TribesandTrails 1962 Thailand

8/11/2019 TribesandTrails 1962 Thailand

1/16

T R B E S

TRAILS

THAILAND

I


2/16

TRIBES AND

TRAILS

IN THAILAND

MAY,

1962

Vol. 11. No. 1

Unity . . .

Published

twice

yearly, in spring

and au tumn by undenominational

Christian missionaries laboring to es

tablish in Thailand (Siam) self-support

ing churches after the New

Testament

pa t t e rn This bulletin is distributed

with

the hope o^aining needed prayer

support for the

Thailand work

ofurg

ing every Christian to heed the Master's

call

to service, and of encouraging all

to greater effort in the spread of simple

undenominationalChristianity through-

o u t t h e world.

Severa l missionaries

committed

to this purpose

ate

presently

laboring in Bangkok, Thailand s cap

ital,

at,

or near Chiengkam and Pua

in

ext reme

Northern

Thai land.

Pietune

Yes, an Indian in Thailand They are

not

too uncommon

in

Thailand,

nor

are

theyunknown in manyother

countries says

Harry Schaefer on Page 7 of this issue.

This Indian came to Thailand four

years ago to sell peanuts--and does very

wel l

The lack of unity among those

who

profess faith in the Son of God has been

a curse on mankind. It has probably done

more

damage

indirectly, than any other

single thing.

We

shall, of course, never be

able

to measure the evil that would

have

been averted and the righteousness that

would

have spread like healing ointment

over men and nations

if

unity among God's

people had been a reality. But the results

of oneness that Jesus promises in his

prayer of intercession, i.e.,

that

the

world

might believe ,

awaken

our imagina

tion to the unlimited blessings that

could flow.

This sad state of division brings great

sorrow to the heart of anyone who draws

near to Calvary. He also realizes

there

are deeply ingrained problems involved.

(Continued on next page)

The C. W. Callaway family will be

returning to Bangkok, Thailand by air by

the middle of May. Lelan, their oldest

son,

will rem ain in

th e States where he

will enter

college

this

fall.

Dorothy UhUe had a small tumor near

her ear

removed

in early March, She is

now receiving x-ray therapy as an out

patient at the University of Oregon Medi

cal

School

Hospital in Portland,

Oregon.

Further

surgery

will be necessary in May.

Dorothy's mother in Klamath Falls

con

tinues to be critically ill.

Mr.and

Mrs.H.Alan

Roushwere

sched

uled to leave for Thailand on April 16.

We

will

probably

be

engaging

in lang-

uage studies for a while in

Bangkok Lord

willing, he writes.

Address

of the

Roush

family will be:

GPO Box 1395, Bangkok, Thailand.

Late in May the Harry Schaefer family

will be making another trip to India, and

wil l

leave the tw o older chi ldren in school

there. They hope

that

this process will aid

their efforts to enter India permanently.

NAI KHACK,

one

of

the

Christians

at NamMong, driving an elephant. The

elephant is pulling a log

from

the river.


3/16

Our Duty n Privi lege

He

realizes

that when one s religious to us, reminding

ourselves

always that

faith or denomination

is

involved,

feelings

liberty can only be in Christ as revealed

run high, tempers are quick, sensitive in His Word.

nerves are

easily

laid bare. For in

this

We expect to be misunderstood by

area of religion, more than in any other, some. We expect slander. But we look for

mjin

tends

to

equate his

own feelings and

neither.

We

do

not

feel

that

being

perse-

sentiments with the Divine. To touch me cuted is a sure sign of favor with God.

is to touch God. One would

have

to be perverted to

glory

How to melt the barriers? How to bring in the sins of others. In all of

this

mis-

people to the

common

centerChrist? It is understanding and slander, and at times

our conviction

that

we dare not enter thisi t has

been

severe

as

lies

and half-truths

arena

with stomping

feet

and

blaring

along

witb all the financial

backing and

voice. The intimations in this problem are prestige of a National Church has been

too involved, the consequences

too

far brought to bear against us, we have tried

reaching the

issues

too

interwoven

with to abstain from

fighting

back with

like

human nature that only a

spirit

broken weapons. The words of God to Isreal,

the

first at the foot of Calvary and that knows battle is not yours but mine have been a

a

little

of the agony of Gethsemane

has

comfort and caused us, time and again to

any right to explore this great theme of lay these things before theLord and leave

being one, even as thou Father art in me them there. The wisdom of this procedure

and I in Thee . becomes more evident as time goes by.

