I like chocolate, you like vanilla, and there is no reason for me to convince you to like chocolate.  Thus, while we can argue about the scientific evidence regarding global warming or which political party has the best ideas for helping the economy, it seems kind of silly (and offensive) to argue for Christianity being a better religion over another.  I am a Christian, you are Buddhist, and there is no reason for us to persuade each other to change.  To do so would be to criticize something that is a matter of personal preference.  Religion, in our culture, is simply an individual, private opinion.  The frequent discussion in America about separation of church and state reflects this way of thinking because, not only must we protect the rights of individuals to practice religion according to their free choice, but also we must protect the state (or public realm) from the influence of religious opinions.  Nobody wants something that is an individual, private matter to have influence on what is public and communal.  Thus, our culture sees evangelism as an infringement of the private onto the public. Similarly, churches have bought into this line of thinking. Christianity is primarily about an individual’s “personal relationship with Jesus” and the church exists to facilitate its members’ pursuit of these relationships.  It is good, then, that there is a wide range of churches to choose from and ministry programs to be involved with that can meet the unique needs of each individual.  Any impact that Christianity has on public life or the larger community is secondary to what Christianity provides for individual believers.  Evangelism, then, can only be simply marketing to those who are looking for personal fulfillment through consuming religious goods.  Evangelism that goes beyond this—by proclaiming that Christianity is true for all or that it provides the narrative around which to organize our lives—is offensive and inappropriate in our culture, and thus the church avoids this in favor of something more acceptable on the dominant culture’s terms.

However, I think Christianity is more than just a religion that provides individuals with personal fulfillment.  Christianity isn’t a simply a tool to help one find happiness and which can be substituted easily by one of many other religious options.  It’s not an ice cream flavor.  Instead, it is a claim about what God is doing in the world.  Evangelism, then,  is not just acceptable, but central to what it means to be the church.  It is a claim based on the historical events of Jesus’ life, death and resurrection and which has implications for the whole cosmos.  Evangelism is very much about making public and universal claims.  The church should not allow the larger culture’s category of “religion” to limit her proclamation of the gospel.  The question then becomes not whether we should do evangelism, but how.  Is there a way to evangelize that respects non-believers and does not manipulate them?  Is there a way to evangelize that proclaims the gospel from a position of humility rather than power?  Can we evangelize while still listening to and learning from other religions, philosophies and sources of knowledge?  Can we do so without compromising the gospel, knowing that at many times it may be a direct challenge to the dominant culture’s worldview?

I think the answer to all these questions is “yes.”  But since much of our world, not least the West, wants religion to be kept to the private sphere, then Christian evangelism will, without apology, often be “offensive” to the world since it steps outside that sphere.  Indeed, it should not be any less offensive than the scandal of one who died on a cross.

Similar challenges as in America exist here in Thailand when the church tries to go about its evangelism.  Thais are taught in school from an early age to categorize religion as a preference, and that “all religions are good.”  There is no reason to consider changing from Buddhism to any other religion.  This combines with the fact that Thais do not see religion as an individual choice but something that is core to their cultural identity as Thai people.  The church’s evangelism is even more unwelcome because it challenges this identity.  Moreover, missionaries in Thailand have a history of being offensive in the wrong ways, by disrespecting Thai culture and using unethical means to gain converts.  I don’t know if Thailand is a “tougher” mission field than America or anywhere else.  I do think, though, that evangelism is not something from which the church in any place should shy away.  I also think there are better ways to conceive of evangelism than what is common among churches and missionaries I am familiar with.  So, even as I suggest we move away from some of these unhealthy perspectives, I hope I have also suggested some ways we can move toward a better understanding and practice of evangelism.  I hope to write more about what I think evangelism should be in a later post.

