TribesandTrails 1961 Thailand

8/11/2019 TribesandTrails 1961 Thailand

1/16

ri .

jK r

^ w ^ l i A i

X.et patience

have

its

perfect

wbrfc* Y i

am o n g

TRIBESoMiTRAILS ?5ff

r

^ T H A I L A N D

V : : -V

rA^ ; - ' - - f -

^ -

^ ' -


2/16

r ibes and ra i ls

in ha i l and

April, 1961

Vol. 10,

No. 1

Published twice yearly, in spring

and

autumn,

by undenominational

Christian missionaries laboring to

es

tablish in

Thailand

(Siam) self-support

ing churches after the New Testament

pattern. This bulletin is distributed

with the hope of gaining needed prayer

support

for the Thailand work of urg

ing everyChristianto heed the Master's

call

to

service,

and of encouraging

all

to greatereffort in the spreadofsimple

undenominationalChristianity through

out the

world.

Several

missionaries

committed to this purpose are presently

laboring in

Bangkok

Thailand's cap

ital, and

at

or near Chiengkam, Pua,

and Chiengmai in extreme Northern

Thai land .

Fulough

For Callaways

C.

W. AND LOISCALLAWAY

plan

to get their

children

in India at the

close of school in May and proceed,

via the Holy

Land

and

Europe

o fur

lough in America. They

should

reach

New

York in July. Because of the sit

uation in Laos, and'upon the advice of

local Thai officials, they moved in

December to Chiengkam from their

home

at Tzan

Fu Ville.

MISSIONARY

CONFERENCE

if housing

details can be

ananged

it is hoped that a fellowship gathering

may be had the first half of April for

missionaries in Thailand pleading the

res to ra t ion

of Biblical Christianity.

Separated for long periods from inspir

ing Christian conventions ofthe home

land, we long forthe spiritual food and

stimulus of such gatherings. We

covet

your prayers to the end that the pro

posed gathering

may be a reality

and

a

Blessing

(The latest word was that the Con

ference was to be held in

Chiengmai

from April 2 to 16. C. W. and Lois

Callaway and the Mel Byers family

left Chiengkam on March 29th to at

tend the gathering.)

COVER PICTURE

While Thailand is today making

fast strides forward in

material

spheres

the old ways are still everywhere evi

dent. These lumbering water buffalo

carts

on one of the

main

motor roads

of northern Tha iland bea r

evidence

of

this. Missionaries are finding the peop

le on the whole eager to have

all

mod

ern conveniences they can afford but

reluctant to turn to the more excel l

ent

way in Christ. Pray that yourmiss

ionaries may be, in their labors

fo;

Christ, as patient as those who ride th

buffalo

carts .

TRANSLATORS CONFERENCE

Dr. William Smalley of the Amer

ican Bible Society led another confer

ence

for Bible translators

in Chieng

mai, Thailand in early March. Diffi

cult problems in analyzing various

Thailand languages, and in connec

tion

with

translation work

were

studied.

We trust that this may further speed the

day whenYao, Khamu, Miao, Tin and

other tribespeople may read the

Word

of God

in their

own

languages.

IMOGENE WILLIAMS was scheduled

to

arrive

in

Thailand

in

late March

from a busy furlough year.

YAO

MEN JOIN

ARMED FORCES

Contributing to the decision of the

Callaways to take their furlough at this

t ime have been

the

unsettled

conditions

in Laos, and along the Thai border.

Recentlythere have been a thousand or

more (possibly several thousand) of the

h i n e s e

tion list

soldiers

in

the Chiengkam area. Probably 20 or

more men

of

Tzan

Fu

village

(where

Callaways have been working)have en

listed

with

those

forces.

Most

of

them

have now moved across

the border.

THAI LANGUAGE

STUDES con

t inue for David

and

Deloris Fillbeck

in

Bangkok

and for Dorothy Sterling in

Chiengmai, They look

forward

to the

day when, with this necessary back

ground, Aeycan go onto tribal evang

elism in the north.


3/16

The

spiritual

foe of Christ in

Thai

land is Buddhism. It is a formidable

foe, being entrenched in Thailand for

over 2000 years. The religion perm

eates a l l of Thailand's culture and soc

iety, from the Monarchydown to the

coolie. Everywhere we tum we see the

sharp differences between Buddhism

a nd Chr is t.

The philosophyofBuddhism isessen-

tially Idealism resembling Christian

Science). Ultimate Reality is viewed

as Mind or Spirit. Material objects do

not

exist

outside

th e m ind . The

m at

erial

world around us is

not objective,

but

is

founded on

our thoughts and

made up of our thoughts a Buddhist

quotation).

This Ultimate Reality is termed

Universa l Mind . I t is this Universa l

Mind where the Buddhist, at death,

seeks to go. It is viewed as an obsorp-

tion into the Universal

Mind, which,

once

attained,

there

is no

more re

birth. This absorption is Buddhist sal

vation,

a deliverance from the flesh

with its suffering, constantchange, and

death.

Buddhism presents to the people a

way

of l i fe .

I t

makes little or no

attempt to define the beginning of

things. Most of its teaching is taken

up with rules for daily living and con

duct. Of course there is a

purpose

in

these rules which

is

concerned with

death and the hereafter. This way of

life is not without its morals: withpro

hibitions

and

exhortations such as

found

in

Ga l .

5:19-23.

Much emphasis is laid upon self-

discipline. The ideal self-discipline

life, of course, is the priesthood. The

uddhist monk lives in a monastery

practicing celibacy.He mustgothroum

the most arduous rituals to gain the

passionless life; where no passion,

whether lust or love, must be enter

tained in the mind.

ut

such regula

tions concerning

foods

eating, holy

days, fasting, etc., are as Paul said

in Col. 2:23. Which things have in

deed a

show

ofwisdom in will-worship.

and humility, and severity to the body;

but are not of anyvalue against tiiie in

dulgence of the flesh.

uddha was concemed with escaping

the ever

recurring

cycle of

birth and

death--reincamation. It is

surprising

to

note that this doctrine did not origm-

ate with Buddha,

but

was

bonowed

in

tact

from

a religion of India, being

assumed

by uddhato betrue. The holy

life is to

reduce

the number of

lives

one

must

live

on

ear^

before

reaching

NirvanaUniversal

Mind.