What eternal good

has

accompanied

Unity in its practical aspect must our labors in Thailand is not ours to say.

begin with

the individual.

We

in ThailandOur

main

job is still to

examine

our

own

have tried to remind

ourselves

of

this

fact hearts and

endeavor

to keep the unity of

over

and over. Unity

is my responsibility.the spirit in the

bonds

of peace .

We

shall

Much study many prayers and not a few

continue

the same

course

leaving the

tears

have

been laid before God in

seeking results

to the Lord.

His way for our lives.

We

would be naive This issue of Tribes and Trails con-

to say we have not

made

mistakes

but we

tains

two

articles one

by Garland Bare of

have tried to keep motives pure. We have Nan Province and the other by Mel Byers

tried to

suppress

the our

complex which

of Chiengrai

Province giving

a little in-

when

given free reign knows no

limits.

We sight

into

this

ever present

problem of

have studiously steered

away

from any sectarianism. ur

hearts

bleed that the

semblance

of a

mission

organization

even

divisions

of

America

and Europe have

to

though

so loose for there are enough stamped on a youngchurch in a heathen

problems without deliberately

creating

land- But to be

fair

we

must

report that it

them We

have

tried to convey to all our

is How

long.

0 Lord

will those who

oneness with

them

in areas where we are profess your name continue to fight and

agreed and

to

discuss openly with willing

die for

human

creeds

names and

systems?

hearts

those areas where

we

differ. We

father in

Heaven

hasten the day when

have

sought

to

give

liberty

to

others to all shall be content with only Thy

Chnst

.

the degree we expect them to grant liberty --By Don Byers


4/16

Another Man^s Foundation

* It is my ambitioa to bring the gospel

to places where the name of Christ

has

not been heard, for I do

not

want

to build

on another man's foundation Rom. 15:20

The New E^nglish Bible). This statement

by the apostle Paul

echoed

in

our

hearts

more than ten

years

ago as we came to

meet the challenge of

Thailand's

frontier

tribes.

Most of them had not

heard

the

name of Christ

from

the

lips

of any man.

h t

an opportunity to teach them the

pure Christianity of the New

Testament

untainted by denominationalism

In actual experience though, we have

never been free of the problem of contend

ing with sectarianism. Although the tribes

themselves are largely untouched by deno

minational teaching,

it has

been

necessary

for

the

missionaries

to

establish

them

se lves in

market

and

administrat ive

cen te r s

where

there

are Thai

denomina

tion al groups nearby. As free

Christians

pleading

for unity in Christ on the terms

of

the scriptures what

should

our attitude

be towards these groups?

When

we

moved

to Pua

in

1954

the

only

resident

missionary in the province

was a

Presbyterian

lady

living

in the

capital city of Nan. She graciously wel

comed us and showed us many kindnesses.

e felt it wise to explain frankly and

fully our stand in Christ and why, though

we

long

for unity with all who wear His

name, it is

impossible to compromise our

loyalty to Him by entering human organi

zations or co mity

agreements.

Soon

after

our arrival we were ap

proached by a young couple who

wished

to sprinkle their infant. We refused kindly,

explaining

that

baptism

is

valid only when

accompanied

by faith and

repentance,

and

that sprinkling

is

not true baptism.

This

resulted in curiosity and inquiry on the

subject of bapti sm.

e

are happy to

point

all inquirers to the Scriptures. Within a

year

a number who had

been

previously

sprinkled, requested scriptural baptism.

e endeavored to explain to all who

took this stand that they were not joining

us , but

rather

should consider that their

allegiance had been

transferred

from

human organization and opinion to Christ

Himself.

Nevertheless we soon became

accustomed to such epithets as

sheep-

stealer

and

church-splitter .

There

is

an organization which in

cludes nearly all the modernistic groups

in Thailand,

known

as the C.C.T.

(Church

of Christ in Thailand). It s political ambi

tion is readily apparent in the fact that it

styles i tself Thailand's National Church

even though representing only part of the

professing Christians in sixteen provinces,

and none of the believers in forty-five

provinces.

