We’ve been in Thailand for two months now and suddenly this foreign country doesn’t seem so foreign at all. Sitting on the train headed to Bangkok, I look outside and see something I’d see at home: a dad pulled over on the side of the road so that his two kids could wave at the strangers passing by.
That’s when it really hit me, the world may look different outside of our borders but people are still people. They have emotions and aspirations, families and friends, hobbies and occupations. It’s not what we’re used to and it isn’t always the most conventional but at the core of the matter, at the core of us, the only true differences are where we live and how we go about living. We all have lives to lead.
Here in Kanchanaburi, I’ve noticed that people don’t just go to work for a couple hours, dink around, and get a paycheck, they work HARD all day long to receive just enough to get them and their families by. They go to work and do things all their life that my team and I struggled to do for a day. They do tedious things like hand-pulling weeds around little tiny pepper trees for acres of fields in scorching hot weather just to have to redo it again in a couple weeks. And yet, I have not once heard anyone complain. They’ll own the fact that yeah, it’s hard work, but they’ll do it with a smile and carry on, laughing as we Americans stop for yet another water break.
Thai people are not a lazy or ungrateful people. They are wonderful examples of what it looks like to be content with your lot—which is not to be confused with complacency. They strive forward and that is what I hope is instilled in me as we leave this place. God has been calling me to step forward and step back in so many aspects of my life over the past two months, but this area has held my attention since day one. It’s hard to think negatively or be selfish without feeling guilty when you’re surrounded by so many people who have reasons to be negative and selfish and just… Aren’t. I could ask any Thai person I know for something that is precious to them—whether that’s food, a tool, a toy, their last Pepsi—and they’d give it to me without hesitation (anyone ages 3 and under are the exception).
My prayer is that one day I could look this way when people see me. Not because I want the attention or to be more Thai, although that’s what you might think since I’ve started eating spicy hot things and dyed my hair black, but because I see this characteristic of God in them, and I want to be more like Him.
Khawp khun kha.
