Chiang Mai Orality Network

The countries of Asia, as a part of the majority world which are mainly preferred oral learners, receive the Easter message very well when it comes in the form of concrete relational communication. Such communication is best expressed through Biblical narratives. Each Easter at my Thai church, I give an oral presentation from memory of 11 Gospel stories starting with the Triumphal Entry and ending with the Appearance of Christ on the Emmaus road. The cumulative effect of hearing the events of the passion week told as a continuous oral story has a visible impact on Thai listeners.

Another effective way we have found to flesh out the message of Easter has been to decorate rooms which depict the key events of Christ’s journey to the cross. Each room has a biblically dressed narrator of a particular scene starting with the Last Supper and ending with the resurrection. Small groups have hands-on experiences as they proceed from room to room (ie. counting out 30 coins, praying next to the Gethsemane rock, carrying the cross, hammering nails, throwing dice and even taking a rod to the back of a purple robed mannequin, etc.) This hour-long experience climaxes with the showing of a portion of the Passion of Christ movie. Distinctively western traditions are often used in Thai churches such as hiding eggs and letting the church members find them (but in this case, the boiled eggs become part of their breakfast!). Also in Thailand, a number of churches construct a garden tomb and hold sunrise services on Easter morning before the tomb to show that Jesus, “pen kuen ma laew!” – “He is Risen Indeed!”

I am writing this on April 1st (April Fools), a day famous for hijinx and general tomfoolery in the west. But in Thailand it is a serious day to reflect on King Rama V (Chulalongkorn) who on April 1, 1905 freed all of the slaves in Thailand, an institution that had been in place for centuries (Above is the 100 Baht note showing the king freeing the slaves). Next to King Rama IX (Bhumibol Adulyadej) who died recently after 70 years on the throne, King Rama V is the portrait most seen displayed in Thai houses. Chulalongkorn is the son of King Mongkut (Rama IV) who is known in the west as the young prince in the Hollywood musical “The King and I”. As a young missionary studying Thai, it was months before I realized that Thailand actually means “Free Land” (ie. it has not been under colonizing powers like the rest of its neighbors). Yet over time I saw that a great many of this ‘Free People’ were in fact ‘under slavery’ to social problems and entrapped in various religious systems and thus not truly free as Jesus promised: “If the Son shall set you free, you shall be free indeed” (John 8:36). Pray that 99% of the Thai people not yet knowing Jesus will get to know their true liberator: Jesus Christ.

Recently I have sat with a number of missionaries who have had to leave their mission station unexpectedly due to persecution by government officials. As an open country, Thailand ends up receiving a number of these missionaries, many of whom are planning to set up a new base for outreach in Chiang Mai due to its strategic location. Some will end up ministering within Thailand, others will regroup and go elsewhere. As I am teaching through the book of Acts this semester, I am reminded often of the numerous incidences of persecution in that book. In John Stott’s commentary on Acts he describes what happened to CIM missionaries back in 1949 when they were forced out of China: “Six hundred and thirty-seven China Inland Mission missionaries were obliged to leave. It seemed a total disaster. Yet within four years 286 of them had been redeployed in South-East Asia and Japan, while the national Christians in China, even under severe persecution, began to multiply and now total thirty or forty times the number they were when the missionaries left.” Just as in the book of Acts, the persecutors of the Faith thought they could extinguish the church, but instead ended up pouring oil onto the fire. Could it be that a similar thing is happening today? Do pray that OMF workers who are being redeployed will have a clear understanding of God’s leading and that the church they are leaving will expand exponentially.

I first brought my family of six to The Pines over 20 years ago. Recently my adult son and I had a nostalgic trip to this beachside OMF Holiday Home on the Gulf of Thailand. Just like most ministers in the West, we missionaries find it very difficult to get proper rest and relaxing on our mission stations. Regular “Sabbaths” are a valid goal, yet many find it very difficult to maintain. That is why our family always took at least two weeks at The Pines: the first week to unwind and the second week for more complete rest. The Pines was always a family favorite due to its isolated location, family style meals, laundry service and all the amenities: swimming pool, skatepark, 600 Movie DVDs, 160 jig-saw puzzles, 1000s of books, weekly worship service as well as loads of family outings in the area. We always left feeling that our physical, emotional and spiritual batteries had been fully recharged as we got ready for the next season of intense ministry. Do pray that those of us on the field will find creative ways to work through the needed ebb and flow of work and play that is necessary to have a well balanced wholistic ministry in this country.

Recently I heard a Thai evangelist explain the gospel with this introduction, “If you are born once, you will die twice, but if you are born twice you will die only once.” After giving a summary of Jesus’ conversation with Nicodemus in John 3, the evangelist started to make comparisons found in that chapter with the changes that take place in the life cycle of a butterfly. He said, “A ugly, crawling caterpillar is born from an egg and immediately begins to destroy vegetation. The caterpillar then enters a kind of “death” in a self-made coffin called a chrysalis where he seemingly lies lifeless for weeks. Then through the process of metamorphosis this “dead” caterpillar is transformed and “born again” as it emerges from his tomb as a gorgeous butterfly. Of course, after a few weeks that butterfly will also die. The evangelist then went on to explain how all men are born once into this world as sinners and although physically alive they exist within a cocoon of spiritual darkness and death and eventually face permanent death just like every butterfly: born once but will die twice. Then using the positive analogy of the butterfly, the evangelist went on to say that although all mankind starts out like a caterpillar, it is possible to experience a complete metamorphosis spiritually by becoming “born again” through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and what He accomplished on the cross to pay the penalty for our sins. The person who places his trust in Jesus is changed internally and receives eternal life and although he or she may die physically, God has promised that there is a day coming when that person will be changed into a glorious form which will never die: born twice, but die once.

I was teaching a class on missions at my Thai Bible school when on November 17th news came of the death of John Chau, a missionary who was seeking to reach the Sentinelese tribe in the Andaman islands. My students had a number of questions concerning Chau’s death and his decision to contact this tribe. Many have commented on this event, but what was highlighted for me and my class was the inherent risks that are part and parcel of most any mission endeavor. The first time this fact came “close to home” for me was in 1981, after I had been in Central Thailand only a couple of months. I got word on October 25th that an OMF worker named Koos Fietje had been martyred the night before in a neighboring province, in a village called Khao Din. Only a week before Koos’ death he had addressed a group of new missionaries with, “We should live to live and not live to exist. It is for this reason God has created us. Today I will live to glorify God … I will live each day as though it were my last. I am ready to go home at any time.” The afternoon before he left for Khao Din, he told his wife, “If anything happens to me, I’m leaving my watch and ring in this drawer.” Koos knew the risks. He knew that this next trip might be his last. Many missionaries had died in Central Thailand before Koos, but he was the first to die a martyr’s death.

Do pray that those that are reaching the Thai, both missionaries and nationals, will be willing to take calculated risks based upon the promises of God and like Paul be able to say, “For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.”