1/28/08 

Sawasdee ka, 

Jet lagged, my lids are heavy, my feet miss the royal treatment and my taste buds miss the noodle stand on Sukhumvit Soi 38.  I’ve been to Thailand before, so island hopping, elephant riding, the Grand Palace and MBK mall are already off my to-do list.  My only hopes for this trip are to encourage and be encouraged.  By encourage, I mean bring some American gifts, Flaming Hot Cheetos and wine top the list, listen to stories, affirm, share in a vision; all things Dave Brubaker, the NewSong London site pastor really appreciated about the team that went to London in July, although his “encouragement” included Slim Jims and refried beans.  As for being encouraged, I had been wrestling with some questions and God always seems louder thousands of miles from home. 

Fast forward 20 hours. “Dude, this place is humungous!” are my thoughts not as I arrive at Suvarnabhumi airport, but as I show up at the Huynh’s condo.  Donna sits me down, makes me feel at home, one of her many gifts, and shares that she’ll probably have a tough time adjusting back to life in the states because out here, “I’m on vacation.”  She shares that the boys, Kaleb, Josh & Seth get to see more of their dad and that they’ve really begun to understand just how blessed their family is while out in Bangkok.  On a few of the nights I am with them, I invite Sabastian and Donna out for a late night massage and to the best noodle stand ever, to which Sabastian replies “Thinh, we will suffer with you for The Kingdom.”  It’s funny, now that I think of it. How many of us, if we closed our eyes and imagined our life as a missionary, would picture a very meager existence?  And with this small bit of sarcasm, I finally get it. God desires mercy, not sacrifice (Hosea 6:6, Matthew 12:7, Matthew 9:13).  So as the Huynh’s enjoy AC, wireless internet and a live-in maid, they go about their lives showing love and mercy to the security guards at their condo, taxi drivers, ex-pat families and prostitutes.  Mental note, you can show mercy no matter where you are or how much you have. 

God continues to teach as Sabastian and I connect on everything from parents, Wild at Heart (a must read) and the church without walls to leading change and growing up in conservative Vietnamese churches.  My ears perk when he mentions that the worst thing I can do is take a job at a non-profit. “They can’t afford you and will struggle to pay you, while you struggle with what they can pay you.  The best thing you can do is to volunteer so they can get you for free.”  I mentally cross off one of the questions on my list.  He leaves me with this “I am so excited and fearful for you Thinh, because I see that you want to connect with people, but to connect, you’re going to go through a lot of pain.”  Then you can say to those around you who are hurting “Hey, we’re going through the same stuff, but I’m still standing because of God and this wonderful community. I’d like to invite you into that community.”  So, in preparation for the pain, we decide to go to Healthland and get massages. 

Saturday evening Helen and I take the BTS and get off at the Siam stop to attend an “underground” or “verge” at NewSong Bangkok.  We hang out at the NewSong coffee shop and chat it up before packing it in upstairs for worship and a message.  At first I can’t put my finger on exactly what I’m feeling, but I could hang out here all night, and then it dawns on me…it seems like everyone genuinely wants to be here.  That may sounds kinda lame, but I go to church (almost) every week and many times I know I’d rather be home watching football or going has become more of a weekly ritual.  But at NewSong Bangkok, there are cushions that line the floor and a bed-like couch in the back of the room and you just get a sense of being at home, a sense of freedom.  Patricia DeWitt shares that sometimes she takes naps during the verge.  That’s a novel concept, being able to rest in the house of God. 

On my last night, while throwing down a few Singhas and pork skewers, Bru asks me how I’m really doin’.  I tell him that I have long since admired him & Sabastian for their ability to inspire and lead, their Biblical knowledge, their love for others, but what sets them apart in my eyes is that they are doing something radical with their lives.  Being an engineer just doesn’t seem to cut it.  I need to do something radical, I need to do more.  Bru gives me a worried look and shares that oftentimes it is Satan who tells you that you’ll never be able to do enough…and in a sense, he’s right.  No matter how much I do, I cannot fix all the injustice, hurt and poverty I see around me.  Bru’s advice?  Instead of worrying about whether or not I’ve done enough, just give everything and don’t worry ‘bout whether or not it’s enough ‘cause you ain’t got no more to give.  I think about the feeding of the 5000 and how the disciples were so focused on how few loaves and fishes they had, but Jesus said give it all to me and He made it more than enough.  Maybe I can go to my 9 to 5, give everything as an engineer and be the only Bible some of my co-workers will ever read.  I mentally cross off another question from the list. 

But the light bulb moment came while strolling along the beach in Phuket.  I came to realize that Bru & Sabastian are just being themselves and are committed to being the church without walls wherever they are.  They are not radical because they are in Bangkok or London, they’d be radical in Bakersfield or Podunk Missouri. And then I make the connection between London & Thailand.  In London, we worked with single parents and foreign students because God was training our eyes to see people in isolation.  And in Thailand, God was showing me what it looks like when those people come together, commune with God and with each other.  They’ll want to be there, they’ll feel at home.  Here I thought we were laying the groundwork for NewSong London, when really, God has been laying the foundation for NewSong Thinh!  Maybe I can be a church that sees my friends hurts, a church that tells them they don’t have to do more and a church that makes them feel at home.  Maybe people in the very city in which I reside need mercy more than they need Sunday morning service.  Dude, I imagine that church would be rad! 

Thinh 

P.S. You can find some trip pics at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/emailthinh/sets/72157603809851469/