My, That's Hot

Yesterday was my birthday and as such I got to eat at the place of my choice. Stephanie told the missionaries wife that I wanted good Thai food. I ordered pepper curry wild boar. She said it was quite spicy. The waitress double checked that I wanted spicy when I ordered. I was full speed ahead. It was the hottest food that ever crossed my lips. I made a dent in the plate and was full, but there was no stuffing myself. The rice was so soaked in the juices that it felt like needles on my tongue. Robby took a bite of the meat and it hurt his ears. Kevin took two bites of meat and it was ok. He sure was drinking a lot of water. We followed that up wih ice cream cake from Swensons. It was a great birthday in Thailand. I loved the experience. Some on the group felt that I had immersed myself so much into the Thai culture that I needed a Thai nickname. So GangPhet(gang pet) was born. It means spicy soup. Seems fitting.
We spent the morning at a worship service of members of different ministries around the city. It was both in English and in Thai. There was lots of translation going in both directions. It was very interesting to see how people from different faith groups are all working in the same area to reach different people for Christ. The pastor from the slums was there, a trainer working with Thai boxing fighters, which is his secular job, and he tries to minister with them also, a man who goes out into the villages in the jungles to reach people, our project that reaches out to Chinese with the Bible. All different types and faiths of people working to reach people for Jesus in different ways and places. After the service, we toured the Tamar Center. It is a ministry reaching out to prostitutes and bar girls here. They go out into the bars 3 days a week in the morning and order cokes to talk to them. They offer English classes to them as a way to gain interest. They build relationships with the girls as they go. Once a year, they hold a 3 month training course for girls who are ready to leave that life. They train them in spiritual discipline and vocational training. They spend time learning cosmetology and baking. As they are learnign their skills, the center ensures their wages are at least equal to what they have left behind. As they develop their skills, they begin to make their own living. If they show an interest and skill they can go for advanced training to learn more. After they complete the 3 month course, they are welcome to live there as long as they want. Really. They can stay and work in the different shops the center has. There is a card shop where they make beautiful cards. You can see and buy them at www.tamarcards.com to help support them. There is a bakery and coffee shop where they learn both the baking and store selling side of it. There is a salon located in the night market next to the coffee shop where they cut hair. A company called Issan Inspirations has them make silk bed covers and other silk items. They support the ministry as well as give the girls the oppportunity to make a living producing these items. These can be seen at www.iisilk.com. For more info on the Tamar Center, visit www.projlife.com and look under projects for the Tamar Center link. Once I am back home, I will learn how to put the links on the side so that they will easier to find. I think this is a tremendous ministry trying to do an incredibly tough work here. The bar girls and prostitutes don't just work for the nights wages, they are working in the hope that a rich foreign man will take them away from all of this and take care of them. It happens just often enough for them think it could happen to them also.
And we gave out Bibles to another 260 Chinese or so. We had a good night of distributing, however many were returning for dinner on a different dinner boat and said they already had one. I placed myself at the end of the line for one of my shifts of prayer so that I could see them as they went through and after. There were people who held their Bibles up in thankfulness, there was a man who held his up to his tour group and said loudly some Chinese words that included Bible in there somewhere. I saw people clinging to them, hugging them tightly. I saw many who were already beginning to read as they were walking, some nearly run over by the zooming scooter and vehicles nearby. It was so cool to see them so ready for the word.