We finally landed safely at Chiang Mai Adventist Academy yesterday. We are staying in a kind of guest quarters here on Pastor Phamor’s property. It is really nice, with hot showers in one of the bathrooms, and even a real washing machine!
Last night we went to the Christmas program that the academy kids put on. The program was very nice, and would have rivaled any program of its kind in the states. The main difference was the language and the food afterwards! Instead of serving Christmas cookies, they served soup! It was the best bamboo soup I have had yet.
I feel like I learned a bit about Thai culture on this trip, and what I saw really saddened me. On the buses rated R movies were shown, which is not that shocking. What was shocking to me was that in the brief moments of seeing the screen while adjusting my blanket over my eyes, I could not help but see that what they were showing was demons, possessing different people, animals, and other things. It showed witchcraft as being very normal. In one glimpse I got, a pretty lady pointed at a plane in the sky, and pretended that she was shooting it, and the plane burst into flames and fell to the ground. On another bus, they were showing a children’s program. It showed a live audience of school kids in their uniforms. The whole program was about different people becoming possessed, shaking, laughing uncontrollably and unnaturally. All the kids would laugh when each new person would become possessed. This was a children’s program!
I am not here to criticize any culture, but it is terrible to see how openly the devil is worshiped here. It is no wonder at all that our missionaries are so diligently attacked here. This is the devils playground and he does not want to lose it.
Jon Wood did a video training here this week, which Bradley, Andrew and Maria all attended. Yesterday morning Bradley decided that he had to get home so that he could attend the baptism this Sabbath. He was following the Adams who were coming to pick us up at the bus station, when they had a minor accident which smashed in one of the doors on Bradley’s car. It still opened and shut, and no glass was broken, so he kept going. When he got closer to home, he had another accident. This time he totaled his car, and broke his foot. He was able to limp the car back to the school, but the car is ready to become a septic tank, as Paul put it! This represents a major problem for the school, since more than one car is an absolute necessity. Now we are really praying for funds, and a great deal on a car for the school.
Yesterday we took Roy to the hospital. He has not felt well in years, and we decided that now was the time to get him thoroughly checked out. So, we found a nice American doctor, and he ordered more tests than I knew existed! He also ordered X-rays of his chest and spine. I was surprised to find that I had to pay for everything before they would do it, but my total bill for the doctor visit, all the lab work, and the X-rays was $120.00. I got so excited that I thought about having my ankle checked to see if they can do surgery on it! But, I think that I will wait on that until we know what is wrong with Roy. The other amazing thing is that we did not need an appointment, and they had us through all the tests and things in a little over an hour. It is no wonder people come here just for health care.