Some years ago I was invited to teach

in a village where three men had had pre

vious connection with the organization. In

response

to Bible

teaching

several fami

lies

in the village turned from demon wor

ship to Christ. Simply because of the

background of the three men, the C.C.T.

has endeavored since then to impose its

authority over the entire Christian group.

This

has

been very confusing to the

new

bel ievers

Unhappy experiences with

those

whose faith has been built on a wrong

foundation tend to make us shrink from

contacts from denominat ional i s t s and con

centrate all our time on

those who

have

n eve r named Chnst. To transfer loyalty

from

human leadership and o rg an izatio n

to Chr ist alone; to abandon human by-laws

and accept the Bible as

sole

rule of faith

and practice; to turn from salarie s and

o the r material

inducements

to re l iance

on

Cod; all

these require

a real working of

the Holy

Spirit

through

the

Word.

Yet

wherever

souls hunger

and

thirst

for God,

our

hands reach out

and

our

hearts

yearn

for fellowshipnot on our

terms

but on His.

Garland

are


5/16

From Fact ions

through One Redeemer, One Christ, One

God. The Thai are polite and graciously

nod

their heads in consent

-

smile and

then point to our division. One body? One

Way One Christ? What you say is

good -

but

not true

Fragments

It

is no

longer

a

question

of how many

div is ions the Church can be d iv ided i nt o

-

but how many fragments Crossing

the

ocean

does not bring relief from this

devastating

malignancy of division within

the body of Christ. The blight and curse

of home grown denominationalism is

reaching the ends of the earth.

Some

said,

o f a

truth

this

is

the

prophet. Others

said, this

is

the Christ.

But some said

shall C hris t come out

of

Galilee? So there was division among the

people because of Him. (John 7:40-43)

Because of this tendency Paul admon

ished,

1

beseech

you brethren, by the

name of

our Lord

Jesus

Christ,

that ye all

speak the

same

thing and that there be no

divisions

among you; but that ye be per

fectly joined together in the same mind

and the same judgement. Corth. 1:10)

Chiengkam Thailand is no exception.

For years the Thai have known nothing of

Christ except through the vague compli

cated systems of Presbyterianism. Now at

the

other

extreme comes

a

wild-fire

pente-

costalism

bent on conquering and dividing

the

spoil

through

strategy

borrowed from

America.

On

the fringes are Mission

organizations who through comity and

agreements have found what they

consider

to be

legal avenues

by which to promote

and reproduce

their organizat ions

among

th e

Tha i

In

this environment

we

are called

upon

to preach and point the way to salvation.

Recently we held a weeks conference

in Chiengkam. All were

given

personal

invitations. The

group gathered repre

sented

various

backgrounds,

Presbyterian,

Pentecostal, Buddhist, Spirit worshippers

and even ch ild ren

from

a Cathol ic back

ground.

During each session opportunity

was given to discuss, ask questions, and

disagree.

Some took part - some

didn't.

Some chose to

call

secret meetings of

thei r own and s ta r t

the

work

of

subvers ion

What these people teach is not true,

they

said,

don't listen to them - this is

no t the t rue church - come down

to

the

Capital City and watch

miracles

-

speaking

in tongues -

see

some people who really

have the Holy

Spirit.

After so speEiking

one

of the men

lighted up a cigarette and walked away.

The

seed had been

planted.

From

the

other s ide come

more

com

ments.

Sprinkling is

as good as baptism -

don't

listen

to

these

teachers.

They

are

just a small group - they don't have any

organization

to

help them

So it goes. Divisions are established

and then reduced to fragments and finally

ground into

pieces.

One wonders if there

is no

end.

Yet in this atmosphere we

are

called upon to witness, to seek unity and

live at peace with all men. In the face of

the New Testament there is only one

solution - it is

not

solved by evading the

problem but rather by bringing about unity.

I t i s to this cause we have ded icat ed

our

l ives whether at home

or

abroad.

Lord help us to be acceptable media

by which these many fragments can be

melted and congealed into

oneness.

Mel Byers


6/16

who had tas ted

of Cod s

sa lva t ion them

selves They had come voluntarily and

with no pay from the foreigner--they came

AHQ MAKC because

they love to

tell the

old,

old

story

Disciples

Grandfather Kaew went back to Pong

Lom

severa l t imes

but

w as

re luctant

to

baptize this man and

the

other man who

believed. He thought that the **teacher

should do

i t .