Introducing Knox Coen & Why All Thai Babies Are Ugly

This is more than two months overdue, but I figured I should announce on our blog that our second son, Knox Coen Binkley, was born here in Phayao on November 16^th.  His due date was November 18^th, so we were definitely ready for him to arrive.  Everything went well with the delivery at the hospital, and both Knox and Ning were healthy and safe afterwards.  Our first son, Lane, was born in Texas, so this was quite a different experience for us, and for Ning especially.  We were really happy that everything went well, and it was good to have Ning’s parents close so they could come to Phayao and help take care of Lane those first few days.  Our experience at the hospital was good, even though there were several differences compared to Lane’s birth in Abilene.  One good difference was, because Phayao is a small town with 2 hospitals, we were the only family having a baby in the maternity ward that day.  This meant the nurses were really attentive and able to answer any questions that we had.  Another difference is that fathers are typically not allowed in the room during the delivery.  I had to ask permission from our doctor beforehand before they would let me be with Ning, but thankfully they were willing.  Also, instead of giving birth in a regular hospital room like in Abilene, Ning was wheeled into a special delivery room when it came time to push.  I had to wear a hospital covering, hat and mask in the room.  I don’t remember the hospital staff in Abilene being that concerned with sanitation when Lane was born, but I think these are the same pre-cautions hospitals took 30 years ago in the States.  Overall, our experience of having a baby in Phayao was a good one and certainly a lot more affordable than in the States.  Knox turned two months old last week and is growing so fast.  We are trying to enjoy every moment, as we know that he will not be a little baby forever.  Lane has taken some time to adjust to having a little brother, but really loves to hug and kiss Knox and, on occasion, pull his arm or leg.  We are really enjoying being a family of four and are thankful for the blessing that Knox has been.

Having a baby in Phayao has really highlighted to me a lot of the cultural differences between America and Thailand.  Sometimes the differences between our two cultures seem pretty minimal, until you experience something major like having a baby, a wedding or funeral.  Just for fun, I thought I’d share a little bit of what I learned about pregnancy and birth in Thailand:

One thing that I noticed, even before Ning became pregnant, was how important it seems for Thais that families have children of both sexes.  It’s not desirable to have just boys or just girls.  So, not long after we arrived in Thailand, our neighbors and even Ning’s parents constantly suggested that we have one more child so that we can have a girl.  And after our ultra-sound when we found out that Knox was a boy, they immediately said we had to have another baby so we can have a girl.  Even Ning’s mom suggested that we see a doctor who can help us select the sex of our baby by doing IVF.  I was just surprised how often we have been told that we need another child just so we can have a girl.  I’m sure there is some explanation for this, but have yet to find out why that impulse is there.

Also, Thais believe you can tell the sex of the baby by looking a pregnant mother’s tummy.  If the stomach is more elongated and protrudes out sharply, it is a boy; if the stomach is more round, it is a girl.  Based on this thinking, Ning’s mom guessed correctly that we were having a boy, but I guess her odds were at 50% anyway, so who knows.  Another sign indicating the child’s sex is whether the older sibling is willing to sit on or put his or her feet on the mother’s pregnant tummy.  So, Ning’s mom told us a story of how a little boy of a friend would not sit on his mother’s stomach when she held him and would not put his feet on her either; she had a girl.  Lane, as Ning’s mom pointed out, always willingly sat on Ning’s tummy when she held him.   Ning’s mom explained that sibiling rivalry between two boys is much stronger, thus Lane was not gentle with Ning’s tummy like the little boy was with his mother who was having a girl.

