Before They Reached Bangkok: Gutzlaff, Tomlin, and Psalm 106
On August 23, 1828, the first two Protestant missionaries arrived in Thailand, Karl Gutzlaff and Jacob Tomlin. Gutzlaff was German and Tomlin was English. They had a desire to reach people with the Gospel, especially Chinese. And during the reign of King Rama 3 in the early 19th century, there were tens of thousands of Chinese in Siam. Various missionaries had wanted to go to Siam but did not succeed.
In early August, 1828, they set sailed from Singapore on a Chinese junk for Bangkok. Two week later, the boat was still traveling. As their new field of labor got closer, excitement and anxiety grew, but their hearts were at peace because they were confident in the Lord’s goodness and mercy had accompanied them every step of their journey. At sunset on the evening of August 18, 1828, the crew caught sight of land in the distance to their left. This was an unexpected but happy surprise for the junk had made much further progress on its northward journey than they had realized. The crew expressed their joy and gratitude by giving to their idols double the normal offering. But Gutzlaff and Tomlin turned their hearts and minds to Lord of heaven as they gathered for evening worship. Tomlin recalls,
ก่อนถึงกรุงเทพฯ: กัทซ์แลฟ ทอมลิน และสดุดี 106
เมื่อวันที่ 23 สิงหาคม ค.ศ. 1828 มิชชันนารีโปรเตสแตนท์สองคนแรกได้เดินทางมาถึงสยาม คือ คาร์ล กัทซ์ลาฟ (Karl Gutzlaff) และเจคอบ ทอมลิน (Jacob Tomlin) กัทซ์ลาฟเป็นชาวเยอรมัน ส่วนทอมลินเป็นชาวอังกฤษ ทั้งสองมีความปรารถนาที่จะนำพระกิตติคุณไปประกาศแก่ผู้คน โดยเฉพาะชาวจีน และในรัชสมัยของพระบาทสมเด็จพระนั่งเกล้าเจ้าอยู่หัว รัชกาลที่ 3 ในช่วงต้นคริสต์ศตวรรษที่ 19 มีชาวจีนหลายหมื่นคนอาศัยอยู่ในสยาม ก่อนหน้านั้น มิชชันนารีหลายคนเคยมีความตั้งใจที่จะเดินทางมายังสยาม แต่ยังไม่มีใครทำสำเร็จ
ในช่วงต้นเดือนสิงหาคม ค.ศ. 1828 กัทซ์ลาฟและทอมลินออกเดินทางจากสิงคโปร์โดยเรือสำเภาจีน มุ่งหน้าสู่กรุงเทพฯ
สองสัปดาห์ต่อมา เรือยังคงเดินทางอยู่ เมื่อพวกเขาเข้าใกล้พื้นที่แห่งใหม่ที่กำลังจะไปรับใช้ ทั้งความตื่นเต้นและความกังวลก็เพิ่มมากขึ้น แต่ในใจก็ยังมีสันติสุข เพราะพวกเขามั่นใจว่า พระเจ้าทรงดีและทรงเมตตา และพระองค์ทรงอยู่กับพวกเขาตลอดทุกช่วงของการเดินทาง
Enduring Silly Games and Songs at Church Events
One aspect of cross-cultural living in Thailand that I did not expect is playing silly games and doing song-and-dance hand motion type icebreakers at church camps and events. I don't really enjoy them but everyone else seems to think they are great. It may seem like a small thing, and in the grand scheme of things, it is not a huge deal. All the same, it certainly something to get used to.
In the Western context, it is not odd to do silly games and songs when working with kids or teens. But when you work with adults, you just don’t do those things. Maybe there are exceptions, but in my experience in the United States, you don’t require adults at a church retreat to stand up and do an ice breaker game with hand motions and a silly / cutesy song. Walk around, find a buddy, clap your hands together like this, etc. You just don’t do it. Western adults are happy to enjoy a laid back, friendly atmosphere at a camp or retreat, do activities in small groups, get to know each other, play sports, etc. But don’t ask them to do songs and games that are better suited for children. Yet in Thailand, this sort of thing is normal.
Cave Rescue in Laos: Reminder of 2018 Thai Soccer Team Rescue by Larry Dinkins
guest post by Larry Dinkins
In 2018 the world was captivated by the young Thai soccer team and their coach who were lost in a flooded cave in northern Thailand and then found and rescued. I wrote three blogs concerning those harrowing 18 days: Thai Soccer Team Lost, Found! ... and Rescued?“, “Lessons from the Rescue of the Thai Soccer Team” and here: “Cave Rescue: Adun Samon.” In those three blogs I tried to draw out spiritual lessons from that rescue and eventually those articles received the most hits of any blogs I’ve ever written. I find myself writing again about a similar incident in Laos where a group of seven men entered a cave to search for gold. The men understood the danger and yet pressed ahead in their quest for gold, yet were met with torential rains that flooded the cave and stranded the men. Once again, a rescue team was formed, including divers from the 2018 rescue and they were able to navigate over 900 feet of narrow, muddy tunnels as well as strong currents to locate the five survivors (two more are still missing). The next step was the dangerous task of extracting the five over the same hazzardous route. In comparing the two rescues I was struck by the contrast of a young soccer team simply wanting to celebrate a winning season with a cave adventure and seven grown men risking life and limb to find elusive treasure. In both cases the bravery and courage of the rescuers is most impressive as they risked their lives to not only find the lost spelunkers but to strategize on how to safely extract them from the jaws of a watery death. Both of these incidents reminds us of the courage and strategies that are needed for the spiritual rescue mission of saving lost souls caught in the dark cave of sin and extracting them through the power of the gospel as expressed in Luke 19:10, “For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”