Before New Tes tamen t

Christianity came to

this

part of Thailand,

denominationalism taught that

one must be

The two men at Pong Lom are ready an ordained minister before he could ad-

for you to baptize them, teacher. minister the sacrament of baptism.

I don t

have

to go. You can baptize

them

as well as

1can, 1

answered. Grand

Having

spent

most of

his life in deno-

father

Kaew had

just

walked

in

from

a n,jnatioai

background. Grandfather Kaew

village where he and other Thai

Christians

couldn t bring himself around to baptize.

had been teaching

the people for

several

came

back

to take

the

missionary to

weeks, lie

was overjoyed

that

two men

had baptize. When Garland Bare

refused to go

decided to become

Christians

without

aj^^ came to me. This was a good time to

white missionary going to teach them. j j.

17^

..far

Christ

did not send

me (us) to baptize but to preach the gos-

I j j r . .

pel .

Missionaries

are sent

to preach

We had a good reason for

not

going to .

. . , r . o th er s m us t do t he bap ti zi ng

this

village where no foreign missionary ^

had ever set foot. We have taught and

preached the Christians that they must

While

this still remains

largely

ideal-

shoulder the responsibility of preaching istic it is nevertheless highly practical,

also. But our preaching seemed to have This practice does not give the appearance

fallen on deaf ears. They were content to that

we

are baptizing people into our-

be like so many of their brethren in Ameri- selves . This will also

encourage

the

ca: * let the missionary do

it

native Christians to take on

more

personal

responsibility to spread the gospel Here

was an opportune time to drive home

this

Finally,

last

Christmas Nai Wan

and teaching, and it paid

off.

Nai Saang from a distant village, invited

Grandfather Kaew to

go

to Pong Lom. Lord s Day a young man, not yet

These

three

men walked

three hours

through

twenty, and

another

man

went to

preach at

the back woods.to this little

village

ofp^ag

Lom.

This

young

man,

who

has love

five houses. They

stopped

at

the house

of ^^^l for

the

Lord, baptized

them

into

an

elderly,

man. For years this man

had

chrfst . How we rejoiced

that

this

was

looked

for

(to

use

his

own

words)

* (or-

Jone

without

our

participation,

only

our

givcness

of

sin and assurances

of

heaven , gentle

urging.

He had

tr aveled a ll over

Northern

Thailand

and into

Burma

searching for these two This may not

seem

anything

outstand-

things. He had often thought. If I could jjjg feport,

but

it is still a victorya

only

find the Way the Truth,

and

the

victoiy

that

we

pray will result in the

Life gospel being carried forward by Thai

Christians We in Thailand ask you to

Now, after many

years

of frustration, make this a matter of prayer,

he listened gladly to these three Thai men -r-David Filbeck


7/16

ver seas

nd ian s

Four hundred fifty Million Indians live having several flights a week stopping

on the sub continent of

India.

In addition here the educated Indian is

also

much in

Indians can be

found

living all over the demand as he or she speaks English well

world.

A

U.S. Congressman from

the

Im- and

the Tourists need guides

and

shops

perial Valley in California is an American need English speaking clerks. Thailand

bom Indian

from

India. Mahatma Gandhi has always been free and never under a

the Father of the Indian

Nation,

lived in

foreign

power so did not leam English

South Africa and

practised

Law there

from

the British or French from the French

before coming to India to start his Freedom Colonial powers.

campaigns. There are hundreds of

Indians Estimates

vary as to the number of

in the various South African countries and Indians in Bangkok and Thailand. But

they can be found in the port cities of the there are probably 50 000 in Bangkok

Caribbean and South America as well as though many of

these

are counted as Thai

all Oriental port

cities.

citizens as they were bora here. But all

In

this

day of International closeness retain their Indian culture and dress and

and relatedness all realize the dispersion most their Indian language. The followers

of the Indian race. The air waves

from

of the Sikh religion make up the largest

Radio Moscow Radio Peking Radio

single

group and as many of

these

came

Colombo Radio Indonesia Radio Austra from

what

is now Moslem

India

or Pakistan

lia all carry Indian language news and they are here for good as they have no

other

Indian language broadcasts.