Just like in America, Thais are concerned with the health and safety of the mother while she is pregnant and are concerned that she avoids certain foods and activities that may put the baby at risk, but I think Thais are much more strict about it.  Most Thais will not let a pregnant woman drive a car or work in later stages of pregnancy.  But more than this, what I learned is that Thais are even more concerned with the health and safety of the mother after she gives birth.  Most Thai woman do not go outside their house for one month after the baby’s is born, a period of time that is called yu fai.  During this month, the mother must keep warmly dressed, often wearing long sleeves, sweaters and a thick hat, regardless of the hot, humid climate. The mother may also stand or squat over hot coals while water and herbs are poured over the coals to create steam.  It is believed this helps the mother’s body return to its normal state more quickly.  The idea is that the mother’s body is vulnerable after birth and susceptible to cold weather and needs extra protection.  Remaining indoors also protects the woman from any unusual smells that might enter her nose while traveling around outside.  Also, a mother must avoid certain foods that are acidic or spicy.  Thais think that these things will affect the mother not now, but when she is older, by causing her to have emotional swings and hot flashes associated with menopause.  It is believed that the effects of menopause can be avoided by taking these extra precautions for one month.  Ning did not follow these precautions, which led to lot of questions and extra concern on the part of our neighbors and Ning’s family.

Thais are also concerned about the baby right after he or she is born.  Thais do not normally allow the baby to travel outside the home for 2-3 months.  It is believed that the baby is vulnerable during this time, primarily to spirits/ghosts that might harm the child.  Traveling increases the odds of the child coming into contact with these spirits.  Our neighbors were really surprised and worried that we traveled to Chiang Mai when Knox was only 9 days old.  Also, often a family will tie string around the child’s wrist or even an amulet around the child’s neck for protection.  The string-tying is often part of a ceremony to bind the kwan to the child.  The kwan is a protective spirit that every person has (kind of like a guardian angel) but can leave during times of vulnerability or transition.  The ceremony and string help bind the kwan back to the child. Our church had a baby blessing for both Knox and Dax (the son of our teammates, Ann and Derran Reese, born 5 weeks before Knox).  One of the ways we tried to incorporate Thai culture was using strings to “tie” the blessing onto the babies.  We invited our neighbors and explained that we were asking for God’s blessing and protection on our kids.  While we did not mention the kwan, we did explain that the strings were a symbol of God’s presence abiding with Knox and Dax.

Most houses in Northern Thailand also have what is called a spirit-house, a miniature house raised up on stilts somewhere in the front yard.  Thais will often burn incense or place food in front of the house as an offering to the spirit who lives there.  Thais believe that each place has a spirit.  When people live in a house, they have to offer gifts to the spirit that owns that place in order to receive protection from it.  Our front yard has a spirit-house and since we’ve lived here, no one has ever offered gifts to it.  However, since Knox was born, Ning’s dad has, on several occasions, burnt incense and offered food to the spirit whenever he comes to visit us.  Again, I think the idea is that Knox, having just been born, is vulnerable and needs the extra protection.

Personally, I was most surprised by the expectations (or lack thereof) of Thai people for what the father should be able to do.  Whenever I held Knox those first few days, I was often met with strange looks or comments like, “Oh, you know how to hold a baby?”  Or, I would sense nervousness on the part of neighbors, as if I was going to drop him or something.  Never mind the fact that I already have a 3-year-old, whom I probably held at some point when he was a baby, and he turned out ok.  Also, when I went to the supermarket with both Lane and Knox by myself (I know, amazing), I received shocked and congratulatory looks.  One security guard even exclaimed, “Wow, awesome!”  When I took Knox to the doctor by myself for his 2-month check up, the nurse asked to talk to his mother.  When I asked what for, she said she wanted to know if Knox was smiling yet, able to raise his head, making noises yet, etc.  Apparently, dads are not supposed to notice this about their own children.  It doesn’t take much to impress people here with my parenting skills.  Now, if I can just convince Ning that all this makes me a super-dad, maybe I can get out of changing any more diapers…

Here’s a few more things I noticed:

- Babies need to wear a hat at all times, even when its 70-80 degrees outside and the baby is indoors.  The soft spot on a baby’s head is where cold air can enter the body, making the baby sick.

- Similarly, children (babies and toddlers) should not be exposed to too much direct sunlight, and “too much” usually means “any.”

- Thais do not bathe young children after dark, again because it is “cold.”

- Nursing mothers should only drink warm water.  Drinking cold water will prevent the mother from producing milk.

