TribesandTrails 1954 Thailand

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TR BES

tTRBILS^

THAILAND

. . . for Thou wast slain and didst purchase unto God with Thy blood

men of every tribe and tongue and people and nation. Rev.

5:9b

APRIL 1954



TRI ES

a n d TR ILS

in Thailand

APRIL 1954

Vol. 3

No.

1

Published

twice

yearly,

in spring

and

autumn, for :

S I A M

MISSION

O F

AMERICAN CHURCHES

OF

CHRIST

Pr in ted by

H EN RY P RIN TIN G CO.

175 15th

Ave. E.,

Eug en e. O re go n

MISSIONARIES

and their forwarding agents

At

Talat Chiengkam.

Changwat Chiengrai ,

Tha i l a nd :

C. W . and LOIS CALLAWAY

Mrs. C.

W .

Cal laway . Sr . ,

Box

757,

Canad ian , Texas

MISS IMOGENE WILLIAMS

Mrs. Lora

Harrison,

1218 N . Cas te r,

Wichi ta

12 , Kansas

MISS

DOROTHY

UHLIG

Fi r s t Chris t ian Church

Klama th

Falls ,

Oregon

MELVERT and JUNE BYERS

Mrs . A lle n R. Nichols, 2111 SUver Springs Rd.

Port land 22 , Oregon

DONALD

and ROBERTA BYERS

Mrs.

C. C. Pierce. P.O.

Box

482

Mcdford,

Oregon

At

Paa , Nan

Province,

Thailand:

GARLAND and DOROTHY BARE

Mrs .

No rma

Barney ,

Box 178, Linco ln , I l lino is

(Note: Letters and

parcels should be

sent

to

miss ionar ie s

a t

Siam a dd re ss . A il f unds

mus t

be

sent to forwarding agents ,

who

wili then

t ransmit

them by bank

dra f t to respective

missionary

in

Siam.)

C O V E R P I C TU R E

A

Buddhist

shr ine near C hiengkam. O ne of

Buddha s hairs is

supposed

to be preserved in this

place

and

it

is

the object of

a year ly p il gr image by

th e peoples of

the

Chiengkam

plain.

Most of the

Thai , Lao, Shan,

and

Lu people are Buddhist ,

and

Buddhism is said to be th e religion o f 95 of the

people o f

Thai land .

Wal lace E . Altice, new recrui t to

Thai land ,

re

por ts tha t

his home church. West Main Street

Church of Christ , Salem, Virgin ia , has t aken his

ful l l iv ing -l ink

s uppor t. He

is enrolled

sp ri ng t erm

a t the

Plat te

Valley

Bib le Col lege

for

specialized

medical t raining. He

will be

t ravel ing am ong the

churches this

summer. He may be

contacted

for

siieaking

engagements a t :

1711 3rd

Ave.,

Apt. 8

Scottsbluff ,

Nebra ska .

BYERS

FAKHLY LEAVES

Don and Roberta

Byers

left San Francisco by

plane

on March 3 rd

with

their

two small sons

and

arrived safely a t Bangkok

on

March 5th. Their

visa

did not arrive

in

t im e to leave b y s hi p, so had

to cancel tha t

reservation.

While

wai t ing

fo r

the

visa

they

were guests of the

San

Jose

Bible Col

lege.

Don

spoke

a t

chapel

services

there on Febru

ary

9th

and

24th. They were met

a t

Bangkok by

Mel

and

June Byers.

They report the

weather

is

very hot and they

expected

to

leave

soon to go

up

c ountr y t o the mission work a t

Chiengkam.

MISS WILLIAMS

IN

U. S .

Imogene Wil liams has safely

arrived

in

th e

U. S

and

has been

reunited with he r family a t Route 4

Hodgenvil le, Ken tucky . She expects to enrol l a t th e

Summer I ns titu te o f Linguistics, University

of

Oklahoma in o rd er to prepare for Bible t ranslation

w ork am ong the t r ibes .

D A UG HT ER B OR N

TO

M EL A ND

J U N E

BYERS

Word has

been received

f rom Ban gk ok tha t Mel

and

June Byers are

the p arents o f a 7

lb.,

12 oz .

baby

girl

born

February 9

Mother

and daught er ,

Rinda Marie,

doing

fine.

NICHOLS '

VISIT WORK

We were happy

that

during

their stay in

Thai

land,

Mr.

and

Mrs.

Edgar Nichols

and adopted

sons

wer e a ble to s pe nd two months with

us

in

Chieng

kam and v is i t

th e

work .

A t th e

t ime

o f

th i s

wr i t

ing visas a re

still

being

awaited for

the boys to

proceed

with

t hei r pa ren ts

to the U.

S.

TR IBAL

LAND

How weary

are

the l it tl e w inding trails

That wande r u pwar d t hr ou gh

ravines

and rills

Till cour age weaken s and endurance fails.

Or

downward

into

darkened

jungle

vales

'M id Tha i l and ' s

h i l l s .

B ut b rave th e l i t t le folk who

dai ly

toi l

On

dizzy,

tilted

slopes

o r

rocky

peak.

Who wres t a pit tance from

unyielding soil

Withou t compla in t,

nor

from t he ta sk

recoil

Nor respite

seek.

No

luxur ie s a wa it th e n ig ht re turn

As weary, bu rdened

toilers

homeward c l imb:

No

bed, no

tas ty meal, for

l ife is s te rn ;

No lig ht, e xc ept

the smokey

fires t ha t b urn

A t

even t ime .

Dark

are

th e t in y huts, filthy and

low.

And

darker

still the blackness

tha t depraves;

But

in

Thy s tr en g th

to

e ve n t he se

we

go

Fo r

Thou w a st s la in t ha t Yao and Miao m '

know

T ha t J es us sav es

And Thou d id st walk

such

trails—on mountainside.

On

weary,

sun-scorched

plain,

or by

the

sea :

Hated by foes,

and

by Thy f rie nd s denied.

Despised—rejected—smitten—crucified

W e fol low

The e .

By Garland Bare



Onike

The house

looks

increasingly empty as

the foot lockers stack higher. Looking at

the

multitude

of

small

things sca ttered

about and recalling the many little tasks

yet

to be done we wonder

Can

we pos

sibly be ready to go in three more

days?

Then the hired girl comes to say that

there

is

so much

sickness

in her

home

that she

can't

possibly

.stay

with

us these

last

few days. Presently the hired man

decides that

he

can't stay

either.

Ah,

well Never mind. I f

we

aren' t ready to

go on Tuesday we can leave Wednesday.

Such is the slow moving way of the Eas t.

As

the

day

of

departure draws nearer

we think

with some regret

of

leaving this

plea.^ant little

town

and

the work

of

which we have become a part.

But

it is

th e futu re we look to. The

trip

we antic i

pate with

a

mixture of

excitement and

dread. Bumps

and

dust

mark the first

stage

of

the journey

to

Phayao. But

we ll

not mind i t

too

much for

the

road

has

become familiar to

us.

We

have

learned

to

honestly appreciate the hot

curry

and

rice

and the

ho t

ovaltine

served in t h e

little

bamboo restaurants

along

the way.

I f

ou r tr uc k doesn' t break

down

we

should

m a k e

t h e 45

miles to

P h a y a o in

a b o u t

seven

hours . T h e r e

we

m u s t leave o u r be

longings in

care

of

the

truck

driver

while

we make a quick

trip

to Chiengrai to

take

our leave

of

the governor and

obtain

f r o m

him a l e t t e r o f in tro du ctio n to t h e

governor

of

Nan Province. I f all goes

well, we should be in Lampang the second

night of our journ ey .