The

Far

homes to return to. The watchmen and

Eastern Broadcasting Company a Chris Gwalas are

from

N. India and some have

tian owned and operated

station

in Manilla their families and

others

are here alone

broadcasts

one and a

half

hours a day in while their families tend the fields in India

ten different Indian languages. that they have purchased

from

earnings in

At the

recent Dis trict

Convention of Bangkok. There are

also

some Moslems

Rotary Interna tional held in Bangkok 1 from the former Afghanistan India border

noted that many of the

delegates

from

the A few

colonies

of

Tamils

and

Telegus

are

seven nations

concerned were Indians working in the tin

mining areas

of south

For

Indians

by the thousands work the Thailand but most fled when the Japanese

plantations

and tin mines of Malaya and occupied Thailand during the

last

war. All

the

textiles

industry

is

in the hands of

except

those

from

South India

speak

Hindi

Indians in many

countries.

so there is no problem of communication

Because

of the high standards of living for us and the educated all

speak

English

resulting

in high wages Thailand has at well.

tracted

Indians

for many

years. This is

The first

phase

of our work among the

somewhat

halted

now as the Immigration Indians

has

been of

getting

acquainted and

Quota limits all

nations

to only two bun personal witnessing.

We

are busy also at

dred a year entrance as permanent resi studying Thai as some Indian children

dents. One factor resulting in hundreds of

i hai

better than Hindi and one needs to

village

Indians from

Gorakpur II.P. India know Thai

just

to

live

in Thailand

coming here is a Thai superstition that Planned isanlndian Information center

only an Indian watchman

is

good luck. So in which Indian

newspapers

and periodi

the

stores and factories all employ Indian cals will be intermixed with Indian Chris

watchmen

and doormen and many have

tian literature and

Indian

music

with

been here for forty or fifty

years.

Indian Christian

messages.

Pray

that this

may be a reality as much can be accom

With Bangkok

fast

becoming an impor plished thereby

tant Tourist stop

with all the major

lines

Harry Schaefer


8/16

T H E P A S T A N D T H E F U T U R E

Ten years ago the first issue of Tribes seemed to always been near to sober the

and

Trails

was

sent

forth. Throughout the

joys.

Some fields of labor have seemingly

decade it has

been

the constant hope that

had more than

their

share of reverses,

this publication would lend to enlightening

Much

labor of love has been unselfishly

and challenging friends and interested visited on the

two

largest hill tribes with

persons of the needs in

Northern

Thailand, \jery little visible results. In contrast, fruit

An article by Dorothy Bare in the first has sprung forth from unsuspecting places,

issue was

entitled What

Does

the Future

sometimes

with

little cultivation,

as among

Hold? . The

opening

sentence began, the lepers, Khamu and lowland northern

Mis sionar ies. .. .can see

no

further into Tha i.

The

missionaries have tried

to be

the future than the light of God s Word flexible and enter the doors that are open,

s hows

them.

T h a t

i t i s

the

wil l

o f

God

for

Thailand s 18

million inhabitants

to

hear

How many

have

been won to Christ?

the gospel of Christ we are certain. That The Lord alone has the records. could

they will hear only by the Holy Spirit give a rough estimate of around 400, as

working

through consecrated Christians those who have made a profession and

we are equally sure . been baptized. No one keeps a church

At the time 6 newly arrived missiona-tficord nor is anyone about to do such,

ries were living in Chiengkam studyingThere are some 14 different villages that

language and looking

hopefully

to the i ve a Christian witness in theiju The

unevangelized tribes that surrounded them Christians in these villages may number

on every

side.

There were

the

Miao,

Yao, from 1 to

130.

Lu, Shan, Khamu, Northern Thai and Perhaps results are indeed small

when

many

others.

compared

to the

field,

but a start has

been

Now ten years later, with personnel niade

and

the seeding and cultivation

doubled, what do we find? For one thing process is gaining momentum. At the be-

the 18 million inhabitants of this plephaht ginning of this second decade we would

kingdom

has swelled to 24 million. For desire to dedicate ourselves

anew

to the

another

the

gospel

seed has been plantedsen timent voiced by Dorothy in that first

and ground

cultivated

widely

in the two

volumn.

still see

* no further

into the

Provinces of Chiengrai and Nan. At times

future

than the light of God

Word .