- Pregnant women are not supposed to attend funerals, weddings, etc in Northern Thailand.  They are thought to be bad luck.  Partly, this is because the Northern Thai word for “pregnant woman” is mahn, which sounds exactly like the central Thai word for “devil” or “demon.”  Side note: We did not know this and went to a funeral when Ning was pregnant.  I hope no one was offended.  For similar reasons, Ning’s sister, who is pregnant, did not join the family when their brother asked his girlfriend’s parents for permission to marry her.

- Drinking coconut juice while pregnant is supposed to help the baby not be as chubby when born, thus allowing for an easier delivery.  Ning’s dad always brought coconuts to us when Ning was pregnant.

- Thai parents will often consult a physic after the baby is born to see what name would be most auspicious for the child.  The psychic may warn against using certain letters in the child’s name because they may be bad luck, or may suggest which letters/names would bring the most luck.  Ning’s brother was originally named “Anon” but was later changed to just “Non” because the psychic said vowels were bad luck for that day (The “o” sound in “Non” can be spelled in Thai script without a vowel letter.)

- It is considered bad luck to say that a baby is “cute.”  Instead, Thais will say that a baby is “ugly” or “hateful.”  Thus, all babies in Thailand are “ugly.”  Rest assured, though, it is a compliment.

Moving Towards Evangelism – Part 4

Evangelism must make the gospel relevant to contemporary culture and address people’s needs to be successful.

This fourth perspective on evangelism is not completely unhealthy because, at one level, I actually do agree that our evangelism must present the gospel in way that is relevant to the culture in which we are evangelizing. In Phayao, we are constantly thinking about how we can talk about Jesus to the Thai people so that he “makes sense” in the Thai setting. For example, we made a list of stories about Jesus that had obvious connections to values that we observed are important to Thai people. Jesus’ teaching on where to sit when invited to a banquet, at the place of honor or a lower place, is a great story we can use to begin to tell people about Jesus because similar dynamics of honor/dishonor are at play at Thai weddings and funerals. Also, we talk about ways our church can live and worship that eliminate unnecessary barriers for Thai people who might want to follow Jesus. So, for instance, instead of praying with our heads bowed and eyes closed like we do in Texas, here in Phayao we pray with our hands together in front of our faces in a wai (the traditional Thai honorific greeting). Employing this small gesture from Thai culture makes our worship more comfortable and inviting to Thai non-Christians who want to learn about who we are. Moreover, our long-term goal is to have in our church Christians who read and interpret scripture for themselves so that they can formulate a theology from at Thai perspective.

Indeed, the impulse to make the gospel/Jesus/church relevant to the dominant culture of our mission field is strong and almost necessary. Churches in North America have for years now struggled to find a way to keep Christianity from being boring and irrelevant to the 18-35 age group who are less and less attending church on a regular basis. Some mega-churches, on the surface, have been very successful in their evangelism by including contemporary music in their worship services, hosting various self-help groups for those with specific struggles, teaching on how to be a better parent and offering sound advice on how to use/save/invest our money wisely. Other churches, like Mars Hill in Seattle, have been very direct in their efforts to make Christianity more attractive to men, in particular, by presenting Jesus as one who fits contemporary definitions of masculinity. The church has had to find ways to “market” Jesus in order to avoid being rejected and/or ignored by people who are looking for something to meet their needs. While these approaches to evangelism and outreach are sometimes effective in boosting membership numbers, they also run the risk of making the gospel indistinguishable from the surrounding culture whose values are often opposed to the values of God’s kingdom.

