MicahJohn

I say random because it’s not everyday that I set out to go bowling and find myself at the Cambodian border instead.

Yesterday Pi Tot invited me to go bowling. We never did make it to the bowling alley. Before we left his house he needed to meet with someone. That someone was a little late in coming. While waiting, I had joined some folks in watching Stardust in Thai. I think that movie must be rather bizarre/fantastic/etc on its own, when watched starting in the middle, in a language that you don’t really yet understand, it is positively baffling.

Sometime during waiting and Stardusting a dinner was arranged. Pi Tot, two guys from Indonesia (they show up no more suddenly in my retelling of the narrative than they did in my experience of it), and myself picked up Pi Silk and met Pi Bee for dinner. After a good time of conversing (and eating) we were driving back and talking about getting the two Indonesian guys to the bus station in the morning so they could go to Cambodia and all of a sudden I was being asked if I wanted to join the group in driving to the boarder in the morning. I agreed.

Following this decision we went back to Pi Tot’s house and had the prayer time mentioned in my last post.

After spending the night at Pi Tot’s house we set off, I would say “bright and early,” but it was too early for it to be bright even in this tropical region.

There was a lot about the boarder that was very depressing. I wish I knew how to make it so no child need ever beg again.

On a lighter note, if you are in the market for counterfeit brand name clothing, the Cambodian boarder is the place to go. One of the more amusing things to me were the clothes that had been given unmatching counterfeit tags. There were a lot of virtually identical socks, some with Adidas, some with FILA, and some with NIKE on the socks and on the tags. I also saw however socks that said FILA with NIKE tags. Additionally I saw a pair of pants that said “Abercrombie and Fitch” on the outside paper tag, but said “Old Navy” on the tag inside the pants.

I was walking on my way to eat lunch when all of a sudden I became aware that the people walking beside me were no longer beside me. They had stopped. About that same time I realized I had just been hit. I turned around to find that what had just run into me was a cart being pushed by a motorcycle. The good news is I’m fine. I’ve got very slight abrasions on my right arm, and an insignificant bruise on my right hip. The story is well worth the injuries. 

I mailed two letters today. The cost of sending two letters from Thailand to the US was less expensive than sending three letters within the US would have been. Hooray for the Thailand Post!

Should you happen to be in Bangkok, you should know that there are buses with the same number that run different routes. Admittedly the buses look entirely different. The one was really more a van and the other a full size bus. One blue the other orange. I however had not been warned about this, and, as might be expected, the wrong one came first. Fortunately, all parties concerned were very gracious to me. The bus did not make me pay and put me off at the next stop. A fellow bus rider, who also dismounted had heard my intended destination, told me I wanted the orange 39 (not the blue one I had been on).  

The day ended well. I got my bus and arrived safely home after a good evening of badminton that included a group of folks trying to come up with a Thai name for me. They ruled out several I thought I liked, and I’m not sure I like the one they settled on. I’ll have to think about it. I’ll let you know when I start introducing myself by a name other than Micah.

Today I received my first physical attack for Christ. At speaker’s corner a Muslim man had forced Jay off his ladder. After several times being removed from his ladder the police showed up. They asked Jay to move. At the new location I stood in front of him to try and deter attacks. The same man who had pushed Jay off earlier came right up to me and started screaming at Jay (in my ear) “liar” repeatedly. As he pressed against me I refused to move, so he brought his knee up and hit me in the thigh. I stumbled into him with a little extra force and regained some ground. Marcus encouraged me not to retaliate. So I started quoting silently 1Cor 13. At about the fourth verse he brought his knee up and made solid contact with my groin. I fell to the ground. Apparently the man ran away. I feel no anger, but am instead awed by Christ’s willingness to die for those beating him.