But

the response has been heartening. Joys at we are confident that God is calling out a

witnessing Christ being formed in hearts people in this land and that their coming

have been many. At times it seemed that to a saving knowledge of Christ is depend-

we were going to bepriviledged to witness ent upon the Holy Spirit using human

hundreds coming to the Lord only to see messengers. To this end we continue to

the flame smothered in one way or another, desire to be used.

The dry

vallies

and barren seasons have Don Byers

TRIBES

AND

TRAILS

IN

THAILAND

C. W. and Lois Callaway, Missionaries

Mailed

Bys

First Chri st ia n Chu rch

Canad ian Texas

Return Requested

N O N P R O F I T

ORG

U . S . Postage

P ID

C A N A D I A N .

T E X A S

P e r m i t N o. 5


9/16


10/16

TRIBES

AND TRAILS

IN THAILAND

OCTOBER 1962

Vol.

II, No. 2

Published twice yearly, In spring

and autumn, by undenominational

Christian

missionaries

laboring to es-

tabUsh 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 Tnailand work of urg

ing every

Christian to

heed

the Master s

call to

service,

and of encouraging

all

greater effort in the

spread

ofsimple

undenominationalChristianity through-

ou t

th 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.

This chedi

at

M outh-of-Waan-

Creek

Temple

in Chiengkam is a re

vered spot by many of the Buddhist

population and binds hearts to their old

religion at the same time that theyare

adopting modern devices.

A Chiengkam s t ree t scene. Note

the row of newly-erected light poles

behind the Jeep.

CHIENGKAM

Isabel Dittemore and daughterjanet,

enrouteto furloughfrom Japan, stopped

over in

Thailand for

two weeks in Ju ne

and July. Most of their stay was spent

in Chiengkam visiting the missionaries

and observing the witnessing there and

in outlying areas. From Thailand they

continued via

Burma,

India,

and Europe

to America. It is a privilege to have

such fellowship with our fellow Christ

ians

who labor

in other lands,

but

rare

ly does time allow for our

guests

in

Thailand to make the rather difficult

trip to our bases of

work

in the north.

Imogene Williams accompanied

Isabel and Janet to Bangkok on July 9.

A few days later she greeted, at Bang

kok s International A irp

ort

another

friend and

former

Seminary classmate,

Mrs.

Verna

Mae Shafer, who formerly

served as Imcgene s forwarding agent.

Mrs. Shafer was able to stay but three

days in Thailand, then continued via

HongKong and Japan back to her

work

at Standard Publishing Co. For some

months Imogene had suffered pain in

her

back and one leg, and while in

Bangkok

had been consulting a physi

cian. Upon his advice she went into a

hospital on July 22 and has been there

much

of the time

since. The

diagnosis

seems to be a partially slipped disk or

sciatic neuralgia. The doctor has in

dicated that she may be able to return

to Chiengkamtoward the close ofSept

ember if progress is satisfactory.

C. W. and Lois Callaway and four

of their children arrived in Bangkok on

May 18 from furlough. Son Lelan is

now in the Navy in San Diego, Calif

ornia. Lois took

the

other children on

to India in June where they

are

now re-

enrolled in

Woodstock School . Lois re

turned to

Thailand

and Chiengkam in

August. She is now much better from

the illness which persisted during their

furlough. Callaways are beginning con-

simction of a house in Chiengkam as a

base for their

continued

witness to the

Tao t r ibe


11/16

M el

Byers is now driving a Land

Rove r

Br i t i sh

vehicle

similar to

a

jeep . This greatly facilitates trips in

volving several persons or a family and

w h e r e

t h ere a r e su i t a b l e roads.

P U A

Roberta

Byers

had an attack of hep

atitis in June and Don Byers had dengue

fe ve r

in Augustor so the illnesses

seemed to be. They continue in their

witness to th e K h a m u

a t t he i r

h o m e in

Nam Mong Village,

o n e - h a l f day

journey from Pua. Donny, their oldest

child, is now away from home for his

schooling, being in the 5th grade at

Chiengmai Children s Center.