Whether it’s the “health and wealth” gospel, equating being a Christian to being a patriotic American who votes for a particular political party or the hundreds of Christian self-help books, these attempts to make the gospel relevant to American culture and meet our needs run the risk of marginalizing the radical way of life to which Christ calls his followers. Even evangelism that emphasizes the blessings we receive from following Christ, such as spiritual and emotional healing, loving social relationships within the church, a sense of purpose in life and the wisdom to raise responsible, well-behaved children, makes this mistake. While these things are good and certainly things we want to talk about with non-believers, it can communicate that human needs—our desires and wants as shaped by our culture—are central to the gospel. Our needs become the measure by which we determine the relevance of the gospel story. Thus, Christianity becomes not much different than the thousands of other philosophies, religions and material goods offered in the spiritual marketplace for us to consume. God’s story—God’s desires, goals and kingdom as seen in the gospel—becomes secondary to our story. Evangelism that makes the gospel relevant to our culture and our needs often makes God merely a tool to help each of us achieve our own individual goals as we determine them. The “usefulness” of the gospel is at the heart of evangelism in this vein.

Rather, good evangelism will make God’s story primary and relegate our own individual stories/goals to a secondary position. God’s will for the world becomes the focal point of what we invite people to learn, experience and accept. This often means that rather than becoming relevant to and at home with the dominant culture, more likely the gospel will challenge and be in tension with much of our culture. Rather than meeting our needs, the gospel will change and re-orient our needs and desires so that they reflect God’s. Making God’s story primary (I will say more about “story” in another post) does not mean that the church and the gospel become irrelevant to contemporary culture. No, the gospel remains relevant because it is counter-cultural. If our evangelism merely offers a few morals to hold on to–like abstaining from pre-marital sex, alcohol and R-rated movies—then yes, the church will likely be irrelevant to most Americans. But what if the gospel and the church that proclaims it challenged the greed and materialism in our culture? What if every Christian sought to downsize their house, car and possessions rather than seeking to buy bigger, better and more? What if marketers and advertisers ceased to see Christians as a customer base because we lived simply and without excess? What if we insisted that our churches were multi-racial and eschewed racism, not just by using politically correct language, but by actually forming friendships with people different from us? What if the church adopted so many children and took care of unwed mothers so well that abortion became a thing of the past? What if through self-sacrifice we became a solution to the many other problems that politicians argue over instead of just joining in the complaining about them? Certainly a church that proclaims and lives out these things will not be ignored by the larger culture. Many people may reject the gospel and may persecute the church because Christianity challenges the status quo and their ability to fulfill their selfish and sinful desires. Others, hopefully, will be set free from the control of their sin because the gospel offers them a better set of values and goals.

Evangelism that makes God’s story primary may not increase church attendance as much as evangelism that seeks to meet people’s needs, but that does not mean it is less successful. As I mentioned before, our definition of successful evangelism needs to center less on the numbers of converts it produces and more on how faithfully it proclaims the gospel. Even so, part of what made the church grow so quickly in the 2^nd century was precisely because it was counter-cultural. The Roman world was impressed with the love and compassion that the early Christians displayed for the poor and sick, even to non-Christians, in the empire. This level of charity for the poor was unknown in the Roman world and drew people to the church. Faithful evangelism, then, often means that the gospel challenges the dominant culture rather than finds a home in it. The gospel is good news for humanity when it offers an alternative to the sinful ways of the world. This does not mean, however, that the gospel is always in tension with culture. If we believe that all cultures are from God, then certainly there are some good and worthy parts of every culture with which the gospel can connect. Often, evangelism will highlight the good parts of a culture and either build off of them, enhance them or change them slightly.

