This year's Immigration Experience

Line outside immigration early in the morning

One of the cultural experiences of living in Thailand is renewing your visa.  The process is different depending on where you are in Thailand.  Our personal experience has been in Bangkok and now in Chiang Mai, the two biggest immigration departments.  In Chiang Mai, the student, teacher, education, religious and elite card visas are put in one group with Retirement and medical in another group. 

Unfortunately, the students make up the biggest group and we are in that group as our visa falls under religious.  This means that our line is the longest.  The immigration department only processes a certain number of visas per day and if the queue is too long, then you have to come and line up again the next day.  So, if you want to be certain that you will be seen that day then you need to line up very early. 

How early is the uncertainty.  You just never know who will turn up on any given day.  If you are unlucky, you could have 30 students from one institution turn up just before you.  That could mean at least 2-3 hours extra wait or could mean missing out on a ticket for that day.  Some people have been known to line up the night before at 11pm which is at least an 8 hour wait as they start handing out the tickets at around 7am. 

Last week a colleague went in and lined up at 4am in the morning.  He was given ticket number 66 and was seen at 3:30pm and arrived back home at 5pm.  I set the alarm for 3:30am, but my body clock woke me up at 3am so I left home by 3:15am and was there by 3:40am. 

I saw a long line people on the sidewalk outside of immigration and wondered what they were doing.  Normally people would line up in the carpark inside the immigration complex.  When I went past them and tried to turn into the immigration carpark the gates were shut and I couldn’t get in.  So I kept on going and did a U turn and parked at the petrol station opposite immigration.  I realised then that the line was on the sidewalk because they gate were still shut.  So I joined the line and there would have been over 70 people in front of me.

Last year they only gave out 60 tickets or so per day so I was a bit concerned.  This was the earliest I’d ever gone in yet, this was furthest back I’ve been in the queue.  Later on I overheard that they would process a 100 tickets per day so that was a little reassuring. 

A Korean family with 3 kids lined up behind me at around 4pm.  I wondered why the mother would bring the kids with her as she could just get the tickets for them.  Eventually, we started talking and as her husband was still working in Korea she didn’t have anyone to look after the children so they had to come with her.   The unbelievable thing was that when I asked them where they lived, they actually live in our street!  We had never seen them before in the year we have been living in our house and they had never seen us.

At around 6am or so the gates were opened and we were allowed into the immigration carpark where we lined up in different groups assigned.  By 7am they were handing out tickets and our ticket numbers were from 80 onwards.  There were probably around another 30 people behind me and they all received tickets.  So, no one missed out today.  I probably could still have come as late as 6:30am and received tickets.  But you just never know.  Maybe next year I’ll risk going in at this late a time and seeing what happens. 

The new aspect of the process this year is the additional the “Happy Queue” system.  On your ticket you have a QR code which you can use the Happy Queue app to scan.  Then the app gives you the number of tickets remaining ahead of you and the prediction of when it will be your turn to be seen.   This is a fantastic because I could safely go home after collecting my tickets for my family and return later in the day. 

As I write this blog piece it is 10:53am and there are still 19 tickets remaining before us.  The prediction is for 12:27pm.  I know that the lunch break is between 12:00-1pm.  So it looks like that we will be seen after 1:30pm at least.  I suspect that it will be later than that.  Our friend’s predication last week was for 2:30pm but he wasn’t seen until 3:30pm.  I just hope we are finished by 4:30pm (the official closing time) as our son has his piano lesson at 5:15pm.

Although some people complain about the system and having to wait on the streets in the early hours of the morning etc, if we all get our visas renewed and are allowed to stay in Thailand for another year, I won’t be complaining.  This is just how things are done here and the sooner you accept it, the happier you will be.

Simply the Story Thai Group

It has been great to be part of a "Simply the Story" (STS) group in Thai being held on Monday nights at Chiang Mai Theological Seminary.  It is being run by A. Dim and Dr. Larry Dinkins.   It is an open group where anyone can join even if they haven't been to previous weeks.  There have been up 20 people coming and we split up into 3 groups so that we can learn from the story in small groups.  STS is great in the way that it helps people to find the spiritual truths in the Bible stories for themselves.  It shows Christians that they don't need to always rely on the pastor to tell them what the Bible is saying but that they do it themselves.  I do hope the people attending will use what they learn, because like many things it is a matter of you "use it or you lose it".  STS has been life changing to tool for me as it had  helped me know many Bible stories at a deeper level and helped God's word to come alive in my life again after an extended dry period.

The Fastest Growing Church in Thailand's History

Green dots represent churches in the FJCCA

There is a church planting movement in Central Thailand spreading so rapidly that it is almost beyond belief.  In a country where church growth has been so slow for over 200 years - over 7,100 new believers in the past year alone!  