From Lampang we

shall

proceed by

train

to

Den Chai.

Providing

a bus is

available

we

should

get

to

Phrae

by

the

third

night.

Phrae is

rapidly

growing

to

the proport ions of

a city bv

reason

of

the

tung oi l

and

teak

industries. A

mission

doc to r and hospi ta l

are located here.

Per

haps in Phrae we

shall stop

a day to

shop

for needed

art 'cles.

Or, we mav nroceed

to N a n

a n d

m a k e

o u r

n u r c h a s e s there .

From Den Chai

to

Nan there

is

good,

hard-surfaced highway and we anticipate

Packing for the the move to

Pua.

pleasant

journeying there. We shall also

leave Nan

on a

good, hard road. But

we

are

not

to

be

fooled

for

we

know

that

after only

a

few

kilometers the

going

will

be

characterized

by such

bumps,

dust,

rotten

bridges,

and

steep hills

as we

have

never encountered

before.

In fact,

the

road is

such

as to

make r iding

in

the back

of the

truck unsafe.

Therefore,

we

shall

be careful

to secure

seats

in the

cab.

Unpleasant though

it is

this

last stage

of

our journey lasts only about s ix hours.

Then

we sha ll see Pua

(pronounced

boo-

a)

situated on a

little

hill

with

rice fields

spread like

skirts

about

it s

feet. This vil

lage of

some

1500 to 2000 souls is to be

our next home.

Our

headquarters will be

the tiny wooden house

Garland secured

on h s last

visit . From

there we hope

to

win f rie nd s fo r Christ and i nf luence peo

ple to

accept the

Way of

salvation.

Not far distant

is a

village

of profess

ing

Christians

who are anxious

for

fur

ther instruction. Another

village

on

the

plain has expressed

their

dissatisfaction

with Bud dhism an d their

desire

to know

more

of

Chris tian ity. The

entire

area

is

white unto the

harvest.- Bey^^nd. in

the

mountains,

are T'in, White

Miao.

Black

Miao, Yao

and

Khamoo tribespeople. One

Black Miao vil lage showed

particular in

terest in the gospel even offering to build

a

house for

a

teacher

who

would come

and

live among them.

The

opportunities

in

this

new

place

of

service are great. Although we shall con

tinue language study off and on for

the

mo.st part our days of

formal

language

sti idv

a r e ended.

A h e a d

lie.s t h e

e v a n

geli stic

and teaching

propram

for

which

we have been yea rn ing these two years

and

more. Since

a

journev

of three to five

days

will

separate

us

from our

fellow

missionaries we shall

be

more dependent

upon

our Lord

and

vour pravers than

ever before. In

His

will,

by

His wisdom,

and in His

strength

the go.«pel

goes for

w a r d .

—Dorothy Bare



How Beautiful Upon the Mountains.

Just before Christmas

Melvert

Byers

and I

returned

from 26 days of travel

to

and through the t ribal country of Nan.

Often on the journey we were made

aware of

the

protecting presence of our

Lord with al l who carry out His

commis

sion. The trip

was marked

by challenging

opportunities in many places though

there

were

some

discouragements.

One

of

the

least

encouraging

places

was Paloo the Yao vil lage at which we

arrived

on D ecernber

17.

The

carr iers

were exhausted,

since

most of the day s

travel had been

uphill.

The night

before

our

spirits had been lifted high as the 30

North

Thai famil ies

of Huay

Muang had

declared

thei r

in te res t in renouncing

Buddha and

following

Christ.

Now

as we

entered this Yao vil lage an entirely

dif

f er en t a tti tude was noticed. Instead of

cordiality

there

was suspicion; instead of

interest,

indifference.

W e were

escorted

to th e home

of a

young

couple who

had

overtaken and

ac

companied us on

the last steep

climb up

to tne village. We entered a filthy dwell

ing, the dirt

floor

of which was

littered

with refuse. Pigs and chickens wandered

in

and out.

A

few vil lagers gathered and

stared vacantly at us. A blind man came

and begged for money. The vil lage idiot

came and danced a jig and a lso begged

for

money.

In

the

blank-faced group

who

gathered

around

might there

not be

someone who would be

interested

in our

purpose in coming—someone

who

would

listen

to the message of l igh t

and

hope?

No

interest.

No

responding

warmth. Oh,

that our

tongues

might

be loosed—that

we

might

awaken these pe rish ing souls

to t he ir danger and need with the mes

sage that overflows our hea rt s

Next

morning as we

prepared

to leave

we

endeavored

to

secure

a

guide, for

we

knew that

there were many

side

trails

to

the

variou s r idges

on

the Doi

Wao

range.

None was willing unless paid an

exorbitant sum.

As

we

walked, heavy-

hea rt ed , out of the

village

there was

no

farewell

and no invi ta t ion to re turn W e

fe l t

t ha t we had

a

smal l

t a s te

of w hat o ur

Lor d

m u s t have endured from a ha r d

hear ted, mercenary

generation.

Within an

hour

we were lost,

having

taken a trail which ended in

an

opium

field. Back w e w e n t to th e

mai n t r a i l

which c limbed

steeply through mountain

forest forcing the c arriers to stop fre

quently

for

breath. Above th e f or es t we

followed

a burnt-over ridge covered with

sharp , s lashing lalang grass . The air was

cool and crisp. The fog cleared from sur

rounding peaks and

th e ranges

stood

out

clearly in

the morning sun.

The

valley

be

low was still

immersed

in white fog. A

flock

of

hornbills flew over with noisy

wing-beats.

Parrots, monkeys, and silver

pheasants called from

the

forested

ra

vines. O ur

hear t s

l i f ted as we r ev elle d

in

the

beaut ies of God s handiwork .

By

noon

we had crossed

the summit

and

were well down the

o the r

side.

Tra i l s

branched out

frequently

and

it

was with

considerable rel ief t h a t

w e reached

th e

next

village

and found we were still on

the r ight trail. Pomelo trees in

the

vi l

lage

were heavily laden

with

fruit,

while

peach trees

were just

bursting into bloom.

In exchange

for

medical

tre atmen t o f an

opium vic tim we

were

griven

enough

rice

and

vegetables

for

our first good meal

of

the day. On inquiring directions

to

the

next village a tall

kindly

Yao man in

formed

us

t h a t

he

l ived

th ere an d

would

be

glad

to guide us.

Our guide informed

us

t h a t his

name

w as Old Five

and

t ha t he w as th e

f a the r

of eleven children. He enlivened our jour

ney by

declaiming

on the hardships of

nlural

m arriage fa

common practice

in

his

tribe),

providing u s w ith interesting

information

about

the

a re a, and re la ting

to

us

the ancient history of the Yao.

When

we

reached the

bot tom c f th e

gorge we became espec ia lly thankful for

the

presence

of

Old

Five. The

trail

d s-

apueared

and the onlv path was the

s tream. Without a guide we would have

been completely

lost.

After

following

the

stream

some

distance we

began

the

s teeo

climb to

Padang,

Old

Five s

village. At

dusk we entered

the village, extremely

t i red.

Here we

met

an ent ir el y different atti

tude. The villag ers were

alert,

clean

(by

comparison),

and

friendly.

