THAI SURPRISE | Previous Challenge Entry

how it works

TITLE: THAI SURPRISE | Previous Challenge Entry
By Lamar Taylor
03/04/09
LEAVE COMMENT ON ARTICLE
SEND A PRIVATE COMMENT
ADD TO MY FAVORITES

It was a dream come true. We were on our first overseas missions trip, a trip to exotic Sri Lanka for 12 days of ministry with overnight stays in Bangkok and Japan and three days in Hong Kong. We were pastors of a church in western Colorado, so we flew out of Grand Junction to Seattle by way of Denver. Our flight from Seattle on Thai Airlines was delayed a day for plane repairs. We were given a night’s lodging at a Holiday Inn, and took the extra time to experience the sights and sounds of Seattle.

Sometime during the trip from Grand Junction to Seattle, my wife lost her camera. We never found it, but for a reason I can’t remember, it resulted in our befriending a woman from Thailand. An engineer who lived and worked in Houston, she was on her way to Bangkok for a family reunion. Since she was traveling by herself, we “adopted” her into our group. She and my wife struck up a quick friendship. She also explored Seattle with us. Bur it was November, and she came dressed for Houston and Thailand, expecting only a short layover in Seattle. Since we were from Colorado, we loaned her a coat.

Six people were on our team--5 men and my wife. I’m over six feet tall and the other men were as tall or taller than me. My wife is 5’6”, so it made our little Thai friend look pretty small.

Prior to our trip, we had been given all sorts of advice about what and what not to eat. For example, it was OK to eat fruit that you could peel and cooked foods, but not raw vegetables. Food from street vendors was a no-no, and we had to drink bottled water or soda pop. Certain kinds of sea food were also advised against, especially sushi and some shell fish.

Our Thai friend had a brother in Bangkok who owned a car dealership. At some point in our flight to Bangkok, she decided that he was going to take her new American friends out to dinner when we arrived. Of course, he knew nothing about her plan until after we arrived in Bangkok. Since I was not familiar with the Thai culture, I don’t know how she worked it out or convinced him. But I can imagine his response. “You want me to do what?” In the Thai language, of course.

Shortly after our arrival in Bangkok, we found ourselves on our way to a fancy Bangkok restaurant to meet her brother. As we got out of the shuttle to walk to the restaurant, we passed street vendors selling all kinds of wares and food. One had a giant pot that was filled with what appeared to be French-fried grasshoppers. Of course, we didn’t purchase any, but they didn’t really look all that bad. After all, they were cooked! And didn’t God tell the Israelites it was OK to eat grasshoppers?

When we arrived at the restaurant, it was apparent that our Thai friend’s brother was quite suspicious. Who were these Americans who had bewitched his sister? But he was very gracious and honored his sister’s request. Finally, we were seated to eat our meal. Guess what? Some of the food was on the taboo list! What were we to do? Well, we were not about to offend our new friend or her brother, especially since he was paying the bill. So, when in Rome (or Thailand), do as the Romans do. We asked God to bless the food and we had a feast! There was soup with a fish complete with eyes. Has your food ever stared at you when you’re about to eat it? I don’t remember all the other things we ate. Sometimes it’s better not to know. But none of us got sick.

By the time the meal was over, our friend’s brother was having a good time and had discovered that these Americans were OK.

By the way, it really is better when you go on a missions trip to follow the guidelines and the direction of your host missionary when it comes to food. However, my wife and I spent several months in Korea and have been on other missions trips to Guatemala, Chile and Mexico. We’ve regularly claimed Mark 16:18 where it says, “…and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all;…” (NIV).

PREVIOUS ENTRY | NEXT ENTRY
SUBMIT YOUR ENTRY FOR THIS WEEK'S CHALLENGE

The opinions expressed by authors may not necessarily reflect the opinion of FaithWriters.com.

If you died today, are you absolutely certain that you would go to heaven? You can be right now. CLICK HERE

JOIN US at FaithWriters for Free. Grow as a Writer and Spread the Gospel.