The

uddhist

views sin differently

than

the Christian.

Sin

is

that

which

causes

the

person

to suffer physically

and mentally), and

to

be sad. One

then must correct this cause, or sin, to

alleviate the suffering. Alie maycause

one to suffer

or be

sad.

To alleviate

this suffering or saddness some good

work can be performed.

The widest gap between Buddhism

and Christ

is

that Buddhism

is

atheistic.

In Doctrine, there is no SupremeBeing.

I t

is a shock to the Buddhist

when

he

sees our firm belief in the LivingGod.

We must also

emphasize that

Jesus is

living NOW or else they will view Je

sus

as

Buddha:

dead

Even beyond this,

the

fact that our

God helped andyearnsto help all isre

cognized as being against the grain

of Buddhist beliefs.

Much

stress is laid

upon analysis to

determine the

cause

sin) of suffering. When the person has

done this, his suifering ceases. For God

to help us in this lire and especially

over the hurdle

of

death into eternal

life is uddhistheresy.

On closer investigation, the differ

ences

between Buddhism

and Christ

emerge. And

the

differences can be

suinmed up as being the difference be

tween

philosophy and

revelation.

Budd

hism is but one of the many philoso

phies of life, and but one of the many

attempts

to

gain

an overall picture of

the meaning of life, especially the

l ife that

corfronted

Buddha in India in

500 B.

C .

David Filbeck, Box 1395,

Bangkok, Thailand.


4/16

One

Hundred Mothers

I suppose you've been

out

visiting She

measured

it, and without explana-

one ofyour mothers

again, said

Mr. tion returned to her

work.

After sever-

Peace

with

a

mischievous

smileas

Ire-

al

days

in her home caring

for

her

turned on my bicycle this

morning.

His wounded son, the boy

s

recovery

made

playful words brought home the very it possible

for

me to return to Pua. On

real fulfillment in our

Uves

of Christ s my last day she presented her gift--a

promise

in

Mark

10:29-30

There

is

no

black

Miao

jacket

with

red

trimming

man that hath left house, or brethren, and silver buttons. Nowyou are really

or

sisters,

or father, or

mother,

orwife, oneof

us,

she

said

as I put it on, No

or children, or lands, for my sake, and

longer

a foreigner.

the gospel s, but he shall receive an

hundredfold now in this tinie... and in MOTHER LAUM

the

world to

come

eternal life. Wher

ever the preaching of the Gospel takes

Mother Laum

is one of the world's

us we always fina a

mother

towel- happiest people. Her silver hair, pull-

come

us,

and offer

the service of lov- hack in a

tight bun

in thefashion of

ing hands.

We

would like you to meet ^nQst Lao women, she flashes a big

some

ofourThailand

mothers.

black

smile

at

everyone.

A life-time

of betelnut chewing has permanently

blackened her teeth

but her life

rad-

MOTHER

DA iates the

brightness

ofa cleansed heart.

,

If

there

is to be a Bible conference or

Now

Mother can laugh a^in, of

Christians,

no mountain

is

said

the tiny

brown

woman as

she hurr-

hio^

^or

any trail too

steep for

ied up to the

door with

a gift coconut.

j^Q^her

Laum.

With

a retinueof child-

Your father is up

and

able to wot . grandchildren,

she

is constant-

Saturday

I thought he would not live , the go.

All

the

Christians

call

through

the

day. We had gone out j4i. Mothef and allfind a hearty wel-

Saturday,

and,

with

sorne

very

simple

in her

cheerful

home,

medical t reatment had

relieved

the

old man s symptoms. HUNDREDS

OF

LOVING HEARTS

opted us five years ago,

and

always

refers

to

us as

her children. Aljou^h so^jg

American Mother

her home is about four miles

away

in .. ^g stmcgle of

the forest

she

walks in ftequently to

dtiS

Sf e sKf the

bring a gif^ of a^l gospel. Remember that God's

promises

with a lengthy

report

never fail. No

matter

where the con-

pains. In spite

straint

of the Word takes your

child,

last weekend was the first tune sh^^ prepared a hunmred loving

pressed

a

serious

interest

m

the

gospe

.

mother

him.

Only an

outsider

V/ 1TT ADC riMc

OH

TTcI

could look upon the missionary life as

NOW YOU

ARE

ONE OF US sacrifice. We have found it tme

As

we

sat

on the dirt floor

talking

that for

everything

given up for Christ

around the smoky

open

fire, Iwas start- there is a hundred-fold compensation

led

by the pressure

of a

hand on my IN THIS

LIFE -- and m

the worldto

shoulaer. Stretch outyour arm, com- comeeternal life. Garland Bare, Pua,

manded the

little

Blue Miao woman. Nan Province, Thailand.


5/16

Future

Leaders

Well,

look

at that There,

stand

ing casually on the porch railing, were

two

of our s tudents absorbed in c onv er

sation. Although used to unusual happ

enings after our long associationwith

the tribal peoples, I was rather startled

to see

them

standing

theresince

most

people prefer to stand on the

ground

When Deng, Ya, and Li first

came

to stay with us in August, 1960 they

soon l ea rned the fundamen ta l lessons

of

bathing, washing hands before meals,

and wearing shoes and a clean shirt for

school. Natural boyish instinctssuch

as throwing rocks, stealing fruit, enter

ing the house via windows rather than

doors, and getting on to the porch over

the railing rather than up the steps--

have been

hard to curb, but

they are

making progress, and we're sure they

will be fully civilized some day

More important, there is evidence

that Li, age 10, and youngest of these

Blue Miao boys, is making a real effort

to stop stealing and rock-throwing. At

home therewas little opportunity tor Li

to

improve

He was frequently kept in

the fields because he

couldn' t get along

with

other

chi ldren . His

father

would

often

beat

him mercilessly. One of the

boys calmlystatedone daythatLi could

drink liquor like a man. Apparently

the

hild h d

no

idea

wha t eve r

o f

l ove

During their first month

at

the

public

school the boys' teacher

came

over re

peatedly to urge us to send Li home,

saying that he was stupid, and could

neve r l ea rn.