Of course, deciding how to connect the gospel with the surrounding culture so that it is understandable to people and yet not compromised by culture is no easy task. It requires much prayer and discernment, within the local church and with the church at large. One issue that we face in Thailand is how to introduce God and prayer to Thai people. Most Thais do not spend much time thinking about their relationship with a supreme being who is creator of the world. Instead, they often pray to localized spirits or idols in temples. Thais pray and offer gifts to these idols and spirits in order to procure their favor and seek their protection. Thais will ask these spirits for anything, including luck to win the lottery, safety during travel, help on school exams and protection from evil spirits. They often view these spirits and idols as patrons who take care of them as long as they continue to offer gifts and sacrifices; the relationship is transactional. Patron/client dynamics are very much at play in both human/supernatural and human/human relationships in Thailand. This strong current in Thai culture should provide powerful language and symbolism for proclaiming the gospel in Thailand. As Christians, we believe that we should only pray to God for help in our daily lives. So, it makes sense to present God as the Ultimate Patron to Thai people. Thai people could easily connect to a God who listens to prayers and has the power to offer protection and help with their problems. We certainly believe that God offers healing and protection to those who seek it. However, what about those times when God does not answer our prayers like we hope? By presenting God as a patron who responds to sacrifice and prayer, are we setting up Thai people to doubt the power of God when God does not respond favorably, or painting a picture of God as an unfaithful patron? Certainly we cannot simply present Christianity as a swapping of patrons, from serving spirits to serving God. However, patron/client language is also prevalent in scripture as a way to describe our relationship with God, so this cultural material cannot be all bad. Careful thought and discussion is needed to determine how best to use the language of patron/client relationships when we present the gospel in Thailand.

The above is just one example of the difficulty of evangelizing in a way that is relevant to a particular culture. The bigger question for us in Thailand is “How do we present the gospel in Thailand so that it is both understandable yet also does not simply capitulate to the current narrative of Thai identity and culture?” It would be much easier to present Christianity as a tool that fits nicely into Thai culture as a better way to meet the needs, desires and goals that most Thai people have in common. On the other hand, presenting the gospel as a narrative that challenges the very core of Thai identity and culture is much more daunting, because it means the majority might very well reject the gospel. I think, however, that the latter approach is more faithful and I pray that God gives us the wisdom and courage to do it well.

The Brick Oven Opens and Our Trip Back to Texas

I apologize for the long delay between posts, but here is a brief report about the last few months:

It was about September of last year that our team decided to open up a pizza restaurant as part of our ministry here in Phayao.  I don’t think any of us really knew what we were getting into or how much work it would take when we made that decision.  So, it was with great excitement and a sense of accomplishment that we opened the restaurant in July.  On July 21st we had our opening ceremony and were blessed to have some of friends from Chiang Mai come up for the occasion.  Both Robert Reagan and Kelly Davidson spoke words of blessing over the restaurant and our employees.  I also explained to everyone who came about how all the profits will go back into the community and how we hope God will use to restaurant to bless to people of Phayao.  After Kelly cut the ribbon, we invited all our friends to be our first customers.  While we didn’t charge them for the pizza, we were able to get some good practice running the restaurant before we officially opened two days later on Saturday. However, I don’t think anything prepared us for what happened on Saturday.  We completely sold out of pizza by 6:00 and were supposed to be open until 8:30!

After seeing how busy the restaurant was the first week, we had to make some changes in order to not wear ourselves and our employees out.  We shortened our opening hours and ended up hiring a few more employees to help with the workload.  Over the last three months we have had to deal with several unforeseen obstacles, such as employees quitting, important equipment breaking and taking on extra responsibilities when our teammates go on furlough.  So far the restaurant is still running fairly smoothly, and our employees have almost learned to run the restaurant completely by themselves without us having to be there.  Our employees have been a huge blessing.  Our restaurant now sees a steady flow of customers on a weekly basis and has not been overwhelmed with business like the first week.  While we lost money the first month, we actually made a small profit in September and hope that sales continue to climb so we can begin to use the money to help the community.

The restaurant has already been a blessing ministry-wise in a couple of ways.  One of the benefits of the restaurant is how it has helped our team become recognizable in the community.  In conversations with people around town, especially other business owners, it gives us common ground from which start a discussion and get to know one another.  As owners of a pizza restaurant, we have an easily understood place in Phayao society that helps remove barriers that our foreign status often brings.  Another blessing has been the relationships we have built with our employees.  Our employees are all women, most of whom have only a high school eduation.  They are all fairly young and several of them have children and really need money to support their families.  We try to treat our employees with grace and understanding and hope that they are able to see the love of God through us.  Already some of the employees have asked about our faith and why we do things so differently from what they see as typical in society.  We continue to pray that our employees will come to know Christ and be blessed by Him through our interactions with them.

