MOST Thailand 2019

Monday we traveled to our next town in the Chiang Rai Province, three hours southeast. On the way, we toured a traditional teak wood temple and the Phu Sang Waterfall. We also walked through the jungle near the waterfall along a nature trail. Tuesday was our final full day in Thailand. We held a clinic in a Hmung community in the mountains where there is an LCMS church, and served around 50 people. This was a more reserved tribe a little further away from the main roads in a beautiful mountain area. The community members mostly spoke a local language where we again needed an local language interpreter to talk to our Thai interpreters to translate to English and back again. Thai culture is very reserved and slower moving than the other communities we have served all week. The team quickly realized we needed to slow down, reduce our volume, and be extra patient with each visitor. We served 51 patients and gave out 71 pairs of glasses. One little boy has an eye c

This week we have seen many small roofed structures in the front corner of homes, businesses and other properties. In Southeast Asian countries like Thailand, these small structures are called spirit houses. Spirit houses are known as  ศาลพระภูมิ ( san phra phum , 'house of the guardian spirit') in Thai. The spirit House is usually mounted on a pillar and can range in sizes. They are intended to provide a shelter for spirits that could cause problems for the people if not appeased. Some houses include small carvings, statues, and separate altars for daily offerings to attract friendly spirits and appease the spirits. In Thailand, it is a long-standing tradition to leave offerings of food and drink at the spirit house with incense. Rice, bananas, coconuts, and desserts are common offerings. A common offering we saw was red, strawberry-flavored Fanta. They say that sweet spirits have sweet tooths. It’s so reassuring to know the only spirit in our lives as C