Unconvinced we cont inued

coaching him at home. Then, sudden

ly Li began to catch on. Although still

far behind Ya and Deng he is ahead of

the other first-graders, and can nowget

across almost any idea in Thai. He is

nowshowing some effort at self-control

and l ikes

i t

he r e

Ya, a

round-faced

boy of

eleven,

tries hard to

please everyone,

and

there

are

few complaints

against

him. He

leams eas ily , and our children adore

h im

Deng, a br igh t nervous boy

of twelve, is very conscious of being

Sho Mai and Tzong Chen

(1. to r.) with their books.

son of an important chieftain. A natur

al

leader, he loves to study; and we ex

pect him to finish public school in rec

ord

t ime

He

also

seems

to

understand

the Bible

stories

better, and is more

mus i ca l

than

th e others

Besides these three boys, whom we

expect to be boarding for the next few

years,

adu l t tribesmen occasionally

come down to study. This year Sho

Mai and Tzong Cheng, twoWhite Miao

men came. Tzong Cheng

is a respon

sible family man with three children.

A broad

sm il e c ha ra ct er iz es his

looks.

Sho Mai, about twenty years old, has

a br i l l ian t

mind

hidden behind his inn

ocent face. Having Sho Mai here was

like having a cyclone around. In be

tween bouts with the

books (he

master

ed both Thai and

Miao primers

in two

weeks) he

learned

to ride the

bicycle

and could

often

be seen running up and

down

the steep

hill

back

of our house.

Underneath all this furious

activity

Sho Mai was sad. Just a few months ago

his young wife died of typhoid. Often

he said mat he

could

forget her only

when studying, and he didn't want to

fo

back home

ll too

soon

they did

ave

to

leave;

promising to return in

February

Thenoys have learned enough of the

Thai language to begin to understand

th e Bible stories we t e l l t h em

This

month

they will

go

home

on

vacation.

Will

they

return? Sho

Mai

and

Tzong

Cheng have just learned to read enough

Miao so that they could begin to read

the

Bible stories. Will they be

back?

Satan

uses every

device

to snatch these

learners from us. Pray that from among

them Christian

leaders

may be

brought

forth for the Miao.Dorotny

Bare,

Pua

Nan Province, Thailand.


6/16

Patients cooking food over a

campfire.

The light from the flickering oil

lamp

shone on

the

faces of those

sitt

ing by

eagerly

listening to the phono

graph. There were two old grandmoth

ers, one of whom was chewing betel

nut and frequently making comments

on the records. Two younger women

were

s i t t ing nearby, one

holding

a

sleeping

child the

other nursing a sore

jaw from which a to oth h ad

been

ex

tracted earlier in the day .

They

said this wasthe first

lime

they

had ever heard about

Jesus,

They

live

in a village almost a day's journey

away, so stayed in our patient house

fora

couple

of nights

while

beingtreat

ed for their various and sundry illnesses.

During the clinic hours theTnai Chris

tian

helper

explained the gospel posters

and pictures and at ni^t I played

the gospel records and told them more

of Jesus, It is good teaching, the old

grandmother said But

it

was a strange

story. Wouldn't it be Wonderfulto know

that youwere going to heaven whenyou

died?

They had only a

brief

contact with

the gospel, but did it find lodgment in

a hungering heart? We do not know.

Perhaps

later they will come

back

really

seeking.

We seek to

preach

Christ

and make Him known; that these

for

whom He

died may come

to know

Him

t

Unexpectedly the

Lord opened

the

way to witness in a Yao village. I was

called

to

help

a

woman

after ch ild

birth.

Mrs. Callaway

accompanied

me

to

act

as interpreter

and

to

take

ad

vantage

of the

opportunity

to teach the

people

about Jesus. We lef t ear ly Sun

day morning, and arrived

about

noon.

Since the patient was occupied at tak

ing a hot bath in a hollowed out log,

we visi ted with the family, and had

lunch. Most of the afternoon was spent

treating the woman

and then I

stretch

ed

out

exhausted while

Mrs.

Calla

way began to

tell

the old, old story

that

fewof

these

had

ever heard before.

One old grandfather was especially in

terested. After supper he started ask

ing questions, and telling everyone to

keep quiet so that he could learn more

about Jesus. A little old lady was sur

prised to hear that some of the

Yao

at

Maasalong had stopped smoking opium

and had

become

Cnristians.

Two weeks later it was again nec

essary to

visit

this

patient. This time

we had a tape recorder along, and some

tapes made by

the

Yao Christians at

Maasa long

We had

hoped the old

grandfa ther and the

little

old lady

would be there, but they, together with

many of theyoung

people

had gone to

theiropium fields to cutthe

poppy

pods

and gather the sap. As soon as supper

was over everyone in the village gath

ered around the fire to hear the tapes.

How they enjoyed the singing and short

talks a nd e xh orta tio ns

for

them to be

lieve in Jesus. Could Jesus really free

them fromthe powerofthe evil spirits?

ouldthey

really

make a living if they

stopped

planting opium?

What woula

others in their village sayand do if they

followed this new teaching, and be

came Christians?Go slowly. Go slowly.

Don't do anything rash

Because Mrs.

Callaway

could speak

the languagewewern't considered out

siders, but daughter-in-laws. They

wanted us to stay for several days, and

were very

disappointed when we insis t

ed that we had to leave by noon the

next day in order to be back for clinic

on Monday. We spent the morning

playing

the tapes

in both sections of the

village before bidding them farewell

and starting the homeward trek. Our

hearts were full of thanksgiving to the

Lord for

the

opportunity to tell these

people

of Jesus. May

the

Word find

lodgment in their hearts, and spring

fortn to everlasting

life.

