Tuesday, May 20, 2008
insightful session with KA &K!

Yesterday was Vesak day.
But do you know why Buddhist celebrate Vesak day?

Vesak day is a day to commemorate Buddha's birth, enlightenment and death.

We had a seesion with thai missionaries, KS & K yesterday.
They work with the Boys Brigade in Thailand.
oh ya, by the way, K is a Thai christian. how cool. they met each other in BB Thailand. haha. It was a great session yesterday with the couple, who shared with us about Thai culture, Buddhism in Thailand, the many personal and social barriers to Christianity in Thailand. We truly learnt alot from their insights into Thai culture, how being Thai equates to being a Buddhist. Buddhism is really so intertwined with Thai culture.

For example, Songkran, the famous water throwing festival.
Songkran signifies a new year for Thais, and a day to make merit by paying respect to parents and elderly people. In the past, they used to pour scented water on their parents' or elders' hands and they in turn would bless the younger ones with luck and wealth. Now, people just throw water to extend kindness. Having said that, the concept of merit making is Buddhist in nature.

We started to wonder, if a Thai were to become a Christian, would it mean he would no longer be a 'real' Thai? It also got us to think and imagine the complications a Christian Thai might face. Thais are collectivistic and are communal in nature. Meaning to say, alot of emphasis is placed on family, village, and community.

Therefore, a decision to embrace a new religion may be faced with objection from parents & friends. For a Thai to become a Christian isnt as easy as just saying the sinner's prayer. A Thai's journey into Christianty is pretty different from the typical Singaporean's one. Hence it is important on our part not to just go with the idea of imposing our faith on them but to work with the missionaries there, so as to prepare new believers for what may come their way.

Therefore, we shld never give up doing our part and that is part of the reason our team is going to thailand - to share our lives with the friends we will meet, & our stories of God's love & trust in our lives, and wait with anticipation for what God has in store ahead for all involved!

So do continue to pray with us, for sensitivity to Thai culture as we interact with the Thais during this journal we are going to take.

pra cao ruk prateet thay!
ruth

Labels: thai culture