Garland Bare was hospitalized for a

t i m e

in

M a rc h b ec au se o f a h e a r t a il

ment, and has had to restrict his evan

gelistic travels because of the pain in

th e h e a r t region which recurs after

over-exertion. Many tribespeople and

Thai constantly visit the

Eares

home

in

Pua.

They are to be

in Prae

in

Sept

ember while awaiting the anival of a

n ew Bare .

Chao,

one lone

Miao

Christian

in

N an P ro vin ce is now

a

m e m b e r

o f t h e

Th a i Borde r Police

there,

but still

strongly witnessing for his newly-found

Sav i o r .

S o m e

o f t h e

T h a i Christians

near Pua are earnestly telling the good

n ew s a n d the re have

been

tw o

more

converts recently as a result there.

Perhaps the most heralded arrival in

Thailand--from

our standpointduring

th e

pa st

few

m onths was that of

Kenneth James Filbeck who made his

a p p e a r a n c e

on

July 3. David and

Deloris

and

son Amby

Wd gone own

to Bangkok well beforehand to greet

this new addition to their family. They

stayed in Schaefers

house

in

Bangkok

while Schaefers were gone to India.

T h e

four

F i l b e c k s a r e now b a c k i n P u a .

C H I E N G M A I

A l a n a n d

C a r o l Roush a n d tw o

daughters anived from Hawaii in April

to

b e g i n

the i r

service inThailand.

They are now living in Chiengmai and

are studying the Thai language.

Their

address: Box 17, Chiengmai,

ThaiUnd.

D o r o t h y S t e r l i n g

and children

Mark, Judy, and Sharonalso re

turned from furlough on May 18. They

are temporarily in

Chiengmai

and

ma y

be addressed at P. O. Box 38, Chieng

mai, Thailand. Mark and Judy are pre

sently studying at Chiengmai Child

ren s Center. Mark

is

in th e e ig h th

grade, the highest grade taught mere.

Harry and Lily Schaefer went to In

dia on May 30 on a temporary visitors

visa.

There they enrolled

two

children

in

K o d a i

Kana l

S c h o o l

in

S o u t h

I n d i a

and visited briefly s om e of the work in

India. The y returned July 26 to Thail

and . A new

application

for permanent

visa has been made to the Indian gov

ernment in the hope

that

they may still

be permitted to return to

their

former

work in India. Meanwhile they are lab

oring among

th e

Indian population of

Ban^ok

n are preparing radio pro

grams

beamed

from Manila, Philipp

i n e s to I nd ia n l is te ne rs

in

S o u t h e a s t

Asia .

Miss Dorothy

Schmale,

forwarding

agent for Wm. Gulick family in Soutn

India, and Mrs. Elizabeth Morgan arr

ived in Bangkok on August 9 for a bri ef

3-day

stop-over and

visit

with Imogene

W i l l i a m s , Callaways, and Filbecks

w h o w e r e

t he re

a t th e

t ime .

OREGON, U . S .

A .

D o r o t h y

U h l i g lost her mother

in J u l y a ft er a long illness. Dorothy

h e r s e l f c o n t i n u e s

u n d e r

med ica l

o b s e r

vation

after

having a malignant tumor

removed in May. Prayer is urg entl y re

quested to

the

end that she

maybe

able

to

r et ur n t hi s fa l l

to her

work

in

Ch ien

gkam.Her

f u r l o u g h

address is 1026

Main S tr ee t, K la ma th Falls, Oregon.


12/16

P C C G R E S S

Leaving the last village the foot

sore travelers gazed with relief upon

the quiet rice plain ahead.

The

bor

der mountains

eastward

looked down

in serene splendor upon

the peaceful

scene. Groves of trees here

and

there

ind ica ted

the routes of s t reams and

the location of villages. One

mile

straight ahead lay the town ofChieng

kam--but

you would not have guessed

it Numerous palm

tamarind man

go banana and other tropical trees

towered above

th e

houses and hid the

sleepy town from sight. Only a rare

house l ike a

chicken lost from the

mother hen failed to

get

hidden

from view. Thus was

Chiengkam

when the

first

missionaries arrived

there in May 1950.

Today although still by no means

a modern

city--many

changes are in

ev idence

Let us note a few of these .