May we be

ready and willing to witness, and go

wherever

the

Lora leads

that

His

name

maybe

made known among the heath

en

and that they

may come

to know

Him as their Saviour. Dorothy Uhlig,

Chiengkam, Chiengrai, Thailand.


7/16

Tfte

Oh , Foreign

Daughters-in-law*

where have you been? We have been

waiting to

kill

a chicken for your sup

per, but we did not know if we could

just

kill

it or if you would have to do

a demon worship over

it

before

it

was

ki l led

in

order to be ab le to ea t

i t .

Dorothy UhUg and I had gone up to

a Yao tribal village to care for a ser

iously

ill

patient. Wehad arrived just

at noon, and had been given our lunch

with apologies for the meagreness of it,

but with no question. Seemingly they

paid no attention while we offered

thanks for our lunch, yet they had been

aware

that

something differentwas go

ing

on.

Never mind.

Grandfather

Silver,

We don t do any sort of demon worship

at

all,

and you may

kill

the chicken

and cook it in your own way. When it

is ready to

eat,

wewill thank ourHeav

enly Father for it.

GrandfatherSilver

turned aWay,

say

ing over his shoulder, Oh, I

see,

you

wil l

offer a bit of i t to

God

to eat

be

fore you eat it yourselves.

Quickly we explained

that

God did

not need our offerings of food, but that

having made the world, and all that is

in it. He has graciously allowed lis to

live in His world and eat

of

His pro

vis ion.

Grandfather

was visibly perplexed,

but he called to his granddaughters to

kill the chicken

in

the

ordinary way,

and

then he

disappeared

into the

dark

hu t .

A few minutes

la te r

when I arr ived

at

the

fireside. GrandfatherSilver

pull

ed a tiny stool up near his own and said,

Now Foreign Daughter-in-law, you

sit right down

here

and tell

me

all

about God and Jesus. I know nothing

about them, and I want

to know all

abou t t h em .

Where does one begin when a man

knows

nothing about the gospel and he

wants

to

know

a ll about i t in one short

evening? We began with the creation

and followed through the main points

to t he a to n emen t.

Now,

Grandfather,

when we

want

to know what puts a sin barrier between

us

and

God

we don t have to

resort to

divination, as you do in your spiritwor

ship.

God

has sent us

His

Book to t e l l us

what

we

have

done

that

has put

a sin

barrier between us

and

Him,

and this

same

Book

tells

us how the barrier

can

be

removed

so we can be

His children

and have the hope of living in His

eavenly

home.

Alook ofanticipation lighted rand -

father Silver s face. Go, Daughter-in-

law. Bringthe Bookand read it to me.

Only a small portion of the Book did

I

have,

and a few hymns. I couldn t

select

just

the

passages

that

would

have

answered

best Grandfather Silver s

ques

tions. They haven t

been

translated yet.

I could only read him such as had been

translated, and then sing a few hymns,

explaining the meaning between each

v rs

Grandfather Silver

can

speak both

Thai

and

Chinese

to

a

certain exten t,

but he reads neither language, so it

was

l i t t le

comfor t

to

h im

to know t ha t

the

whole Bible

had

been t ranslated in

both of these languages.

Will

you

pray that the translation

task might be speeded so that when the

Yao say Bring the Book, we may op

en its pages and

let

HisWord give them

light.--Lois E. Callaway, Chiengkam,

Chiengrai,

Thailand.


8/16

Cost ly Rellji|ioii

Chickens, hogs, spirit bridges, long

nights of vigil, beating of drums, burn

ing ofpaper money, chanting of long

rites,

hideous

ceremonies, payment

oi

opium to demon prieststhese are but

a

few

o f

t h e

costs

involved

for the

tribesman who is a disciple of malev

olent spirits. And his

reward?--a

feel

ing that the demons he so dreads may

grant a brief respite in their efforts to

to rmen t

h im

Rice in

the

bowl of

the

yellow-robed

priest each morning, frequent trips to

present fancy offermgs

at the temple,

the giving of sons for months or years

to the priesthood, frequent days of hard

labor in beautifying the village temple

and grounds, the burning of joss sticks,

constant

endeavor

in

human

strength

alone to gain merit--these are some of

the

many costs

of being a

disciple

of

Buddha. And

the

reward?the hope of

being reborn after death into a slightly

higher statewherein the constantstrug

gle

continues toward

the

eventual noth

ingness of Nirvana.

Peoples ofThailand often tell usthat

they long to escape from

the

oppression

of trie

demons

and

the

temple.

While

encouraging them, we try at the same

t ime to

make clear

that it

costs, too,

to be a disciple of

the

Christ.

Many

Tha i Chris t ians have

had

stones

thrown

at

their

houses. They may find no one

tohelp in building their home, harvest

ing their rice, or burying their dead.

They may find threatening notes onthe

trail warning them to tum back to the

old religion.

I he Yao built these bridges to

appease evil spirits. It is not necess

ary that they serve a useful purpose.

Actually

it costs

something

in

any

land to

be a real Christ ian. One can be

a modern Chris t ian with

l i t t le

effort

or

cost. One cannot

be a

t rue and Scr ip

tural Christian without paying a high

price.

In a large corporation in the Eastern

States a young Christian bore a radiant

testimony to Christ. The corporation s

president said to

him,

I would give

everything in this world if I could em

ulate you. What you would give,

the young man repued, is exactly

what

i t has

cost

me the whole world.

If you who read these lines have no

purpose in life, and no joyinyourfaith,

itmay well bethatyou havebeen hold

ing out on God, and are not yet will

ing to fully surrender selfish aims to

Him. If you would know real victory

and peace of soul there is but one

waythe

way

of the cross.--C.

