Culture Trekking

Thailand Video

Not to be outdone by Nepal, here is a video of one aspect of what our Thailand - Bangkok team is doing.

UWM - Bangkok, Thailand from Clay Sandoz on Vimeo.

House Church

I love our house church.  We meet every Sunday in someone's house - except this past Sunday we decided to have church outdoors.  There is a Wat (a Buddhist Temple) on top of a small mountain (big hill) near our house.  We met in a clearing a little ways down from the Wat.  It was a beautiful day to be outside worshipping God.

One of the things I love about our house church is that it is interactive.  There is something engaging about dialogue that stirs the heart as we learn from each other.  

I love the Church - all kinds of them.  I love being back in America and going to one of our big churches and I love to see all the forms that churches take across Asia - and there are many.

I love God's Church!

 

Twelve days 'till Christmas...

It's hard to believe that Christmas is almost here.  Joshua just informed me that today begins the twelve days of Christmas countdown.  I had no idea we were that close.

That is understandable because if you live in Thailand there is very little to remind you of Christmas coming.  It is still hot every day and most days I am in shorts (in fact it is never cold enough to not wear shorts, but for meetings I need to "dress up").  The weather is no indicator here that Christmas is on the way.

We are also (thankfully) not inundated with Christmas "marketing" to let us know it is on the way.  There is a Christmas tree up in the mall here, but I have not been to the mall much lately.  

For Thais, Christmas is just another day of the week.  Nothing is closed, it is not a holiday.  Most will have heard it is Christmas, and there is this fascination with things from the West (thus the Christmas Tree in the mall), but for the most part it is a non-event.

Frannie arrives on Wednesday from America to celebrate Christmas with us.  This Sunday we will have a Christmas dinner at our house for everyone in our home church.  So I am starting to get in the "Christmas Spirit".

I hope you enjoy your Christmas and its meaning wherever you celebrate Christmas in the world.  We enjoy Christmas in Thailand!

p.s. If I make it to the mall before Christmas I will post some photos of what Christmas looks like in Thailand.  Who knew that purple, pink and orange were Christmas colors?  As we were looking at our "fake" tree we have up in the house we noticed our new lights on the tree include the color pink.

 

Should we decorate our banana tree?

Broccoli Pie?

Okay... for years at McDonald's in Thailand not only could you get Hot Apple Pies and Hot Fudge Sundaes, you could get Corn Pies and Corn Sundaes.  I have lived here so long that the idea of corn as a dessert item has grown on me.

But now - Broccoli Pies?  I can't stomach that thought.  Given the choice I would even take the Pinky Milky (see the picture)

Harvesting Rice... in my Backyard

One of the cool things about living in Asia is we get to see and experience things that are very different from North America.  Our house is on the edge of our neighborhood.  Our backyard is only about six feet deep and then there is the wall that surrounds the neighborhood.  On the other side of the wall are rice paddies.

Before moving to Thailand I had never seen a rice paddy.  My only exposure to rice in the wild was through the dramatic backdrop of Vietnam War movies.  Now I live in that backdrop.

This is our seventh rice season in Thailand.  I am fascinated by every part of the cycle.  I get to watch them flood the paddies each year and plant the one paddy that will seed all of the others.  Then I watch in awe as scores of women march in line hand planting each rice plant.

During this time a small village of workers lives in our "backyard" under a large tree until all the planting is done.  This takes a few weeks and then they travel back to their real villages in the mountains, leaving behind a caretaker or two who will monitor the paddies while they are still flooded.  Eventually the caretakers will also leave as the paddies dry out in the final phase and the rice changes from tall green grass to mature golden stalks.

Today as I was working in my office when I heard laughing outside of my window.  The workers were back and they were harvesting rice twenty feet from where I was sitting.  I quickly ran upstairs and snapped a few photos to share.

Whenever I think my work is hard I only have to look outside my window to see what real hard work is all about.  The acre upon acre of rice in my backyard is all harvested by hand.  Families are out there as I speak armed with scythes cutting the rice, and this scene is being played out all throughout Thailand by hundreds of thousands of people working in the rice fields.

The harvest is ripe here in Thailand.

Bangkok Mission Statement

I just returned from a trip to Bangkok.  It is nice to only have a one hour flight to get to where I am going.  

The purpose for the visit was to facilitate strategic planning for our Bangkok Team.  One of the most important exercises is for the team to come up with their mission (or purpose) for their team.  This is the filter they use to make decisions on what to do and not to do.  It is also the glue that holds that team together.  A compelling mission is key to keep the team focused.

The team already had their mission statement finished before I showed up.  I think it is really good one and very compelling.  I would want to be part of a team to do this - 

To partner with leaders in Bangkok who have a vision to multiply healthy churches through discipleship in the church, on the campus and in the community.

Here is the team - 

Thailand - The Land of Smiles

Thailand, my home, is known as the Land of Smiles.  It is an appropriate tagline for this country as the Thai people are warm, friendly and always smiling. Smiling is infectious and I find myself smiling a lot more after living here for almost seven years than I did before moving here.

But sometimes the smiles are closer to a laugh then the warm and friendly variety.  Take today for instance - 

I was on my twice a month trip to the mall here in town to pay bills. There are no checks and no mailing in your bills here, you have to visit various banks, utility offices and even 7/11 to pay your bills. Fortunately, most of the people I need to visit on bill-paying day are at the mall.

Theresa and the boys are on October break so she and R.J. came with me today and we had a nice lunch together before attacking the crowds on four levels to pay the bills.  The first smile we wore was of the puzzling variety.  In the middle of the mall were some new vehicles surrounded by many signs announcing the "Hopeful to Miss Auto Show".  I am not sure what they were missing our why they were hopeful about it, but it got us smiling.

Immediately after walking past those signs we noticed a new store called "The Beauty Buffet".  It is a beauty products store but what set off the laugh disguised as a smile was all the salesgirls decked out in chefs hats. I am not sure who thought a make-up store with a food theme was a good idea, but it was packed.  

There were streams of more smiling moments as we mingled with the crowds - it is just what happens here.  So... in the interest of sharing our culture with you, I leave you with this picture - a Thai Elvis impersonator we encountered in a local hotel one night.  You're smiling aren't you?