One of the great strengths of Thai culture is the high value placed on maintaining the peace.  Social harmony is very important to Thai people.  You don’t get upset at bad drivers or pushy salesmen.  You don’t have an argument in public.  You avoid saying things that would embarrass other people or make them feel bad.  In many ways, this value on maintaining social harmony and good relationships makes Thailand a wonderful place to live.  

But there is also a downside.  Feelings get hurt and people never forgive each other.  Injustice, error, and corruption run rampant and are swept under the rug.  Leaders at all levels abuse their power and no one says anything.  Sin is winked at and everyone pretends that everything is okay when they know it isn’t.  The need for holiness and reconciliation is one the great challenges facing the Thai church today.

When the Prophet Comes to Town...

Into the midst of this cultural milieu come the traveling prophets.  Teachers like Joyce Meyer and Cindy Jacobs parachute in to Thailand and receive huge venues to speak to the Thai church.  They are big names in many evangelical and charismatic circles in America but are relatively unknown in Thailand.  But they quickly become known as their big show event is promoted broadly in the small Christian community in Thailand.  It is big.  It is exciting.  And it is “Christian.”

We are really thankful for all the people who love our kids and think of them on birthdays and Christmas.  Here's a short video of Joshua and Caitlin thanking their Uncle James for the gifts he sent for Christmas this year.  We're not sure if they were more impressed with the gifts or the packaging!

If you don't see a video above, click here to watch it on YouTube

I have to commend the folks at Chick Tracts for making a good effort to produce a contextualized tract for Buddhist Thailand.  

If you are not familiar with Chick Tracts, they are a brand of cartoon tracts that are (in)famous in American evangelicalism (and fundamentalism?) for their very direct nature.  They are engaging little tracts that draw you in, keep you reading, and usually end up with the main character being cast into hell after watching a “This Was Your Life” movie before God’s judgment throne.  The best way to describe Chick Tracts is “in-your-face.”  

In the Chick tract, “The Tycoon,” (read here), a wealthy Thai Buddhist businessman is commended for his large donations to the temple.  Periodically through his life, Christians try to tell him the Gospel but don’t get very far because they are quickly ejected from his presence, or he himself ridicules them.  He dies in a car wreck and is condemned before God’s judgment throne.

Is this tract contextualized well for Thai Buddhists?