W

Callaway

Jr.,

Chiengkam

Chiengrai

Tha i l ana

TRI8ES

AND TRAILS IN

THAILAHV

FIRST

CHRISTIAN

C H U R C H

Nin th

an d P i n e

Stree ts

Klamath

Falls,

Oregon

Non-Profit Org.

U.S. POSTAGE

I cPA lD

Kiamath Palls,

Oregon

Permit Numbe r 12

Dorothy Uhlig, Missionary to Thailand


9/16

. . for thou w a s t

s l a i n

a n d

did

p u r c h a s e

unto

God with thy b lo od men

of e v e r y tribe and

tongue and people and

n a t i o n . . . Rev.

5:9b

f . .

n;c

.

T-

T

S

:

i

TRI S

and

TRAILS

In

THAILAND

OCTOBER

9

: n 0 ^

:


10/16

TRI8ES AND TRAILS

IN THAILAND

OCTOBER, 1961

Published twice yearly, in spring

and autumn, by undenominational

Christian missionaries laboring to es

tablish inThailand (Siam) self-support

ing churches after

die

New Testament

pa t t e rn This

bulletin

is distributed

with

the

hope

o^aining

needed

prayer

support for the Imailand work, of urg

ing every Christian to heed the Master s

call

to service, and of encouraging aU

to

greater

effort in

the

spread

of

simple

undenominational

Christianity

through-

ou t t h e world.

Several

missionaries

committed to this purpose are presently

laboring in Bangkok, Thailand s cap

ital, at, or near Chiengkam and Pua

in ext reme Northern Thai land .

Picture

Waterfall in Ranong Province

province is

one of Thailand s

s ce nic a re as

But

th e

in teres t

for

th e

Christ ian lies in die fact that great

numbers ofThai , SeaGypsies, Burmese,

Chinese, Malaya and Telugu have not

heard the gospel. NoChristian Mission

aryhas ever

resided

in

Ranong

Province. traveled

down from

Chien^am to be

This

great

Wo r k

Mov e s o rwa r d

Supporters of the

Thailand

work have

expressed

concem because of

the situ

at ion

in next -door

Laos. As this

issue o f

Tribes and Trails goes to press,

all

is

peaceful

in

the

border areas. Mission

aries are free to continue evangelism

unhindered.

He that

observem

tlie

wind shall not sow; and he thatregard-

eththe clouds shall not

reap.

(Eccles-

iastes 11:4). This

is no

t ime for retreat

o f the Church of Christ in Southeast

Asia. The

gates of Hell must be

stormed. As part of the

advance,

new

workers who have been in language

study

are

moving to

tribal

areas.

Dor

othy Sterlingwill assist Donand Roberta

Byers with evangelism and medical

work among the Khamu at Nam Mong.

Dav id and Deloris Filbeck

wil l

be

liv

ing

at

Pua to begin a work with the

T ln Tribe. Because there is only one

postoffice in the entire district, all

letters to the Don Byers, Bare, Filbeck

and Sterling families must be address

ed to

Pua,

Nan Province, Thailand.

C. W. and Lois Callaway and fam-

-

ily left Thailand

for

their

second

fhr-

Vol. 10, No. 2 lough in the U. S. in May. The

Calla-

ways plan to study linguistics at the

University

of Indiana this fall. They

may

be addressed in care of their for

warding agent Mrs. Leslie Webb,

Box

385,

Canadian, Texas.

Garland

and Dorothy Bare spent

most

of June and July in

Chiengmai

where they did special research and

translation worit

at

the request of the

Thai

Bible Revision

Committee. The

revision of the Thai

Old

Testament

is

expected to becompleted thisyear. Re

vision

of the

New

Testament

begins

this

fall.

Garland Bare and David Fil-

beck will be participating in the pro

ject .

If we

can t

recmit new mission

aries, we ll have to raise themI

says

one

of

our fellow laborers. Two new

junior missionaries have recently

been

added

to the

Thailand family.

David

Ambros, first son of

David

and Deloris Filbeck was bom in Bang

kok March

16.

Ardella Sue, Second daughter of

Donand Roberta

Byers

was bom in Nam

Mong

July 12.

Nurse DorothyUhlig

had

with Byers at the

time.

DorothySterling and her two adopt

ed girls moved to NamMong in

August

to

do

medica l

clinic wodc

and

teach

ing.

She

has

been

studying fhe

Thailanguage but will neea to also learn

the

native

dialect

for

the new area.

David Mark Sterling is now attend

ing

the

Woodstock School in Mussoori,

Inaia.

The

Callaway children also at

tended

the school until leaving for fur

lough.

Soon after returningfrom furlough,

ImogeneWilliams was granted permis

sion to spend a

month

in

Burma.

She

stayed

with

Drema

Morse, who

has

been in poor health.

Elsewhere

in this issue will be

found

the accountof a survey trip to Ramong

Province. If the Kra Canal is dug as

planned, this promises to

become one

of the most strategic areas ofSoutheast

Asia.

Pray that the

Lord

of the

harvest

will speeaily thmst forth laborers.


11/16

Mahe

Me^ut, . .

Why did you come back, wasn t

America fun? Mrs. Daang asked me

shortly after I returned to Chien^am.

Yes, America was wonderful, and

I loved being with my family and see

ing

friends;

butI belong to

Jesus

Christ

and

I

feel that He

wants

me

to

be

In

Thailand. Jesus loves you

Thai

people

and

I have

returned

to tell you more

abou t

Him .

Well, you surely make a lot of

merit by

coming

so far and leaving

yourparents; we just take some flowers

to the temple or give some rice to the

priests, but you foreigners always do

things differently.

I'm not trying to make merit.There

is no way that you or I can earn salva

tion

from sin no

matter

howmany good

deeds

we do. Jesus, the Son of

God,

died on

the

crossto save all people from

their

sins. He is

the

way of

salvation.

The

Bible says

Neither

is

there

salva

tion in any other; for there is none other

name

under heaven given among men,

whereby

ye must be saved.' He has

done

all

tnat needs to be done, but one

must accept Him as Lord and Master

and obey

Him.