The gospel

m essage w as received w it h in te re st s

we

left the

next morning, the

headman

invited us to return

and

snend

many days

teaching his peonle of the God

who

made

sun,

ear th

a nd s ta rs

So

God s servants

must

go forward,

meeting interest and indifference,

cor

diality

and contempt, rejoicing in

the

glory of His

presence and the oeautv

of

our message and hope. What a

privilege

it is to be His messengers

to this

land

of

t r ib es a nd tra il s

— G a r l a n d

B a r e



,<~

^ c y „ •

THAI C A R R I E R

O N T R A IL

When

Jesus held the dusty

calloused

feet of each disciple and then bathed

them in

water perhaps

His

thoughts went

beyond the example He was trying to

present. As He held and bathed each

dusty

foot He knew

that they

had many

more trails to walk—feet that would

carry each owner to his death. Those

feet

were yet

to

walk

over

many mountains

into each village, in the

heat

and cold

carrying the

weight

of a man whose

heart wa.s heavy

and warm

with a

New

Song

and a

New

Hope. When Jesus

said, Go ye into all the world . . . He

was

talking

to men who had to walk. The

message

had

been placed in man s heart

and

was to be

carried

to the

ends of

the

world by

man s

feet.

Even

today with

modern transporta

tion and speed the method in the end is

finally reduced to walking. A preacher

may ride in his

car

for several miles, still

he m u s t walk to th e door o f t h e house

and

stand

b efo re h is

fellow

man on his

o w n

t w o

f e e t

Throughout the

world

today the serv

ants

of

the

Lord still

experience

the same

feelings of Christians in every era. Hav

ing travelled by

boat,

plane, car and horse

the

last

few remaining miles

must

be

covered by walking.

In

th e few t imes t h a t I have walked

the road and

climbed

the mountain

t r a i l s

in a n e f f o r t

to r e a c h th o s e w h o s e e m

t o

d w e l l o n t h e

o u t s k i r t s

o f

t h e h um a n r a c e

I have often though t o f

the

Master and

His disciples. The

manv

times they must

have felt weariness

a t the

close of a

day s

jo urn ey . Even

so today

dusty,

tired and

hot the servant of the Lord pauses to

rest an d bath his feet

in a

cooling

s tream.

The s a m e

kind

of

f e e t

t h a t Je.=:us

had.

T h e

s a m e a c h e a n d

w e a r i n e s s

t h a t t h e

disciples

felt.

Yet

the

same coo ling com-

, . The Feet That

ring Good Tidings

fort

that

comes

f rom rest ing.

The

same

calm a .s su rance which

drives

one

on.

When Jesus ministered

from

v il lage to

village he employed no convenience.

When Jesus went to

the cross

— He

walked. Today the tendency is to employ

every convenience and modern invention

possible by which to spread the gospel.

The native is deeply impressed

and

in

fluenced by Chrisianity, a faith which

goes no deeper than a radioset or a brand

new jeep. These toots are necessary when

there

is no

witness

nor power in

your

h e a r t

When

an illiterate

jungle

nat ive sees

a

servant of God coming down the trail—

walking—there is no big splash, bewilder

ment or impression for even the native

walks and

travels

in

this

manner.

When

he

sees

the

missionary

tired and dirty

from

a hard mountain

trail, the native

sees a man, even as he is a man who also

becomes

tired

from

a

day s

labor

or

jour

ney. He is

sympathetic

with one's feel

ings and wants,—a place to re.st for the

night, a fire

for

warmth, food to eat. In

this

there is common understanding.

What impression you make must first be

in you and

then

expressed

through

you.

Although the native knows that you are

capable of many more

things yet

you

have come with only a New Song and a

New Hope. Since you have come in

the

likeness

of

the native now the native re

alizes the possibility of possessing the

likeness of

your heart .

The

next day

the

missionary

walks to the next village

leaving

an

impression

that lasts.

Walking is only symbolic of the method

and

manner of evangelism.

It

speaks of

simplicity,

moderation,

something

warm

and alive which goes beyond the mechan

ics of

invention. It does

not blast heath

enism with the

bomb

of invention and

high powered organization

neither

does it

leave rubble

and

decay

in

the

day of

test

ing. In a

measure heathenism

can be de

stroyed

by

human

ways

but

it does

not

leave a way of life by which to enjoy

eternal life. The

method

of walking

is

t rans fo rming for both t he t rave lle r and

the host—eating away the old

and

at the

same time replacing

the

old with

new

n e s s

o f

l if e

Dusty, calloused feet, but how beauti

fu l

are the feet that bring

glad

tidings,

that publi.sh peace.

—Melvert Byers



Garland

Bare on

r ight taking

pic

ture of C. W. Lois Mark Leian

and Joyce Callaway. The Bare

Mel

Byers and Callaway

families

have

all

at

one

time

or another

lived

in

this

house inChiengkam.

Back

ta

VkailaM l

Thailand has in

recent

months been

a

point of much speculation. Will the Com-

muni. ^ts stop at

the

French-Indo-China

border or will they brave ly walk across

neutral

Thailand

scooping the rice from

the bowl as they go? Many have asked

us, Is it

safe

to return to Thailand at

this

t ime? Some ask Is

it

wise?

We feel t h a t God

has sealed

our orders

to re tu rn now in providing so wondrous ly

fo r o ur re tu rn

a t

this t ime.

And

with

the

o rde r

we know tha t we can

claim H is

promise

to

go with us and to

uphold

us.

Further^ we feel that if He. in His in

finite

wisdom sees fi t

to

send us out He

will

hold

back the hand

of Sa tan in

the

Commun ist advance long enough to give

us

time

to do the work

He

is sending us

to do.

It

is

for

us

to

work

and pray and

for

you to uphold us in prayer that the

Lord

will

give

strength

sufficient

for the

task of quickly learn ing th e

language

establishing

converts

in the

Lord and

gett ing

on

with the Bible

translation.

We

are not to ask

i f i t

is safe . W ho

shall

separa te us

from

the love of

Christ?

Shall

tribulations

or anguish or persecu

tion or famine

or

nakedness

or

peril

or sword

? Nay in

al l these

things we are

more than conquerors through

Him

that

loved

us Rom.

8:35-37 .

We

a re

no t

to

a sk i f i t is wise . F o r th e

wisdom

o f t h i s

wor ld

is foo lishness w ith God

I

Cor .

3:19. It is

for

us to obey Him. We are

unde r

th e sam e command

a.s

Pau l when

he

said Do

all things

without

murmur-

ings

and

questionings

holding

forth

the Word of

Life

that I may have where

of to glory in

the

day of Christ that I

did

not run in vain neither labor in vain

and if

I am offered

upon the sacrifice and

service of

vour

faith. I joy and rejoice

with you all

and

in

the same

manner do

ye also

joy

and re joice with

me.

Phil.

2:14

16-18.

Brethren

rejoice with

us.

Our

total

travel

needs

were met through your

gen

erous g iv ing

in la te Feb ruary and earlv

March and

we

were able

to

sail

March

17

f rom San

Francisco.

We

a re due

to ar r ive

in Bangkok about April 10. He is .«end-

ing

us back to His harvest fieMs^—into

the

battle

with

the

evil one. Uphold our

hands

with

praye r and pray

for the

lost

that

they may

take

this opportunity of

sa lva t ion

—C. W.

and

Lois Callaway



Learninff to read at the short-term school.

These children are the future hope of

Thailand

evangelism.

An early morning visitor at the leper

village of Ban Sop Waan might be

sur

prised to see some boys and girls and

adults sit ting on logs in the sunshine and

reading out loud. Each is completely en

grossed in what he is reading and pays

little attent ion to

what others may

be do

ing. An outsider stares in bewilderment

at the group wondering at their enthusi

asm to

read.

In

a few moments a mis si onary and a

Tha i te ache r a rr ive and

soon the

bamboo

stick is pounded to announce that it is 9

o clock and

time to begin.

Boys

and girls

troop

to the headman s house while many

adults go to the bamboo church building.

