Last week Andrew & I had the opportunity to visit Dang’s house in the countryside, in a town called Phetchabun, about 4 hours north of Bangkok, in the mountains. Dang has a scholarship to attend Bangkok Bible College and is one of Dave’s students there. She also is working as an intern (one of 4 thai interns with us this year) here at New Community and spends most her weekends with us here in Prawet.
We were excited for this chance to travel with her, get to know her better and spend some more time with her after seeing her work with kids in Nong Khai and work with our team’s ministry in Bangkok. She is so talented!
As we were driving to her house in Phetchabun, we stopped the car about 30 minutes away and sat in the bed of the truck so we could see the stars – it was incredible!! Being outside of Bangkok is truly amazing…you can see stars and get some fresh air. We saw two blazing, magnificent shooting stars within 15 minutes in the vast expanse of uninterrupted blackness above us.
We also have fallen in love with a country singer from the Northeastern Province of Thailand…he sounds a little bit like Alan Jackson but with a little more twang! We listened to his tape in the car about 5 times before we had memorized all the words. Learning songs and rymes are especially helpful to learning a language.
Another particularly sad part of our tip was seeing Dang’s church in her village. There was a bulletin board loaded with pictures of children and sunday school activities, but she explained with sadness that now there are only 4 people in the entire town worshipping there on Sundays. The pastor who lives across the street must move to Bangkok and work there to make money as a bus driver. And there is no one to teach the children anymore, so no children can learn or attend the church anymore. Another reminder that the laborers are few.
We also saw the massive flooding that her village has experienced and walked down to the new river created by the floodwaters. Here is a picture of local fishermen wading & netting in the floodwaters.
After spreading out a huge morning meal for us in her home, Dang and her aunt and older sister took us up into the mountains to walk through some gardens, buy some produce specific to that area (passion fruit & avocado!!), and see the amazing scenery. It was such a treat.
We are so thankful God has blessed us by her presence in our lives. Dang is truly a humble, selfless and wonderful person and friend and I’m excited to get to know her even better.