Oh yes, I know about Christianity,

you have 10 commandments, 10 things

you can't do, but in our religion we

nave at

least

200. Of course only

the

riests

know all of them but w o

avethat

many, and you have only 10.

Those 10

commandmen ts

a re

im

portant; but not the most important

thing in Christianity. We worship a

living God, one who came and lived

In this world, and yet didn't sin; one

who is

in

heaven

now, and

wil l

come

again to take those to heaven who be

l i eve in H im .

That s nice for you foreigners...

But Christ

came

for all

people.

He

loves

the

Thai just as much as

the

Am

ericans, and that's why

I ve

come back

he re to tell

How much isthe Government pay

ing

you

this

time?

How

nice

to

be

like

^ sJ

SHRINE

OF PRA PATHOM

Thousands of pilgrims visit here each

year for the purposeof making merit.

you

foreigners;

to not

have to

work, and still get lots of money

The Government didn t send

me

here. Christians in America

who

want

to

help

the Thai

people to know Jesus

sen t m e he r e .

Do you

still

go to the LeprosyVill

age? I d

be afraid to go near there.

You really do make a

lot

of merit by

taking

care

of those with Leprosy tho.

I m not trying to make merit I . . .

Can you ride a bike out to their

village

now?

I guess you can't for the

fields

have been

planted. It must be

hard to walk out during the rainy sea

son, but it is a good way to

make

a

lo t o f

mer i t .

I m not trying.

. .

Wel l I must be going now,

but

I ll come again soon for I want to

learn

a l l

abou t

Amer i ca .

If

this

had been the first conversa

tion of this type with Mrs. Daane it

wouldn't be so aiscouraging,

but

it has

been going on for 10 years.

The

devil

seems to

have completely

bkicked

her

understanding. Yet she is one for whom

Christ

died, and

He

wants her saved.

Pray for

her,

and many others

like her,

in Chiengkam.

Imogene Williams

Chiengkam, Chiengrai,

Thailand


12/16

J

11

BORDER

OF

RANONG

PROVINCE

Dav id Filbeck

David

Schaefer

and

Harry Schaefer on trip to Ranong Prov,

A Visit to the Home

of

the Sea Gypsies

In the first week of July, Garland

Bare David

Filbeck my

son David

and I journeyed from BangKok 425 miles

south to Ranong Province. The city of

Ranong

is the provincial capital and is

the center of tnree provinces

that have

never had a resident missionary, and

where little or no missionary work has

ever been done. The Sea

Gypsies

one

of

the

unreached tribes,

are

mund

here

in the numerous o ff -shore

islands

and

of the islands of nearby Burma.

RanongProvince, likeMalaya below

it on the peninsula, is a tin mining

center. Also its fishing boats provide

the bulk of the huge fish supply need

ed for Bangkok, Beautiful wild orchids

and gibbon apes are plentiful in the

surrounding hills. Elepnants haul huge

logs from steep mountain slopes which

are covered with thick

rain-forests.

At

nearbyKraburia canal has beensurvey-

ed

which when

completed will short

en sea routes for ocean Liners many

hundreds of miles. Today Kraburi is

just a cluster of sleepy stores, but with

the Canal may become the second

largest

city

in

Thailand.

The Isthmus

of

Kra is a lso where

the

common Bor

der of Burma and Thailand

stops As

we journeyed southward the mountains

and hills of Burma were at

times

just

ten miles away.

The

roads we travelled

on

are

being

rebuilt

with

American

Aid

funds and wereoriginally built by the

Japanese, using prisoner of war labor,

during

their occupation of Malaya in

the last war.

Surveying Ranong Province for opp

ortunities we

found several

Burmese

and Chinese Christians and

one

Indian

Christian. They had all lived there

many years. On the Lord s Day, we

gathered them together and it was a

t ru ly international service

for

the

preachingserviceI preached in English

then

translated

it

into

Hindi

and then

Garland Bare

t ranslated the

message

into Thai . It was the first t ime the

Lord s Supper had

been

observed for

many years and it was a thrill to see

the joy on the faces of these Christians

who have remained faithful though a-

lone

among Buddhists, Moslems

and

Animists. They

pleaded

that we send

someone to live among

them

to teach

them or at least return once a month

to preach.

The most interesting find on this

survey

trip

was to see several Sea Gyp

sies, called the Moken by the Burmese.

These aboriginal tribes are understood

to

be

of

Dravidian

origin

similar

to

tr ibes tha t were in south India before

the

Aryans came in from the north.

But

little

is known about them as they

are shy

of

strangers. They live all

their lives

on

raft- like boats made

of

palms and only camping on the beaches

for short periods of time. They dive for

clams and shells which they trade for

their necessities. They do not use mon

ey.

and

differ

from the

Thais in that

they

carry things

ontheir heads asthe

Indians do. One of the Ranong

Christ

ians, who is a fisherman, spent seven

months living with them and he invit

ed us to come back when the stormy

Monsoon season is past, and he would

take us to visit these people.

Tru ly , with

the

plans for a canal

through which ocean liners will pass

through

Ranong

Province, and it being

an

unevangelized area

also, this Prov

ince is a great opportunity for Christian

witnessing May the Lord help us to an

swer their

Macedonian

Call

to Come

and preach the Gospel in Ranong Prov

i n c e

--Hany D.

Schaefer

Box 1395, Bangkok,

Thailand


13/16

God Sees^^

Oh

go ahead and take a drink.

The Teache r will

not

find out

and we

promise we won t

tell.

Such was the

temptation confronting Nai Khaek, a

new

Khamu Christian

o f

about

seven

monthsformer drunkard,

spirit-doc-

tor and persecutor in violent opposition

to the Christian group in Nam Mong.