A

few other

a du lts a nd child re n go to

an

other

house and

school

is under

way once

more. t doesn t

look

much lik e

an

Amer

ican

school

for there are no chairs and

desks,

but

instead everyone sits

on

the

floor,

the

men or boys on one s ide and

the

women or

girls

on

the

other side. Soon

the sound of the class reading loud in

unison

is wafted on the a ir as Kru Sing

Gao,

the

Thai

teacher,

drills them

in their

r eading . L it tl e if any

sound comes

from

the headm an s house as he teaches

his

class to

write,

but from the other house

comes

the

sound

of a group repeating a

Bible verse in uni.son until they

know i t

bv

hear t

a f t e r

which

they l isten to a

Bible

lesson

presented

by

the

missionary.

A t 10 o clock the

bamboo

is

again

pounded

and the punils switch classes.

For most of these it is

their

f ir st exper i

ence

of . ichool and they

find

it

hard to

concent ra te and

s it

still for three

hours ,

but the

walk

to the

other

class meeting

place

does help some.

At

noon

no bell is

rung, but

instead th e tea cher

starts

the

That

They May

Know Thy Word

children who are at the church

singing

a

hymn and the other classes are quickly

dismissed so that all may join in a short

time of

singing and learning

of new

hymns. This is the most eagerly awaited

time

of

the

whole

day,

for all love to

sing. All too quickly the time is up, and

as the missionary and the teacher leave,

the

children

a nd adu lt s

con tinue to

prac

tice the song they have been learning.

Perhaps

you

are

wondering

what

this

is all about and what your missionaries

are

doing conducting a school. This is a

short

term school,

lasting about

three

months, for the purpose of teaching those

at

the

leper

village to

read

so

that they

can

read

th e Word of

God

for themselves.

There are three separate classes—illiter

ate

children, i ll i terate adults,

and literate

adults

and children.

The re a re 34

enrolled

in the

school

which

mean s a bout

half

the

villagers

are

attending. Classes

are

held

three

days

a

week from

9-12.

In three

months tim e i t

will

not be nossible to

teach these to read fluently, but a

good

beginning will

have been made. One

of

the problems is that these people speak

a local dia lect and

thus

do

not

understand

many of the

words

in

Proper Thai. Their

understanding will improve only

with

continued

teaching, but we believe that

after

three months they will

be

able to

go

ahead some on

their

own. Next year it

may

be

possible to hold ano th er s ho rt

term

school

for them. t is

imnossible

to

reach

the

village

regularly

during

the

rainy

season so it cannot be

continued

year

around.)

Pray that

as

we

teach them

the

Word

and

as

th ey learn

to read

the

Word for themselves that thev may grow

in

t he g race

and knowledge

of

the l ord.

—Dorothy Uhlig



Let s Go

Plant Hunting

TH I S

BOY IS

P ROUD

O F H IS

PRETTY

FOLIAGE PLANT (AND OF

HIS NEW

SUN -GLASSE S TOO )

All >;irls love flowers,

and

I know you

fellows

do too even if you won t admit It

But

it isn t

s is sy to be interested

in flow

e rs and trees . Some of the most

adven

t u rous

men

in

th e world h av e r is ke d

t he i r

lives ffoing

to the fa r

corners of

the

earth

collecting rare plants.

Here

in Thailand

we have

many strange

and interes ting plan ts

and

flowers. The

sensitive plant that grows in our back

yard

doesn t

like to

be touched.

If

you

touch the

little

leaves they fold

up and

shrink

away from you, or if you tap the

stem on one

of the

pretty

violet flowers

the

whole

plant droops to the g round and

looks like it s dying. I t is only pretending,

however,

for if you will

wai t quiet ly

the

leaves will unfold th em selv es and the

plant will

stand

up

as

pretty

as

ever.

The

l a v ende r f lowers

on

ou r bamboo

fence

look like morning glories but it

i sn t th e f lowers t h a t i n t e r e s t L eian and

M ark and th e

Tha i

chi ldren .

The roo t s

o f

these p lants a re known as mukka doom

and all

the

Thai boys and

girls love

to eat

them

because

they are

so crisp

and

juicy.

If you like apples you re sure to like

m ukk a

doom.

I t s

fun

to go

plant h untin g

in

the

mountains.

Every time we go we find

some

new

kind of plant

or

flower.

LeIan

and

Mark

found some

great

long

vines

near

their

house, on which they could

swing way out

over

the mountainside like

monkeys. Some

mountain plants

have

beautiful leaves with bright patterns and

gay

colors.

Others have strange delicious

smells when you crush the leaves.

God

put

many

wonderful plants and f lowers in

Thai land, and

I m sorry

I

don t

have time

to

tell you about

all of

them.

Isn t i t

too

bad Thailand s boys and gir ls don t

know

abou t the

God who

made these

wonder fu l

plants

?

Siam Massioat o f

Aiweractaaa

Chiirclaes o f Clhrast

Dorothy Uhlig,

R.N.,

Missionary

Mailed By

First Christian

Church

Klamath Falls

Oregon



fy V-; ?-- -

Rice planting in the Chiengkam plain. Just as each rice plant must

be painstakingly set by hand so the work of planting the gospel seed.

In Thailand there is no mass movement but

the

slow planting of the

seed in each heart individually.

. . for Thou wast slain^ and didst purchase unto God with Thy blood

men of every tribe and tongue and people and nation. Rev. 5:9b.

OCTO ER 1954



TRIBES

and TR ILS

in Thailand

OCTOBER

1954

Vol. 3. No.

Published twice

yearly,

in spring and

autumn,

by

undenominational

Christian

missionaries laboring

to

establish in

Thailand (Siam) self supporting

churches a f t e r th e New

Tes t amen t

pattern. Dis tr ibuted with the hope of

gaining needed

prayer

support for the

Thailand work, of

gaining

more con

secra ted

workers fo r th is and o the r

fields,

and

of encouraging

all

to

greater

effort

in

the spread of s imple undenom

inational

Chr is ti an ity throughou t

the

world . Missionar ies engaged

in

this ef

fort

are

presently located

a t

two centers

in

ex t r eme

Nor the rn Tha i l and :

Ta la t

Chiengkam, Changwat Chiengrai, Thai

land; and Pua,

Nan Province, Thailand.

R i ce C h r is ti an s

Three years

ago

we

were

told

that

there were many

families

a t

Tung Kaam

Village who

wanted

to become Chris

tians.

After teaching

there

on l y

one

family responded—Nai Wan and his

wife

were

baptized.

Nai

Wan

came

often

for

medicine

for

which

he never

paid

and then

asked for a large

loan.

This

was

not

granted.

Now we

hear

from

one

of the men who professed conside rable

interest before, tha t Nai

Wan

was a

test case. They had heard that

we would

give money to any who would become

Christians,

but they wanted to tes t

us

to find

out.

If

Nai Wan

had

gotten

the

loan,

large enough to

se t himself up

in

business, many other

families

would

have

become

Chr i s t ians

too .

R ice

Ch r is ti an s we c a ll

them

irf

the

Or ien t .

Loave s

and

f ishes fo l lowers w ho need

to le am t h a t

Chr i s t

is th e

Br e a d o f L ife

and

to know the mean ing o f

His

words,

.

.work fo r th e food which

ab ide th

unto Eternal Life.

Pray f or th em—and

for us

tha t

we

might have wisdom in

showing them

the Bread of Life.

Be Village

The

Lord's Supper

and

a teaching

service are

being held each

Lord's day

a t Be Village. Five have b een b ap tiz ed

there

recently and one other

has

said he

will

b e baptized

soon.

These new

con

ver ts

a re

th e fru it

of

witness home by

Nai

Ban,

our f ir st

conver t the re. Chris-

tains a t Be Village

now

number

two

men,

two

women,

and

three children.