The Free in Jesus Christ Church Association (FJCCA) was a relatively small network of churches until the pivotal movement during Christmas in 2016.  Due to the passing of the King of Thailand, the large Christmas event which had been planned had to be cancelled.  So instead of having a big Christmas gathering in the main town, they decided to go to the surrounding villages and to hold smaller evangelism events in 17 villages.   "As a result, more than 5,000 people heard the gospel and 700 people became believer and 17 house churches were started." (p. 2 "Free in Jesus Christ Church Association Church Planting Movement in Central Thailand by Dwight Martin).  

The great thing about this church planting movement was that it was started by a Thai pastor and has little missionary involvement.   It is indigenous.  And the movement is continuing to grow at an astounding rate.

May God continue to use this movement.

Crisis of the soccer team stuck in Flooded Caves

12 boys and their assistant coach have been trapped in flooded caves in Chiang Rai for the past 2 weeks.  3 of the boys and the assistant coach were rescued last night and the rescue operation continues for the other 9 boys.  The plight of the boys has caught the attention of the world and is on the top of the news cycle in many countries.  It has pushed into the background the other major news in Thailand of 2 tour boats which sank of Phuket with over 40 people drowned in the accident.  

During the week I took a team from Australia to a temple in Chiang Mai to a "Monk Chat" where you can talk with monks about Buddhism.  One of the team asked how as a Buddhist they could help these boys.  I didn't catch the nun's answer completely.  I'm not sure if she implied that they would make merit and that merit would be shared with the boys?

The next time I go to a "Monk Chat" this would be the question I would ask.  How does Buddhism help in situations like this?  As Christians we would pray to God for his help for rescuers and and boys to bring them out safely.  What would Buddhist do?  Was a result of the boys bad karma that they ended up in a situation like this?  Or was it just a foolish decision to go into the caves just before the rainy season?From the news report the assistant coach sounded like he was a very good towards the boys in taking care of them.  He was an orphan though but he was in the monastery before becoming the assistant coach.  I did see some monks at the rescue site.  

Our prayers are with the rescue team and the boys.  May all of the 9 boys be brought out safely.  

Park Evangelism

On Fridays, a colleague goes to a local park in our city and with a friend tries to have gospel conversations with people in the park.  In the photo above, my colleague is using Bible Stories which have been printed on his cloth in a traditional Thai style.  He shared the story of the prodigal son and had a good conversation with him.

The other missionary, Jim was handing out tracts and there was one couple who took a tract.  When Jim came back that direction, the couple were waiting for him.  The guy was a christian but his girlfriend was not.  He wanted Jim to explain to his girlfriend how to become a Christian so that they could get married.

I was very encouraged to see God at work today.  I'm sure that there would be days when nothing happens and it is not so encouraging but today was a good day.

Then on Sunday morning, I was in the park with my family and we heard some people singing a Christian song.  I went over talked to them and they were a group of young people trying to start a new church in the park.  I had been praying recently that God would lead me to a church plant that I could be involved in and perhaps this could be the answer to that prayer.

Songkran in Chiang Mai

The Songkran water festival is probably the most famous festival in Thailand, though I hear that it occurs in Burma as well.  I won't go into the meaning and significance here, but for a few days in the middle of April each year, it become very dangerous to go out on your motorbike past mid morning, especially anywhere near the centre of town.  You are almost certain to be hit by a bucket or stream of icy water.   It is a time to let your hair down and do what Thais love to do - have fun.  

We have never celebrated Songkran in Chiang Mai before so I borrowed one of the utes from office and piled our kids and invited another family to join us in going out and joining the biggest water fight on earth.   We filled up 3 tubs of water and water guns and headed out towards the moat, in the middle of the city.   We thought that it would be busy but it was much more than we had imagined and we crawled through the streets for almost two hours before the we had all had enough.  I didn't know that there were so many foreign tourists in Chiang Mai, hundreds and hundreds lining the street where this photo was taken.

The Christians in Burma I was told by the family we had invited, don't really celebrate the Songkran water festival in fear that it might be participating in a non-Christian festival.  I don't think it is the case in Thailand but it is something to ask a Thai Christian.  

One the tragedies of Songkran though is that there is much drinking and driving.  378 deaths and 3575 injuries this year according to one news outlet.  They are mostly motorbike related.  

We had hoped to celebrate Songkran with a Thai family but it didn't happen this year.  Maybe next year when we hopefully know more people.

Conversations on the Way

Wearing Amulets for protection

Whenever I go on a journey on a plane, bus or train, I ask God for an opportunity to have a spiritual conversation with the person sitting next to me.  I hadn't caught a train in Thailand for many years as air travel is so cheap in Thailand.  But this day I was on a 3rd class (no aircon) train to Lopburi where I was to give a couple of talks on Bible Storying and about opportunities in North Thailand.  