The scenewas a marriagefestival. Af

ter the ceremony the custom was to

bring out

the

food and liquor. Nai

Khaek s reply to this subtlety was be

fitting one who knew his Gm. It is

tmeme

Teacher

may notsee,butGod

in

heaven

sees

ana He

is

the

One I

must deal with not Teacher. From

this he went

on

to witness to the new

joy he had found in Christ. He said,

rm happy now. Iwalk the trail, work

in me

fields

live

wim

my

family

at

home

and have no fear of lurking

evil

spirits. I know God is there beside

me.

I talk wim

Him

and He defeats the

evil spirits. Some

of

his listeners gave

a little mocking laugh, but most sat

mere

deeply impressedwim

the

strange

religion tWt

made men

good and true

and put a joy in

meir

hearts. They were

listening to words from a man theyhad

known and respected for years as a solid

citizen of the village. They had never

heard

him

speak so before. How

come

the change? There was no doubt in Nai

Khaek ' s mindhe

had

found

his

God

I have been privileged to watch

the

spiritualdevelopment of this

man since

Ms

re-birm

a couple of years ago. His

growm and insight has beenwonderful

to

behold. He is illiterate wMch no

doubt accounts for some ofMs

humility

but what he knows to be right and what

he hears

from m e Word

with

under

s tanding

he is quick to appropriate.

What more could you ask? Witn this

tmsting attitude he far outgrewmost of

the otherChristians in a very short time.

He is

always

happy to

wimess

to me

peace and joyme

Lord

has

given. We

know these tnings to be true he rec

ently told his equally radiant wife, for

we have h ad h eaven on earth m ese few

months .

Many

prayers had gone up for Nai

Khaek sinceme first t ime Garland

Bare

entered BanNam Mong, forNai Khaek,

along with two omers, were ring-lead

ers in a strong opposition. From me

verybeginning Garland requested pray

e r for mese three. The omer two were

not long in following Khaek in profess

ing Christ.

The power of changed liveswho

can

and what can argue against

it?

The

native can

dismiss me efforts and

lives of the foreigners for the simple

reason he is a foreigner, and is supp

osed

to be

different.

But

mere

is

no

argument against a kinsman whoseha

bits

have

suddenly changed, and

can

not cease talking about me miracle

wrought in his heart. There is bewild

erment

respect, and an irresistable

urge to likewise

participate.

The story of Nai Khaek, and others

like Mm is just me beginning of God s

work among me Khamu of Northern

Thailand. There are

many

more

glori

ous chapters to be written in his

life

and others

yet

living in darkness. We

humbly confess here

that

the child

l ik e f ai th of

such men

has done

more

and shall do

more

to mmble

pagan

walls, and open sympametic hearts to

the gospel, than me foreigner could

ever do. May the flood-gate of God s

abounding

grace be

poured

out

on His

trusting cMldren.

Don Byers, Pua, Nan Province


14/16

m

MISSIONARIES

AT CONFERENCE: Standing: Mark Sterling, David Filbeck and

son Amby

Melvert Byers Donald Byers David Schaefer,

LiUie

and Harry

Schaefer, Dorothy ana Garland Bare, Lois and C. W. Callaway, Middle row:

Mrs. Deloris Filbeck, Mrs. June Byers with Steve, Mrs. Roberta

Byers

with

Jocelyn, Mrs. Emma Schaefer, Suzanne and Dixie Schaefer, Dorothy Uhlig,

DorothySterling, Imogene Williams. Front row: Richie Schaefer, Donny Byers

Melvy Byers GordonByers Randall Byers Sharon Sterling, Corinne Bare, Judy

Sterling,

Rinda Byers.

Conference

In

Chiengmai

Unity without organization? Im

possible This was tne reaction of a

sectarian friend a few years ago to the

suggestion that missionaries could lab

or in harmony without human organ

ization

.

The

years

since

have been

a

testimony

to God s power to make

of

one mind

those who

re con ten t to le t

the Holy Spirit be the sending agent

and the Bible be the only constitution

and

by-laws.

The evangelists in Thailand belong

to

no

mission.

We are

united,

not in

an organization, but in a Personwhose

Body

the all-sufficient mission agen

cy for all t imes and places. Neverthe

less

recognizing our dependence on

Christ, our need of His leading, and

the power of a united studyof His word,

we sought an opportunity when

all

of us

could join for a time of fellowship.

In April, Dara Academy, a girls'

school in Chiengmai, which was closed

for hot season vacation, made their

campus

available to

us. Here were

dormitories, facilities

for

cooking

study and assembly, and a children s

playground .Furthermore, everyone

was free to attend at least part of the

first two weeks of April.

Those attending were the Harry

Schaefer family and Harry's mother,

Mrs.Emma Schaefer, who had recently

arrived in Bangkok with the hope of

opening an Indian work; the David Fil-

beck s (with

their brand-new son

Amby), also from Bangkok; the C. W.

Callaway and Melvert Byers families.

Imogene WiUiams and Dorothy Uhlig

from Chiengrai Ehovince; and the Don

ald Byers and

Garland

Bare families

from Nan

Province.

Unofficial hostess

was Dorothy Sterling who was already

loca ted

in Chiengmai for language

study, and who had made the initial

arrangements for facilities.

Each day

the men

alternated

in

bringing messages followed by discuss

ion and prayer. The theme of the In

digenous Cnurch was carried through

the moming services. In the evenings,

messages

and discussion centered on

the subject of Prayer. Problems were

d is cu ss ed and burdens were

shared.

While

the

adul ts

met

in these sess

ions, June Byers led a vacation Bible

school

for the children. She was

assis

ted by

Dorothy

Bare andRoberta

Byers.

At tne end the children presented a

program of songs and memory verses.

It was an

especially thrilling time

for

the youngsters for some of

them

seldom

mee t o the r Amer ican children.

The presence ofMrs. Emma

Schaefer

was inspiring to all, and we were en

riched by

her

wisdom from a

lifetime

of service in India. Lois Callaway ably

carried the heavy burden of supervising

the purchasing and preparation of food.