Pray

for

growth

for these

and for

con

t inuing faithful

witness.

N ew

F i e l d

at P u a

The

new

field

opened

a t Pua this year

shows

promise.

Several

villages

have

been

receptive

to

teaching.

Behold

the Sower Went Forth

To

Sow

The

se rvan t

of God th e wor ld ove r

beholds aga in and again the truth of the

parable of

the

sower.

Think w ith

us

as

you read these pages o f

the

various

soils

upon

which the word

falls

in

Thailand.

Hard ground—because of lack of

un

derstanding our

Lord

says.

He r e in

Thailand

we see farmers

waiting for

the

rain

to

soften

the hard

ground—

longing

for i t in this

drouth year—so

they

may go

forth

to

plow

the softened

ground. We, too, long for

the

spiritual

r a in

f rom

he av en to

s o ft en h e ar ts—c o n

viction and belief which on ly

th e Spirit

can

effect.

Without it, however eloquent,

the

plow

of

words will

never

turn

the

ha r dened

soil .

The

rocky places. How rocky

are

the

f ields

which Sa t an ha s

cu l t i va t ed

lo

these

many

years.

Souls hungering

for

the gospel, receive

Christ.

Then every

one turns against them—blaming

them

for

every evil tha t

befalls the

whole

communi ty because they have displeased

the

evil

spi ri ts . And so, because

the

soil

is

in an anamistic society with no

Chris

tian fellowship

to

strengthen and help

put

down roots,

they

wilt

and

die.

The

thorny

ground.

How many th orn s

are there

in

the

heathen soil, cultivated

by

Satan himself.

In

heathendom

sin is

never recognized as sin. Satan, whose

hosts

the

people

bow down before with

sacrifices and oblations, whispers There

is no

sin.

Do

as

you please—^just

don't

disgrace

yours el f by getting

caught.

Lie

your w ay out.

Oh,

the heartache when

our little children

in the

gospel

are

choked

out by the thorns—falling

back

in to th e vi les t

o f s in .

Then, praise God the good ground.

Hea r t s

t h a t

unde r s t and th e

love

t h a t

drew

salvation's

p lan. Unde rs tand ing,

they believe and

accept

and bear fruit.

How

precious th e fruit that they bear

How

sweet

the

simple

witness th ey b ea r

to ridiculing

friends. How thrilling

the

baptism of

those w hom

these

babes

in

Chr i s t

le ad to o u r Lord . Wh a t ov e r

whelm ing joy

just to

see

their

radiant

faces

as they drink in

the

teaching from

God s word .

Pray

for

them

all.

The hard

ground

that the Spirit will pour convict ion on

their hardened hear ts .

The

rocky

ground

that

they

might

find

a

crack in the rock

of heathenism to send down deep roots

into H is saving

love. The thorny

ground

tha t the thorns might be crushed out

and

the Christian g r ow

strong and

straight . But

p ra y ju st

as much

for

the

good ground.

—Lois

Callaway



N a i

N aw

Nai Sena

Beho ld ,

th e

sower

w ent fo rth

to sow;

a n d a s h e s ow e d

some se ed s

fell

by

TH E W AY

S IDE

MR.

NAW

is

typical of

this type

of

soil.

Having a seemingly

incurable

skin

disease,

he lives in the

little

bamboo pa

t ient house and Lu re la tiv es daily bring

h is food. H e h as had

much

Bib le l each

ing

and

has received

many

tracts

and

Bible

portions. On occasion

he has

shown interest in becoming a Christian

but

excuses himself

until

I get well

or

for other

reason and

the

flickering

light of interest has again died out. Of

these th e Mas te r

said,

then cometh the

devil, and

taketh

away the

word

from

the i r heart , tha t they may

not

believe

a n d be sav ed

and others

fell

upon

T H E R O C K Y P LACE S

MRS

JE N

was of th e

Yao

t r ibe bu t

wore Thai blouse and wrap-a round .skirt.

She and

h er Ch ine se Chr i s t i an

husband

operated a small store twelve miles

north of

Chiengkam.

He

had

taught

her

and his

nephew

so t ha t when we went

there three

years

ago to

t rea t

his

se

rious illness

she and

the nephew

were

both

baptized. Only two weeks

la ter

we

took Mr,

Jen s body to a jungle

ceme

tery

near Chiengkam. We

helped

her

ge t

a

smal l s tore space

In

Chiengkam

and

t aught

he r dai ly

from the

Word.

With husband gone h er in tere st dwin

dled. Ere long

she

moved

to

Bangkok

to

marry a non-Christian. No

word

has

c ome f r om h e r a n d

we

f e a r

sh e

h a s

r e

t u r n e d t o

th e

wor l d

and others fell upon

T H E THORN S

BIG SISTER CHEN is a Chinese

girl

won to

Chris t

whi le helping

in

our

home

in

C hin a N o re la tiv es c a r e d f o r h e r

save tha t they might collect her

wed

ding

price.

She

came

with us to Thai

land and we

hoped

tha t she

might

help

in

leading Chinese an d tr ib al people to

Chr is t Anxious

to make

f r iends

wi th

the Thai and learn their language

she

fell

into

evil associations.

Against our

adv ice sh e a t t ended

s en su ou s d an ce s

a t

CHIENGKAM

SOILS

Buddhist

festivals. Seeing that Satan

was bidding for

her

soul, we s ough t th e

more earnestly

to

fill her mind w ith

the

teachings of the Word. Our poo r knowl

edge of

the

Chinese

language made

it

difficult

to present scriptural

t ruths

adequately

and

winsomely.

Rumors

be

gan to

reach

us

of her immorality,

but

we

dared not

believe too hastily wha t

might

be

mere idle

talk of jealous

un

believers. While our family

was

on fu r

lough

it laecame

evident

that the reports

were true. She was brought to

face

the

evidence

of

he r

imm oral a ctio ns and

urged

to repent. Fa il ing repentance she

was

sen t fo r th to

th e w orld

fo r

th e

de

s t ruc t ion o f th e

f lesh wi th

f e r ven t

prayers

in

each heart that she might

yet turn back tha t

the

spirit m ay be

saved in

the day

of

the

Lord Jesus.

Such have

hea rd

th e

word

bu t th e

cares

of the

world, and

the

deceitfulness

of

riches,

and

the lusts of other things

entering

in choke

the

word,

and it be-

c ome t h

un f r u i t f u l

and others fell upon

T GOOD

G RO U N D

MR.

SENA is headman of the

leper

village where most of

those

thus far

converted live. We

think

of many there

whose

hearts

have proved

to

be

good

ground.

Many

of the leprous patients ,

including Mr. Sena,

were

formerly

sprinkled

and

were

seeking

to follow the

little

l ight

they had.

Eagerly

they have

accepted

all

the

Bible

teaching we mis

sionar ies

have been able

to

give

and a

real change has come into many

lives

f r om th e t im e o f t h e i r b ir t h o f

wa t e r

and

the Spirit .

Mr.

Sena

a lmos t a lways

has a pleasant smile. He takes a

real

interest in helping all in

the village and

seems im partia l and unselfish in

his

dealings. When his father died e arl y t hi s

year he grieved not as those

without

hope,

but

his spirit of confidence and

t rus t

was a real

inspiration

to

others .

We praise God for all the

good

ground

thus far tilled

and

pray

for

many

more

who in an

honest and good

heart, having heard the word, hold i t

fast, and bring forth

fruit

wi th pa ti ence.