I sat down opposite this man, but it took a while for me to start a conversation.  I noticed that he was wearing rings on every finger on both hands and so I asked to tell me about his rings.  Most of them bore the image of a famous monk in his area.  He also was wearing amulets with his picture as well.  

He was a policeman but helped out at the temple where this monk was the abbot until he had passed away about 3 months ago.  

He was more than happy to chat and invited me to visit the temple where this monk used to be the abbot.  

I was able to have a conversation with an older couple on the plane down to Bangkok, with this man on the train to Lopburi, an older Thai woman on the train back to Bangkok and then on the plane back to Chiang Mai.  I told the story of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector (Luke 18:9-14) for both the people on the train, in response to their comment that "all religions teach you to be good" which is a universally held view in Thailand.

I didn't get to share a Bible story with the people on the plane.  Whether I tell a Bible story or not really depends on where the conversation is at with the people and their level of engagement.  After a few questions if the person doesn't seem interested in continuing the conversation I don't force it.  

I've noticed a huge difference in the number of conversations I've been able to have since I've been intentional in asking for prayer conversations and in initiating conversations.  

Unusually, on the train back to Bangkok, the old lady opposite me was the one to initiate the conversation by asking me if I was Japanese!  I can't remember if I gave the Thai greeting "Sawatee Khrap" first though.  I think it is good form to give a greeting or at smile to someone who is going to sit next to you.  The old lady said that she never usually initiates a conversation with a stranger on a train but she did this time.  Answered prayer?  We spoke for almost 3 hours together on the trip down to Bangkok.  I learnt a bit about Buddhism from her.  She appreciated that I was a good listener and that I tried to learn about Buddhism from her.

Beautiful Singing Without Musical Instruments

Lahu Church Service in Chiang Mai

On Sunday I had the opportunity to visit and preach at a Lahu Church pastored by one of the graduates of the James O Fraser Centre where I used to work.  It has been a while since I have last been in a tribal church and I was struck by their singing.  They did not have any musical accompaniment, just their voices and it was amazing how great and loud they should even with any microphone and amplifiers.  I wonder what we lose/gain in having loud music blasted out from the front?

Difficult School Choices

Choosing a schooling option for your Third Culture Kid (TCK – the new term for Missionary Kid – MK or any child growing up in another culture) can be quite a stressful and difficult decision.  For some missionaries, their options are very limited and home schooling might be the only option.  For others however, there might be the option to send their children to a local or international school (either boarding or as a day student).  These options are often combined with home schooling.

After 10 years in Thailand we have been through almost every option with our kids.  It started with a local Thai schools combined with some home schooling.  Then it was home schooling full time.  Now all our kids are at an international school (as a day student).

Each time the decision the change schooling option has not been easy and things have not turned out as we had hoped.  The ideal situation would have been our kids attending local schools and speaking Thai fluently and eventually sometime in highschool shifting to an international school to prepare to tertiary education back in Australia.

It started off almost to plan with the 3 kids at that time going to a local Thai school and being fluent in Thai.  However, we had an unexpected home assignment for a year due to health of my father and our kids lost most of their Thai.  Then we changed ministries and were involved in ministry where our kids were with other Australian missionary kids and there were no appropriate local school options. 

By the time we moved to Chiang Mai, a large city in North Thailand with lots of expats, with our kids much older and with hardly any Thai, the local Thai school option would not work.  Homeschooling was an option which we tried but it wasn’t working well for our family.  So in the end we decided to send our 4 kids to an international school.

There were plenty of options in Chiang Mai - Grace, Chiang Mai International (CMIS), Prem, Lanna, American Pacific, Nakorn Phayap, Varee to name a few.  We liked the British curriculum option and considered Varee and Lanna at first.  However, our kids didn’t want to go to Varee and when we applied for Lanna our kids were not accepted.  That left us with the two traditional options for missionaries in Chiang Mai, Grace International and CMIS.

You ask the missionaries about where to send their kids between these two schools and you open a can of worms.  Some people are very passionate in advocating for Grace or CMIS.  Grace with almost 90% of the students being TCKs from missionaries families and a clear Christian mandate is definitely the more “Christian” school with predominately Christian teachers (who need to raise their own support to teach at the school) and overtly Christian events like chapel.  CMIS has only around 50% of TCKs from missionary families and less overtly Christian.  I would call it a church school rather than a Christian school.

Both are great schools.  I’m sure our kids would have been happy at both school but we had to make a choice.  In the end, we chose CMIS, because it would give us more contact with Thai families for whom we had come to Thailand.

Although being such an overtly Christian school and having a thoroughly Christian environment at Grace is conducive to a Christian child’s spiritual growth, I’ve heard that one of the issues can be what happens when they leave this “Christian bubble” and have to go to college where environment is completely opposed to their faith.  Some don’t cope well with this transition. 

So far we are happy with CMIS after half a year for our two older kids in grade 5 and 8, and after two weeks for our younger two in grade 3 and pre kindergarten.