In early August, most of our team attended the Asia Mission Forum, an annual gathering of missionaries, ministers and other Christians in Churches of Christ from around Asia.  This year was the 50th anniversary of the event and it was held in Chiang Mai, Thailand.  There were over 250 participants, the most ever of any forum.  It was encouraging to hear stories from people who attended the very first AMF.  Aside from the good preaching, it was a blessing to talk with other missionaries and national Christians from Thailand, Laos, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, Cambodia, China, Japan, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea.  The forum offered a welcome rest for everyone as we enjoyed staying at the Le Meridien hotel and eating wonderful food.

A few days after the forum, Ning, Lane and I boarded a plane back to Texas for our annual furlough to spend time with our supporting congregation and our family in Irving.  I had a chance to preach and report on our work at church and at a nursing home.  It was encouraging to be with our supporters and be reminded that they are praying for us and interested in what is going on in Phayao.  We also had a wonderful time with my family for six weeks.  Lane especially enjoyed getting to be with his Pawpaw, Granna and cousins.  My mom hosted a “cousins camp” one weekend that involved taking everyone to the aquarium one day and bowling another day.  With all the hot weather, Lane had plenty of opportunities to go swimming at the different pools and water parks around Irving.  Ning and I especially enjoyed eating good food, celebrating our 6th wedding anniversary and her birthday and visiting friends in Arkansas.  I also caught a few Ranger games at the ballpark with some friends.  We also spent a lot of time shopping for baby stuff since Ning and I are expecting our second child, a boy, in November.  We have decided to name him Knox.

We returned to Phayao on September 20th and have been very busy getting back into the routine of things.  Our house was quite a mess when we returned because a water pipe had broken (luckily a friend fixed it before too much damage was done) and flooded part of our house.  Also, with all the rain that fell while we were gone our house needed to “air out” for a few days since it smelled like no one had lived in the house for months.  Not long after we returned home, our teammates Haley Edmiston and the Fikes left for Texas, leaving Derran and I to run things at the restaurant.  We have been able to hold the fort down but are looking forward to when everyone will be back.  We are also looking at adding some dessert items to our menu, such as a Berry and Cheese Pizza and a S’Mores Calzone, my version of a dessert I had at Il Cane Rosso in Dallas.

Other than keeping the restaurant going, we have also had a chance to serve a boy who is infected with HIV.  Our church partnered with Rak Thai foundation to paint the room of Andrea, a 17-year-old boy whose father lives in Germany and whose mother died of AIDS.  His room is actually just a small enclosed space below the house of a neighbor who lets him live there.  His aunt and uncle are his guardians, but do not allow Andrea to live in their house nor eat with them.  He has his own bathroom, his own set of silverware and dishes and has to wash his clothes separately.  Each evening his relatives make dinner and separate his portion into a bowl for him to eat alone in his room.  Andrea has some friends at school, and the Rak Thai foundation as done a good job of looking after him, but he obviously has lacked love and attention from his family.  P’ Muey from Rak Thai asked if we could help paint his room to make it feel more like home, and so we bought paint and brushes and spent last Sunday painting the room together with Andrea.  It feels like such a small token gesture of care, but we know that these small things done for the “least of these” are at the heart of what we want our church to be.  We hope to find more ways to show Andrea, and those like him, that they are not beyond the love and care of God.

Aside from these things, Ning, Lane and I are eagerly awaiting the arrival of Knox, who should come any day now.  The holiday season is about to begin in full swing with the Thai Loy Gratong festival and Thanksgiving in November and then Christmas and New Year’s.  These festivals have always provided unique opportunities to talk about Christ with our friends, so we look forward to celebrating them again this year.