—C. W. Callaway, J r



Khun Nai and Dorothy Bare

Young: PoHceman

My

life is

like

the story of the

seed

tha t fell among tho rn s, said

the

young

policeman who

sa t b es id e u s as we were

visiting some Chine se frie nd s

in

the i r

shop. I

was

educated in miss ion schools

and was

a lw ay s a ct iv e in

chu rch w ork

a s a

chi ld .

Then th e w a r c ame and i t

became difficult to

stand

up

as

a Chris

tian.

stopped

going to

church.

Then

married a

Buddhis t girl. Since

the war

my education

has

enabled

me

to

get

a

position on the police force. With my

wife,

position,

and present

manner

of

life standing in the way, do

not be

lieve it

would

be

possible

for me to re

t u r n to C h r is t .

Do

Not

Forge t Us

The

sturdy,

erec t

young man dressed

in th e c o s t ume o f t h e W h i te Miao

t r i b e

walked

rapidly

up to

the bamboo

shelter

where

we

were resting from several

hours on the trail .

On

s ight of us

his

face

l ighted with

a

fr iendly,

curious

smile. Are

you

the foreigner who

teaches

of

the grea t

God

who h as pow er

over

evil spir i ts? Oh.

then

you

mus t

come

up to

our village

on Doi

Phu

Kha

and teach us of the be t te r way. Do not

stop in the village next to

ours

for they

do

not

like

foreigners.

But

our

village

will

be

happy

to receive you.

As

he

proceeded up the trail he turned around

once

more:

You will not forget

to

c ome, w ill

you?

Next

Door Nei gh bo r

They ' re

fresh,

hot,

and clear ,

s ho ute d o ur

nex t-doo r n eighbo r—fo r s he

alw ays shouts.

As she se t

a

heaping

plate of sweet yellow rice cakes on our

table, she asked, Now may borrow

some

baking

powder

to

m a k e

some

more? permanen t mouthful of

betel-

nut

makes her speech di ff icult to under

Pi l

stand, and the

more puzzled

we look the

l o ud e r s h e s hou t s .

is

d i f f i cu l t t o be

lieve that t h i s

bustling, noisy, kind-

hearted

woman

is

actually

a

member of

the ancient

royal fam ily

of

Nan.

Her

long,

t ight,

old-fashioned skirts do

not

prevent her

f rom

being a te r ror on the

b ad m in to n c ou rt . In f ive mon t h s o f

liv

ing next

door

to

her

we

have had few

opportunit ies to tell her of Christ for

she does all t h e talking

during our

v i s i t s

Khamoo

Tribespeople

The

f li cker ing candl el ight r evea led

a

circ le

o f d a r k i n t ens e faces . S eme o f

these

Khamoo

tribespeople had just

heard

for

the first tim e of God's

plan

ol

s alva ti on . Now

their big ssd eyes were

thoughtful

and

there

was

a

low

murmur

or

conversation

as they pondered the

message

they had heard.

half-drunk

m an who

had a rr iv ed l a t e

s a t wi th

a

mocking

smile.

Finally he burst into

a

laughing speech.

Ha Don' t

believe

what the

f or eigne r te lls

you.

One

re

ligion

is as good as ano ther

.You

can

go

to H eaven anyway you

like. As the

crowd broke up most of the

people

were

laughing

and

joking—but

some returned

to thei r homes s i lent

and

thoughtful .

Cu l t u r e d

K h u n

N a i

T h e

K h u n N a i is a r e f i n ed edu c a t e d

Siamese lady f rom Pitsanulake- the

city

of

V ish nu 's Wo rld .

Her soft

cul

tured

speech

is

full

of

the

elegant

nice

t i e s

cha rac t e r i s t i c o f th e conve r sa t i on

of the ar is tocracy . Being the wife of the

County

Magistrate gives

her

the

respon

sibility of b eing h oste ss to the Governor

and all other visiting

dignitaries.

In ad

d i t ion

to th is she h a s

he r own

du t i e s

as postm istress an d telephone and tele

graph

operator

for

the

entire county.

Pos se ss ed o f

a

shy charm ,

she

is

also

a



j

Miss ion h ome at Pua before

improvements

lady

of su rp r is ing v ir tue

for one

in

he]'

pos it 'o n, f or

she neither smokes, dance s

nor drinks.

Despite

her m any duties her

first

love is

the home. Five

healthy,

lively children testify to the i r mothcr'^;

cooking abi li ty .

SJ;e sp ent many

happy

hours in our kitchen with Dcrolhy

Jean as the tw o exchanged A merican

and

Siamese

recipes. We were saddened

l a s t

mon t h

when

th e Khun N a; and h e r

husband were promoted to

a

distant

post , / s a p^irting present

we

gave them

a

Bible.

V.'hcn you pray for the de

graded ignorant t r

bespeople of

Thai

land, pray also

for

the cultured and

edu

c a t e d

Khu n

Na i

How M»ich

Pay?

The

three

men who

came

up onto our

porch were dressed in the ccar rc blue

clothing

which

marks

the

typical Thai

l ice

f a rmer

We have come to learn

how to become

Christians.

anrcimced

the spokesman—a h£ d-faced

••ndivldual

with

arms

covered

with

symbolic

tattoo

ing.

We

were

delighted

for

the oppor

tunity and immedia te ly launched

Into

an

explanation

of the plan o

salvation.

Yet,

as we

told

of

the vic to ry , f reedom,

and joy

which

is

available

to

all

through

the blood of

Chris t, w e

noticed tha t they

listened

only

with

dull civility. At the

conclusion

of u

r ema rk s

we

asked

them if they had any

questions.

Yes,

said the spokesman, H ow much will

the

foreigners pay us to

become

Chris

t i a n s ?

Smal l

Thai Boy

Nit is a shy, ner \ous little

boy

with

large black eyes. Though ten

years

old

he is about the

size

of an av erage Amer

ican seven year

old. Nit

likes

to

come to

our house to look

a t

picture

books or

play w i t h the squeaky rubber doll.

When

we

speak to him he

answops in

such a shy, soft

voice

t ha t

we

can sel

dom

understand him. The re a re no

play-

mac e s

a t h om e

fo r

a l l h is

b ro t h e r s

a n d

s 'siers are much older, and

his

aged

paren ts seem to

have

l i t t le

t ime

for

th eir sm all boy. The happiest

time for

Nit

is

Sunday afternoon

wlten

fifteen to

thir ty

playmates gather

a t

our home

for

the children's service.

Ho

sits in bright-

e y ed f as ci na ti on

a t

th e beaut i fu l s tor ies

from the

Book,

and when the

children

sing

I

am

so

glad tha t Jesus

loves

me. .

.

Nit 's

voice

is always

the loud

e st—though o ft en the fa rth est off key.

H ea d m an K en

Ban Maun is one of the largest and

most prosperous villages on

the Pua

plain.

The

size of

the stately

palms

which

shade the village

indicates t ha t

th i s cen t e r o f th e L u L in t r ibe is

also

one of the oldest

vil lages in

the

area .

The

visitor to Ban M aun is surprised to

find the village administered

by

such a

young man as

I eadman Ken.

On

our

fii'st

visit

to

his hcme

v/e

were privi

leged to spend the entire day

telling

Headman Ken 's family and neighbors o f

Jesus and

tlie Way.

Many

of the vil-

lage]'s showed rea l

interest

and

especi

ally Headman Ken. Upon h's Invitation

a

Bible

study

class

is

held

in

the

village

nearly

every wee :,

recent ly the head

man

mad e

th i s s t a t smsn t :

I

am ce r

tain

t ha t

th e Bible

mus t be

t r ied

I have

a desire

to

follow Christ, and yet when

I

th ink of wha t i t

mean s

to

become a

Christian. I

cannot

bring mys elf to take

the step.

