“Have You Had Lunch Yet” – The Story of the University

One of the most common activities we do here in Chiang Mai is to advertise for the coffee house we work at.  Wongen Kafe’ is the main ministry base for Lighthouse ministries here in the city, and we’ve been asked to raise awareness among the student body at Chiang Mai University across the street.  Each day from about 11 to 2 we walk down to one of the cafeterias and wander about meeting people. It’s completely unstructured, unguided, and untutored time – not exactly my forte!  I have never been truly comfortable with wandering up to random strangers and making small talk, or getting to know them even a little – much less in a foreign climate!  Because Thai people are almost uniformly Buddhist (and therefore are unlikely to have even heard of Jesus), they tend to turn off completely when you directly evangelize to them, so we are instructed to tell them when they ask why we’re here that we are visiting, want to make friends and learn about Thailand, and we’re working at Wongen and they should come by and visit.  It’s not just frustrating that our purpose has to be concealed behind half-truths – I know we’re putting them in contact with a well-established ministry started in Thailand by Thai people that has years of experience bringing Thais to Jesus – what’s really the worst part to me is how hard it is to keep the truth straight in my mind.  I can often find myself sitting there asking the same handful of questions (What’s your major, How old are you, Do you like the university, What do you do in your free time) and thinking about nothing beyond how the conversation’s going.  I have to tell them only a part of the truth because we’re told they aren’t willing to handle the full truth, and so in my mind I sometimes let the most important part of why we’re here slip away.  I’m on the campus to show these students love in a completely new way, and to bring them to where love is part of the atmosphere at Wongen, and to make them want to know where this crazy unexplainable love is coming from.  It can be such a distracting environment even without the language barrier and cultural confusion, and to have what amounts to ulterior motives in making friends is at times very heavy on my heart.

I really want to give you a good idea of the average day at CMU, but instead I’ve got a thoroughly UNaverage day to show you in the form of a video made by my squadmate Emily, from team Wreckonciled, which is working with us this month.  It’s down at the bottom once you’re done reading.  We are getting better at learning how to interact with the students, and we’re discovering that when they ask us questions there are a handful of things they seem really interested in knowing.  They want to know where we’re from (although if you’re not from California or New York you don’t have much chance of recognition – I guess half a world away people aren’t quite as concerned where Nebraska is!), they ask us if we like Thailand, what we think of Chiang Mai, whether we’ll come back, and frequently if we’ve had lunch yet.  I’m really not sure why this particular question gets asked, but nearly every day someone asks me, “have you had lunch yet?”  Some days I’m speaking with students whose English skills are still under development, so I’ve received entertaining variations on the question, but it all comes down to wondering if we’ve managed to have some of the cafeteria food.  I think I’ve finally decided it comes from the cultural aspect of Thailand that has earned it the nickname ‘the country of smiles’ – hospitality and politeness are central to the Thai way of life.  Even to complete strangers it’s an ingrained thing to be considerate of others.  It goes a long way towards striking up conversations, but it sometimes leads to questions we’re not normally asked back home.

I’ve met dozens upon dozens of students, and made a few friends of course – but I’ve seen very few more than once.  One group of software engineering students did come by the coffee show, and we talked and laughed for a couple of hours, and I see them periodically at campus.  Last night we stayed late for an extra hour and played ping-pong with some science students we met that day (they beat us pretty thoroughly!)  Beyond that, it’s hard to know if we’re really making any direct, immediate impact.  I’m learning to be ok with that, because even though we’re only here for a month, we’re working with ministries that will be here for years, and they’re the ones with the ability to take the long-term view of the situation.  Just by being there on campus sharing God’s love in action we are making an impact of some sort, regardless of if we can actually see results in the short time we’re here.  I’m learning to have faith that God will remain active even after we leave a place, so for now I’m content to hang out with the students, eat some Thai cafeteria food, and laugh and smile and love – and leave the rest in God’s hands.