Thursday, August 18, 2011

Spirit Houses

If you come to Thailand, you will see pretty little houses all over the place, in the front yards of homes and by places of business. The smallest shack and the largest mall both have these houses, given some are more ornate than others, and some are larger than others.

Hope has mentioned these sometimes when we have seen them. She'll say something like, "Oh, look at that cute little house!" When she says this I have to explain who these little houses are for.


These little houses are for the spirits, evil angels of Satan. They are designated dwelling places for evil spirits to abide. Not so beautiful, huh?


Several months ago, we went up to an academy outside the city with a large group of people. As we were passing a Buddhist temple one of the young ladies in the group said, "That's so beautiful!" Given, the architecture and design and decoration was pleasing to the eye, but when you think about who that temple is honoring, and the worship of idols that goes on there, can we really call it beautiful?


I love the Thai people and I love things about the Thai and Northern Khmer cultures. I also love American people and things in the American culture. However, in all cultures there are things that we need to be wary of.


We need to find the little houses that we have erected in our hearts, and burn down the dwellings of selfishness, pride, and any other attitude that comes from the evil one. May we remember that our body is a temple of the Living God, live our lives accordingly, and may we invite the Holy Spirit to dwell in our hearts continually.

Sunday, August 14, 2011

Growing Up Fearful

On Sabbath, Hope, Haven and I decided to go for a walk in the late afternoon. We didn't get very far, but that was all right because we stopped to visit at a neighbor's house. There are two small girls who live there. One of them is only a little younger than Hope. Her name is Idea and her younger sister is Image. They are very sweet little girls.

While the mother, Tik, and I talked together, the girls played in the yard. Tik asked if we had gone to the zoo or to the night safari yet. We haven't been to either one yet. Tik was very nice, and invited us to go with them to the zoo or night safari with them sometime. We enjoyed talking with each other. We visited together for almost an hour. Little Idea got bored and went inside to watch TV, and Hope and I said good-bye and thanked them for their hospitality in inviting us in.

After we arrived home, I started to think about the differences between how Thais raise their children and how we are raising Hope and Haven. Here in Thailand, the use of fear in controlling children is very prevalent. Parents sometimes scare their children into obedience by telling them that the police will come and get them if they don't obey. 




Also, with the spirit world so closely tied to the lives of the Thai people, children learn to fear the spirits and work to appease them from an early age. They are trained in believing that if they do the right things, including obeying their parents and honoring their elders, then they will avoid harm and injury. Fear is the basis for most behavior, even if it is concealed by Westernization. 


Please join us in praying for our neighbors and our relationship with them. Also, please pray that the love of Jesus will cast out the fear in the hearts of the Thai people. Thank you so much for your continued prayers and support.

Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Continuing to Grow

The rice behind our house is continuing to grow. We see the men out there working to keep the rice well watered, and taking care of any problems in the rice field, so that they will have a good harvest at the proper time.





Friday, August 5, 2011

Bangkok

Early Tuesday morning we left for Bangkok.
Late Tuesday evening we arrived in Bangkok, and settled in a hotel.

Wednesday morning, Robbie went and got his work visa.
Spent the rest of the day traveling on public transportation searching for a good pair of shoes. A cat in our Chiang Mai neighborhood left its smell on Robbie's best pair. Our search was successful.

Thursday morning, Hope and I took a walk. We visited Mission Hospital for lunch in their cafeteria. Then we went to immigration and received our year visas with the help of a friend from Thailand Adventist Mission, P'Phot. After our time at immigration, we went back to Mission Hospital for dinner and a visit with some friends there.

Early this morning we started our return trip to Chiang Mai. It was uneventful, and we arrived in good time. It was a whirlwind trip but well worth it. We're praising the Lord for providing year long visas for us all. Now it is back to language learning as usual :) Thank you for your continued prayers for us in this endeavor.

(Sorry there are no pictures. We took our camera, but I didn't have my hands free very much to take any.)