July 28, 2010
Wow, it’s hard to believe it’s been 5 weeks since I’ve last written, sorry for the long delay, and welcome back. I’ve just returned from my grand summer adventure to Thailand. I’d like to spend a few days recounting and recording some of what we experienced in that beautiful country.
I traveled with Barb and Dave Nash, and Diane Dyk, members all of Legacy UMC. We had a number of “purposes” for this trip. Primary among them was to reconnect with Somsong, a 40 year old Thai man that Barb met five years ago, and Diane 2. He lives in a very rural village in NE Thailand an hour NW of Khon Kheon. He is a quadriplegic who lives under the main floor of his family home, exposed to the weather. We hoped to help ‘enclose’ him and his living quarters at least in part, to help temper the severity of their Thai winter. I’ll spend much time talking about this amazing man, and his faithful family caregivers; most notably Jansi, one of his 9 siblings.
We also went to meet/connect with a local Assembly of God pastor who has begun ministering in Somsong’s village. He is the pastor of a small but expanding church in Khon Kheon. He is 60ish and formerly worked for the US CIA during the Vietnam conflict. He speaks good English and interpreted for me/us on various occasions. We went to Thailand to forge this relationship and explore the potential for future mission project(s) in that part of the world. We were able to learn what we needed to know.
Over all the experience was tremendous. Somsong is an amazing fellow that you will be impressed to get to know through these stories. The village life is incredible, the food was hot, spicy and outstanding, the people were friendly, the pace of life is relaxing, the whole country is hot and humid, and I am having a harder time than expected readjusting to CST after 12 days half way around the world, and 30+ hours to get there and back!
So, I hope you enjoy reliving some of our experiences, and I promise to return to Ecclesiastes soon.