Sowing the Seed

The b rief gl mpscs above will help

you

to

understand

ccrne of

the

personailities

and

problems which

are

faced

dally

a t

P r a

Ye t a ll

o f

th e i nd iv idua l s

men

t io ne d a bo ve h ave th is

in common— to

s ome ex t en t each one h a s been

con

tacted

with

the

message of Christ . As

you

read th 's please remember tha t the

majoi ' i ty

of

the people

in

the

Thai bor

d er la nd h ave n ev er hea r d

th e

inv i ta t ion

to

be

reconciled to a

loving God.

Our

lives are dedicated

to

the propo

sition that the simple message of Jesus

Christ

presented

in a loving

nonsec-

t a r i an

mann e r con ta ins

th e

an swe r fo r

th e

needs o f each o f t hes e individ

uals, as well as all

th e u nsa ve d

mill ions

of

Thailand.

Ours is the task of sowing

the

seed.

Will

you pray

tha t

it

might

find

good

soil and tha t an abundant har

vest m ay

be

gathered

in

the land of

T r ib es a nd T ra il s

Garland

and

Dorothy

Bare



xamining

the oil

T h e s e e d o f t h e W o r d m u s t b e s o w n

among

m an y d if fe re nt

types

of

soil

in

Thailand.

Perh ap s

one of

th e h ard es t

types to reach is portrayed

by

the of

ficials

for while

there is religious liberty

in Thailand nevertheless

Christian

officials r

s om e ti m es d is cr im i na te d

against. Thus we have m et several

offi

c ia ls w ho say they

used

to b e C h ri st ia ns

an d will

be

again

af ter

they quit t he i r

government

jobs b u t t h a t

i t

costs

too

m u c h to b e a Christian now.

T h e y

close

their e ars to the

gospel

message saying

someday

perhaps

we will

listen

but

not

now

when

following

Christ

would

h a r m

o u r

c h a n c e s

f or a dv an ce m en t.

D ev ou t B ud dh is ts a re

in

m a n y r e

spects easier to reach t han these for

they a re truly

concerned

about their

soul s

salvation and a re seeking to m ake

s u f f i c i e n t m e r i t t o b l o t

o u t

t h e i r s i n s .

B u t t he y h av e n o p ea ce of h ea rt o r

mind

and can only hope

that perhaps

they

h av e m ad e enough

merit.

I t is only

t h e

Spirit of God that can

open

t he ir h ea rt s

a n d c a u s e

t h e m

t o

s e e

t h a t

C h r i s t

i s

th e only

sacrifice for

their

sins

and t h a t

only

thru

faith in Him alone can

they

find

peace

for t h ei r souls.

Spirit w or sh ip c la im s

a

large

p a r t

in

th e lives

of

th e people.

A t

times

of

sick

ness

o r death

m arri ag e

o r birth

build

ing a new house

going

on a journey o r

ot her i m por t a nt

events the

spirits

m us t

be p ro pit ia te d. B ot h the lowland and

the tribal

people

spend much of

their

t i m e a n d m a t e r i a l

m e a n s

try in g to

p la

cate

the

spirits.

B ut

they

recognize

it

as a

bondage

and some have expressed

a n in te re st in th e gospel

as

a m eans of

r el ea se f ro m

the power of the

Evil

One.

One

Thai

spirit

doctor

has come

several

t imes

fo r

te ac hin g f or he realizes

t h a t

th e

spirits

a r e

powerless

to help b u t as

y e t

h e h a s

n o t decided fo r

Christ.

A n o t h e r

type of soil

is seen

in those

w h o h a v e

c o m e

from t i m e

to t i m e s a y

ing they w a n t to become

Christians.

O u r

he a r t s quicken

with

hope a s

we t al k

to

them

telling

them

of

the

Lo rd Jesus.

O ften w he n

w e a s k

t h e m

w h a t t h e y

know

of H im th ey a dm it t h a t they know

nothing b u t w a n t to

become

Christians

n o n e t h e l e s s .

A s w e

t e a c h t h e s e w e

s t res s

t h e

fact

t h a t becoming a C h r i s

t ian will

m e a n

breaking with th e

old

life o f s in a n d beginning

a n ew

life

in

C h r i s t . A l s o

s t r e s s

is l a i d

o n

t h e f a c t

t h a t

t h e r e will b e no m o n e t a r y

gain

b u t

t h a t

t h ey will find

peace

fo r t h e i r

souls an d receive m uc h s piritu al bless

ing

Sometimes

we

ask them

if they

have h e a r d t h a t t h e y

will

r ec ei ve f in an

cial

gain

o r medical

help if

they become

C hr is ti an s. M os t

of t h em

a d m i t having

h eard

t h a t

they w il l r ec ei ve money

o r

other help.

Then it

is necessary to

ex

plain all

over again t h a t such is not

th e case b u t t h a t if one becomes a

Christian

he does

it

b ec au se o f p ers on al

faith

in J e s u s

Christ.

A f t e r explaining

th e w ay of

s al va ti on w e

give

t h em

some

t ract s a nd suggest t h a t they

r etu r n in

a

few

days fo r

f ur t he r

instruction.

Seldom

do

they com e ag ain

for they

have

been

seeking

only

for the

things

of this world

an d c are

n o u g h t

fo r

th e things of e t e r

nity.

Y e t even am on g th ese w e

hope

and pr a y t h a t so m e he a r t s

m ay

be

opened

to see

H im

who

is

the P ea rl

of

g r e a t price

an d

to

ac ce pt H im

joyfully.

T h e m o st responsive

group

of people

in

Thailand

to t h e gospel are those

w ho

a re

also th e m o st despised those out

casts o f

society

w ho have the d ise as e o f

leprosy.

They

a re

il l

treated

often in

want

and without hope in this

world.

T h ei r h o m e ties have b ee n b ro ke n t h e y

a re

unloved a n d cas t off. A mong th ese

people th e m essage of

hope

in Jesus

C h r i st

a n d

th e

s t o ry of

H is love for

t h e m s t ri k es a responsive

chord.

T h e i r

yearning h eart s

find

One

w ho

cares for

t h em

a n d th ey

t u r n

to

H im

as

t h ei r

re f

uge

t hei r hope t hei r

salvation.

The i r

lives

a r e t r a n s f o r m e d

a n d

n ew hope

s hin es in t h ei r faces.

I t isn t

j u s t a hope

t hat

t hru th e

new medical

d r u g s t h e i r

bodies

m a y

b e

m a d e

well

b u t

r a t h e r a

t r u s t

in

things unseen—a

looking

unto

Jesu s a n d a dependence

on

Him. D e a t h

is

no l on ge r f ea re d and those who

sor

r o w o v e r

t h e l o s s

o f a l o v e d o ne s or r o w

n o t a s thos e w h o

h a v e n o

hope b u t re

joice t h a t th e

loved

one h as gone

to b e

i v i t h t h e

L o r d . W e

s a w

t hi s m a n if es te d

i v h e n

t h e

f a t h e r

o f t h e

h e a d m a n

a t t h e

leper

village died. T he re w as

no

weeping

a n d

wailing b u t r a t h e r a

spirit

o f peace-

fulness

I ^ e

headman expressed

th e

t ho ug ht o f

all w hen

he

said

simply

t h a t

i t d i d n t m a t te r f o r h is f a t h e r w a s w it h

t h e L o r d a n d pain a n d s o r r o w w e r e o v e r

w ith fo r

him.

T h u s th ese

people a r e

a

jo y to o u r

h e a r t s

a n d a challenge to

o u r

f a i t h .

