A Bunch of Burts

So many asked similar questions on my giveaway post, I thought it would be more expeditious to answer them all here in a brand new post instead of you trying to wade through all the comments for my answers.

We have been living in Thailand for nearly a year and a half now. We have spent the majority of that time in full-time language study. Learning Thai has proven to be one of the hardest things we have ever done.

Our first night in Chiang Mai. Do we look as tired as we felt?

We live in Chiang Mai, the second largest city in Thailand. Bangkok is of course the largest, and to be honest it is too large to considered merely a city. It is a mega-city. There are more people living in Bangkok than in our home state of Washington. Yikes. But the most we have seen of Bangkok is the airport. We arrived there, slept there, and heading straight up to Chaing Mai. I did take my mom back to Bangkok when she came to visit last year and we took a taxi to the guest house from the airport and back the next morning, so there you go, I have seen some of the streets in Bangkok. Enough to know I am not interested in trying to drive around the city myself.

We have yet to go to any of the beaches here. They are all in the southern region, and so far our trips have taken us to the NE. Here is a look across the Mekong River at Laos from Nakhom Phanom.

We love the food. More specifically, I love the food. Well, most of it anyways. I have yet to find a curry I do not like, but particularly like the green kind. Coming from the western sterotype of Thai food, I found out only one of my assumptions/learned expections was correct. Thai food is spicy. If it is not served spicy, most will season thier plate with dried chilis. However, peanut sauce is not the quintessential flavor here, in fact, I have only found two things that really have the flavor of peanut sauce that I was expecting. Go figure.

Do we eat Thai-style? Sort of. The kids eat Thai at school every day, so I often prepare a western style meal for them at home. But even when I do prepare Thai at home, it is my western version, with probably twice as much meat as an average Thai family would use. And not as many unidentified greens. I am branching out in that area. I have even found that I like some of them, alot. Kiddos are a different story.

A popular way to BBQ here. Mmmm tasty meat and a yummy soup being made at the same time. A fun and social way to eat!

Wierdest thing I ever ate? Believe me, it was unintentional. We had not been here very, and visited the food vendor at the front of our muubaan (neighborhood), who sold a variety of curries. One had what appeared to be black tofu in it. I eat tofu and assumed that it had been soaked/marinated in some kind of sauce, perhaps even the sweet black soy sauce that I really like. I bought a bag for my oldest daughter and I to share. We tentatively tasted the ‘black tofu’, but were a bit put off by the flavor and texture. I was seriously beginning to doubt that it was tofu at all.

It was not.

I asked a friend about it, and after thinking for a while realized that it was indeed not tofu, but congealed blood. Blood dried in a pan and then cut into neat and tidy squares, fooling me into tasting them. Needless to say, I have not tried it again. No thank you.

(You don’t really want a picture of the blood do you? )

We do drive, although we did not have a car for about 6 months. I was quite nervous about it as it is on the opposite side of the road as the States. Traffic patterns certainly are different, but you get used to them.

Not too long ago, even just 5 or 10 years, there were hardly any supermarkets like most of us are used to. Nearly all the grocery and daily shopping happened at outdoor markets. Those markets are still there, but we also have stores that are comparable to WalMart and major grocery stores.

I love going to the markets however. They are much more fun, produce and meat are fresh fresh fresh and you can even pick up dinner. I have one market I like to shop at, and one vegetable stall in particular. It is great to be able to build a relationship with people and be a regular customer.

This is my local market. It is always busy and exciting. You will never know just what you will find there.

But of all the answers we have learned living here, we already came with the most important one.

We know the answer to eternal life, we know the answer to salvation, we know the answer to peace with God. And the answer we have is why we are here. As missionaries, we want to get to know the people as individuals, to understand their culture and worldview, to see the world through their eyes.

Our neighbor giving a food offering to the local monks in return for a blessing and merit.

Thailand is 99% Buddhist. Buddhism and its worldview is part of every part of daily Thai life. But it is not the answer.

This is Doi Sutep the largest temple in Chiang Mai and one of the most revered in all of Thailand

The reason is to connect them with to share the answer we have, Christ.
He is the only answer that matters, and He is why we are here.
Of course we have days when we want to go home, when we are tired of being the outsider, of struggling to communicate, of being misunderstood and question our being here. Can we really do it? Lord, is this really what you have for us? We feel so inadequate and helpless.
His answer is: Yes, I have brought you here.
Rest in Me, keep your eyes on Me, allow Me to live out My life through you.
Child you already know The Answer, share with the people of Thailand, people I made and created special, people I love just as I love you.

So here we are, ordinary people serving our Lord, in His strength each day, eager to share the answers found in Christ with a nation who is seeking truth.

Many of you have asked if you can pray for us. Yes, please pray for us.
Pray for our walk with the Lord and that our focus would remain on Him.
Pray for the people of Thailand, that the Holy Spirit would be at work in their hearts, preparing them to hear and recieve the salvation of Christ.

This entry was posted on Friday, February 1st, 2008 at 8:43 am and is filed under Ministry, Thai life. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.