Last Night's Party at Auntie Ron's Place
Okay, it was actually a cell group, but it does feel like a party!
Auntie wanted it at her place so we went up there around 7 p.m. toting curries, rice in rice-cooker, fried garlic dried pork, some scary hot pepper/fermented fish concoction, & unfrosted cupcakes baked by Poppy. (They can hardly stand the frosting on cakes, it is too sweet.)
Auntie Ron is in her 50's and is a tsunami-Christian. We were a little surprised to see a spirit shelf on her wall, complete with idol, incense & candles, but we will talk about that one later, it often takes Thais a long time to get over their fears of retribution from the spirits. Maybe seeing all of us looking at it will be the catalyst she needs to get over her fear and take it down.
Her son and his friend working at a nearby resort were there, too. Some of us got out the family photo books and started flipping around in them. We wondered if the "lady-boy" in the pictures was him or someone else, another brother??? Later, Kennedy & I were reflecting how nothing was thought of displaying these pictures, and the Christian teens giggling over them. Now, if this was America, we decided, very few families would want everyone looking at pictures of their transvestite son. Different world here, very different. Transvestites are a normal part of Thai culture, for centuries they have had their place in society. Most believe they are men who were women in their previous life. In any case, it is not an isolated city phenomena, but we found them everywhere, including in the middle of Eastern Thailand among the poor rice farmers and isolated towns. (Though the farmer sons weren't as sophisticated or skilled with their makeup application as the city boys.)
I am regressing here, perhaps, but it was fun for everyone in a very culturally Thai sort of way.
Okay.
So we did our memory verse, and we had a prize bag for those who memorized last week's verse, John 1:1. Giving out prizes was fun, everyone got a little excited and silly. I made up a prize bag with such various objects as pens, keychains, soap, earrings, hairclips, & other small things. They had to close their eyes and pick on. After the prize-winner would rustle around in the prize bag for quite a while I would start saying "Hey, your breaking everything in there now, hurry up!" (In Thai of course.)
Ning, one of our co-workers, showed us how she used to eat the cupcake paper and toss the inside of the cupcake out. Then she did it, and that was our on-going joke of the evening. At one point, our other co-worker, Krua, laughed so hard she cried.
It is a wonderful thing to eat, study the Word, and laugh together. That is one thing of many I appreciate about our team, we laugh and have so much fun together.
Auntie wanted it at her place so we went up there around 7 p.m. toting curries, rice in rice-cooker, fried garlic dried pork, some scary hot pepper/fermented fish concoction, & unfrosted cupcakes baked by Poppy. (They can hardly stand the frosting on cakes, it is too sweet.)
Auntie Ron is in her 50's and is a tsunami-Christian. We were a little surprised to see a spirit shelf on her wall, complete with idol, incense & candles, but we will talk about that one later, it often takes Thais a long time to get over their fears of retribution from the spirits. Maybe seeing all of us looking at it will be the catalyst she needs to get over her fear and take it down.
Her son and his friend working at a nearby resort were there, too. Some of us got out the family photo books and started flipping around in them. We wondered if the "lady-boy" in the pictures was him or someone else, another brother??? Later, Kennedy & I were reflecting how nothing was thought of displaying these pictures, and the Christian teens giggling over them. Now, if this was America, we decided, very few families would want everyone looking at pictures of their transvestite son. Different world here, very different. Transvestites are a normal part of Thai culture, for centuries they have had their place in society. Most believe they are men who were women in their previous life. In any case, it is not an isolated city phenomena, but we found them everywhere, including in the middle of Eastern Thailand among the poor rice farmers and isolated towns. (Though the farmer sons weren't as sophisticated or skilled with their makeup application as the city boys.)
I am regressing here, perhaps, but it was fun for everyone in a very culturally Thai sort of way.
Okay.
So we did our memory verse, and we had a prize bag for those who memorized last week's verse, John 1:1. Giving out prizes was fun, everyone got a little excited and silly. I made up a prize bag with such various objects as pens, keychains, soap, earrings, hairclips, & other small things. They had to close their eyes and pick on. After the prize-winner would rustle around in the prize bag for quite a while I would start saying "Hey, your breaking everything in there now, hurry up!" (In Thai of course.)
Ning, one of our co-workers, showed us how she used to eat the cupcake paper and toss the inside of the cupcake out. Then she did it, and that was our on-going joke of the evening. At one point, our other co-worker, Krua, laughed so hard she cried.
It is a wonderful thing to eat, study the Word, and laugh together. That is one thing of many I appreciate about our team, we laugh and have so much fun together.
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