J o i n

w i t h u s

in

p r a y e r fo r th es e v a r

ious

groups

t h a t as th e

W o r d

is

sown it

m a y find

l od ge me nt i n

t he ir h e ar ts

an d

bring

f o r t h fruit.

— D o r o t h y Uhlig



Pret ty pictures but

th e sto ry is

veiled

in

the white mnn 's l anguage. Pone looks

forward

to the day when

he

can

read

in

Tha i th is

s tory of

Jesus.

Oh.

these

are

such

pretty

pictures

wonder what

those funny

looking

ma r k s m ean unde r

them Such

could

easily be the comment of

this

l it tl e Tha i

boy He enjoys looking

at the

beautiful

pictures

in Life

of

Chris t Visualized but

gets

no

meaning from the English

writing.

That 's the

way it

was in Chiengkam

but, Praise the Lord, thanks

to you

readers, Jalun

and

other Thai

children,

also

adu l t s

will

now

be

able

to

look

a t

and read w ith understanding

these

books. The 9,000 Life of Christ Visual

ized books in Thai cam e off the press

in

August

and were shipped to

New

York to await a

ship

sailing to Thailand.

On

arrival

in Bangkok, af te r being

checked

through customs,

they

will have

an eighteen hour train

ride,

a

day

by

truck,

and then for their

las t jo urney

two

to

five

days

by ox-cart into

Chieng

kam.

This

will

not be

the last

travelling

for

some of them. People

coming

to

clinic from

many

miles away will carry

these books in shoulder bags back to

their homes. As people wait for

medi

cine it is not always

possible

to sit down

and

teach each one separately

and

as

they come and go i t is not

a lways e asy

to

te ac h th em

as a group

but now

they can

read

these

b o o k s and ask

questions

when they

do not

unders tand. If a

per

son is i nt er es ted, a s

we

are

sure

he

will

be, he will want to

buy a

copy.

Maybe

he

can

pay

only a

cent or

two

or per

haps

will give some

mangoes

or

duck

eggs fo r h is b oo k. We

would

like

to

jus t

give

these

books

away but, knowing

that

in the

eyes

of these

people

nothing

of value is given away, it is best

to

le t

them pay

in some way.

These

book

missionaries , as

they

have been

called, will

go into many vil

lages

and

homes

where

the p eople m is

sionaries

can

not go.

Perhaps

only the

f a the r o r

a

school

chi ld is able to read .

nTheir

wn

Tongue

but

as

this book finds its

way into

a

small

bamboo

house on stilts, al l

will

benefit from

it .

The

old grandmother

who never thought

of

reading

will look

at

the p ictu res and ask her grandson to

read

and read again the w ritten word

in Thai that she m ig ht under stand about

th is O ne Who

c ame to save

her

The

mo th e r

who

ha s li t t le t im e to re s t f rom

her work

of

we a v i n g

cloth,

sewing

clothes

for her family,

washi ng th em in

a nearby

or fa raway s tre am , working

in the

rice

fields, preparing food or

drawing and carrying

water will

become

interested as she hears the s toiy, and

wil l

com e to l i s ten

and le a rn

of H im

who said Whosoever dr inketh of the

water

that

shall

give

him

shall

never

t h i r s t

Life of Chris t

Visualized

has

been

used

among

the

Leper Chr is tians but

not

in a

very

satisfactory

way.

The

Eng

lish was t ranslated

into Thai,

writ ten

on

pai>er

and

scotch

taped

into the

books however

i t was

such

a slow and

laborious

task

t ha t

only one copy

was

finished for the

village.

Now each Chris

tian or family

can

have a

copy

in Thai

to read, study and to use in teaching

others. Since many of these have just

recently learned to read the v

will find

these

books

with pictures and words of

understanding

a real incentive to be

come

f luent

readers

and

wil l conse

quently soon be able to read

the Bible.

I t has

been

said that one picture

is

worth

a

thousand words.

We

rejoice

tha t we not

only have

pictures but

words of understanding in the language

of the Thai people.

We

rejoice for the

Thai but

wha t

of the t r ibes—the Yao,

th e

Miao

and o the r s who do no t even

yet have a written language? They too

must have the Word in

their

language.

The task

before us is

great ;

i t

will take

time,

p ra ye r, p ati en ce

and

much hard

work

on

our

part

and fervent effectual

prayer

on

yo ur pa rt.

Let us

not fail

in

our responsibility to these people

nor

to Him

W ho came t ha t

all migh t have

l i fe .

Pray tha t your servants here

faint

not

befo re th ey

reap. Pray ye the Lord

o f th e ha rve s t to send fo r th l abo r e r s

in to

H is

harves t And beseech

H im

to

give the increase.

— mogene

Williams



Little Boy Priest

Y O U NG AN D O L D W E A R

T H E Y E L L O W

R O B E

A N D

S E E K

S PfR IT UA L M E RIT

IN

T H E

B U D D

H IS T P R IE S TH O O D

M i s s

D o r o t h y

U h l i g

Missioniiry to Thailand

c o F irs t C h r i s t i a n C h u r c h

Klamath

F a l l s O r e g o n

F o r m

3 5 4 7 Re q u e s t e d

H E N R Y

P R I N T I N G C O E U G E N E O H E G .

Festival

time

is

always

a gay tim e in

the life of a Thai boy—but there is

one

festival t im e

tha t will

a l w a y s

o u t s h i n e

all

o t h e r s

for e a c h

l i t t le

boy

as h e

e n

ters th e

priesthood. H e has

heard hi s

fa th er a n d

m o t h e r t a l k

ab ou t th is d ay .

H e

h a s s e e n o ld e r

f r i ends p u t

o n

the

yellow robes

an d

go off

to

live

in

th e

m onastery u nder

the tinkling bells of

th e

p a g o d a .

T he

f es ti va l c o me s w ith m uc h fe astin g

a n d merrynialclng. T h e new p r i e s t is

carried fo o tb all-h ero style t h r o u g h th e

s t r e e t s

a n d then co m es th e

m o m e n t to

s h a v e

o ff

th e

h a i r

a n d

e y e b r o w s

a n d

w r a p

th e y ello w-o ran g e

r obe

a b o u t him.

In

th e

m o n a s t e r y

h e

sp en d s

long

h ou rs c ro ss -le gg ed o n

th e floor lear ning

to rea d and

r e c i t e the r e l i g i o u s

l a n g u a g e

s o

d i f f e r e n t

f r c m

h is

n a t i v e t o n g u e . H e

m e d i t a t e s long hours m u m b l i n g

th e

Buddhist

writings

in a

droning

hum.

H e m a y

r emain

a

pr iest

a ll his life.

H e

m ay

s t a y u n til he is a

y o u n g

m a n .

r. Iaybe

he

will sla y only t h re e months

o r

m a y b e

o n l y

a fe w w e e k s o r e \ c n

ju st

a

few

days. If he

sta ys for life

his

o b ject

is to t h i n k so

h a r d ab o u t n o t

w a n t i n g

anything t h at he gets to the

place where he doesn t

want

anything

bu t fo r

h is

so u l to d ie and

never

b e born

again. If

he

stays

only

a

short

time he

hopes to make

enough

merit to be born

into this v/orld

again

in a

higher

form.

B ut he also learns

t h at

the

Buddhist

scriptures teach that

If he breaks any

one

of 227 laws

there

is no escape from

he l l

Maybe if ho

hears

of Jesus someday

he will be happy to know t h a t

J es us c an

free him from hell by

forgiving

his s ins.

P ray

for

t he th ous an ds of little boy

priests sitting

cross-legged

in their yel

low robes—learning

about

hell but no t

a b o u t

sa lva t ion

— L o i s C a l l a w a y

Documents

TribesandTrails 1954 Thailand