All were blessed in coming apart from

the cares of work and listening to God

speak through His Word, We returned

to out ind iv idual fields o f la bo r w ith a

determinat ion

to know

Him who

is

the

Unit of our unity.

By

Garland

Bare,

Pua,

Nan

Province


15/16

A l l

L l i r e a e l i e d

M i i i i o i i l iouls

Each

week-day

morning I emerge

from a narrow lane on my motor bike

and turn onto one of Bangkok s busy

streets. Quickly I am engulfed in a

maze of traffic of every

type

and de

scription as

Imake

mywayto language

school. Every type of American and

E u r o p e a n car competes with three-

wheel motorscootet type taxis for po

sition at

traffic jams.

Trucks and bus

ses of

all

sizes and shapes snarl up tra

ffic for blocks. Bicycles, motorscoot-

ers, and motorcycles weave in and out

of

the t raffic .

When

traffic stop

flowing

altogeth

er a policeman takes over. At school

crossings cars

screech

to a stop at

the

signal of a

policeman,

and then

tear

away trying to pass

each other.

Every

few blocks

there

is a public school for

children. Each morning and afternoon

bright blue and white uniforms crowd

t h e streets.

Bangkok,

like

every other big city

in

the

world, has its growing pains.

Traffic

jamsarea

constant problem be

cause of

the typical,

nanow streets.

Adequatehousing is another problem as

many from outlying districts flock to

Bangkok for work and education. For

this reason Bangkokis constantly chang

ing its face by filling in its old canals

and building new six-lane boulevards;

and by tearing down old buildings to

build

bigger

ones.

A ll

o f

this

shows

t h e

imwJrtance

o f

Bangkok in

the national life

of

Thai

land. It is Thailand's

capital,

port of

entry and export, and center of educa

t ion and h e a l t h

T h e r e

a r e t h r e e la n

guages beside

Thai

which are almost

equal in importance. Chinese runsThai

a very close second because of

the

large

Chinese population. English has

been

adopted

officially as the second lang

uage of Thailand

and

is known by al-

BANGKOK STREET SCENE

most all of the businessmen, and by all

the government and

educational

offi

cials. Because of the large Hindi pop

ulation, theHindi language ranks fourth

in importance.

In

spite

of its

size

and

importance,

angkok

has been largely neglected by

t h e missionaries . T h e r e

a r e

around a

dozen

s m a l l Protestant

churches with a

l i k e amoun t

o f

C a t h o l i c

churches

s c a t

tered throughout the

city. The

major

ity of

these churches

are

plagued

with

liberalism and hence are robbed ofany

power to

evangelize.

There

is

a

real need for New

Tes t

ament

missionaries who

are

experienced

in big city evangelism and can mod

ify this experience to Thai culture in

Bangkok, There are many

excellent

opportunities to witness even before

one

knows the language. To

know

E^lish

is a

craze

among the

Thai.

Imere

have

been many such opportunities to

help a

Thai

to learn English by studying

about

God

and His Son.

The people of Bangkok, as well as

those

allov'.rThailand, aresheepwith

out a shepherd.

They

wander about seek -

ing truth and salvation.

Satan

is slowly

swallowing

them

up by means of mat

erialism as more

and m ote o f

A m e r i c a s

materialism

is adopted. Sin of

all

types

are no less here than in any other part

of t h e

world.

Are you praying that many will take

up this challenge and preach the gospel

in Thailand? We know not how many

more days we

have

in which to work.

The peace of

sia

and of the world is

too

delicately

balanced for

comfort.

Only your

prayers

can thrust

workers

in

to

tne

vineyard of Bangkok.

--David

Filbeck,

Pua, Nan Province


16/16

I Will Direct

Thy

Paths

Plans to go by truck were doused by

torrents

ofrain.

Attempts to find oxcarts

were unsuccessful; but, finally, two

men came offering

their

oxcarts for the

trip to Phayao. Flooded rivers caused

added delays, and yet in His own time

the Lord led. Pushing on

till

late at

night , traveling

all

day, then up

at

midnight to press on to

the

destination

in time to catch a 7 a.

m.

truck only

to miss it through

the

carelessness or

misunderstanding of

the

ones sent to

msdce

the arrangements. A day s lay

over waiting for another truck

and...

frustrating? Yes, if we to run

things in our own way. No, if we

have committed everything to

the

Lord

and are tmsting in Him to direct our

paths.

A warm welcome by an unknown

Christ ian

woman

was a t

the

end

o f

a

river-boat

trip.

Also awaiting us were

opportunities to

teach

among the Khamu

women and children. An

early

morning

bus forgets to pick you up, and your

schedufe for the

next

few ^ys isupset

but

it

makes possible a

brief

reunion

TRIBES AMP TRAILS

IN

FIRST

HRISTI N

HUR H

Nin t h and

P ine

Streets

Klamath

Falls, Oregon

with a fellow missionary who arrives a

few hours later. A tmck stuck in

Ae

mud for two nights gave opportunity

for a missionary to witness to people

whowould never have heard the gospel

in

any

otherway. This included several

chance meetings with an English

speaking

Thai

who is very atheistic and

a

staunch

bel iever

in

Buddha s

teach

ings.

It is easy to become frustrated and

angry in some of these circumstances,

ana yet

if

one has committed his way

to the Lord and is tmsting in Him, He

has promised 1willdirect thy ^ths.

Not always

in the

way we think

best

not

always

in the easy

w^,

but inHis

Way wHich

is the way ot blessing

and

joy.

For any Christian the secret of tri

umphant

Christian

livingis in comm

itting, tmsting and letting Him lead.

Try it and see if

it

doesn t change fms-

tration into joy and disappointments

into opportunities for service.

Dorothy Uhlig, Talat Chiengkam

Chiengrai Province, Thailand

THAILAND

Non-Profil:

Org.

U.S.

POSTAGE

PAID

Klamath Falls, Oregon

Permit Number 12

Dorothy Uhlig, Missionary to Thailand

Form 3547 Requested

Documents

TribesandTrails 1961 Thailand