NOISE. Then

bicyc les and

ox

carts were the only vehicles to be

seen. Now there are many types that

can

be

heard long before they are

seen. Jeeps and

similar

vehicles are

frequent; motorcycles and motorbikes

numerous; and

often

trucks

lumber

through the town blaring their horns

at

every corner to summon passengers.

Rice

mills are

so

frequent

that

at

no

place in town is one spared the noise

of their motors and particularly of

the

loud whistle blasts emanating often

from the larger mills. In contrast to

the two or three radios of twelve years

ago the town now reverberates to the

noise of dozens of radiosnormally

played at full

volume

in deference to

neighbors who cannot yet afford such

luxuriesand of loud speakers from

the local

picture

show.

HOSPITAL. A government hospital

opened in ChiengKam last year. The

new main hospital building just being

completed is by far

the

most impres

s ive edi f ice

in

town.

HOUSES

have

improved

in

quality

Some houses and store buildings are

now three stories high and along

wi th

r i c e

mill

smdte stacks are

coming

into view

above the

trees

The town is becoming a city that is

no longer hidden.

ELECTRICITY

began

operat

ing from 7:00 to 10:00 p. m. each

night as of August 31. How strange it

appears after all these years to see

street lights here.

FOREIGN

IMPORTS

a re

nume rou s

Sewing machines abound. There are

several kerosene operated refrigera

tors.

The ci ty

now has a pressure

pump and hose for p u m p i n g water

from

d it ch es a nd wells in case o f

f ire

Foreign style clothes are more

com

on

RO S leading into Chiengkam

have been

improved

considerably.

One of these for mil i t a ry reasons

has

been

improved

sufficiently

that

trucks and jeeps

have

been aole to

negotiate it during much of the pres

ent

rainy season.

A LANDING

FIELD

for sma l l

a i r

pla nes is

under construction. Big

plans for

the

community are under

way and

there

is

even talk

of

install

ing a

municipal

water system.

But while appreciating

the great

er comfort whicn many of these ad

vances

are

bringing to us we

cannot

but regret

that

at the same

time

the

town is becoming a city she is with it

all

accepting some unprofitable city

ways and city

vices.

As fast as her

citizens can afford

it

they are bring

ing in

western civilization.

But the

fa ith which

made tha t

civi l iza t ion

possible is not being

accepted

as

readily as these physical by products.

We do not imply that no progress

has

been made

in

the

spiritual

realm.

Tw en ty e igh t

discouraging years

elapsed between the commencement

of Protestant Missionary work in

Thai

land in 1831 and

the

conversion by

Presbyter ian

missionaries

of Nai

Chunethe

first Tha i

convert to

Pro

testant Christianity. Today it is eas

ier

than i t was then. But

still

there

are many

obstacles to

overcome.


13/16

CENTRAL

OUT-PATIENTS

DEPARTMENT

OF

THE

NEW

GOVERNMENT

HOSPITAL UNDER CONSTRUCTION IN

CHIENGKAM

Had there been no

converts

at a l l

during the past twelve years the

efforts expended here would still be

justified by the commission our

Lord

has given

us. He has given us no

quota to attain and even if all hearts

be hardened

our

commission to Go

into

all

the

world

still compels

us

onwa r d

In the Chiengkam area of Chien-

grai Province there have been well

over

one

hundred souls immersed

dur

ing these twelve years.Afew ofthese

have died and Satan s darts have been

hurled mercilessly at the others. Per

secution from fellow-villagers has

caused

several

to turn

back to their

old religion of Buddhism. A larger

number have been lured by material

istic advantages to give their alleg

iance to denominational groups and

it can hardly be said

that

these per

sons stand perfect and fully assured

in

all

the will of

God.

We pray for

a greater faithfulness on the part of

a ll who have named

the

Lord, and

who are yet weak in faith, and we do

praise the Lord for a

number

who

have

proven over and over again

that

their

chief

joy is in the Lord.

NAI JAN TA continues to l ive and

witness in Gaw Village in spite of re

peated

efforts ofthe

villagers

to cause

nim to leave the village.

UN LE

PAN often goes out alone

and without any material remunera

t ion

to d is tr ibu te t rac ts and

to witness

in distant villages as well as his own.

EL ERLY NAI JALA has been

putt

ing forth a strong effort to learn to

read that he

may better

know the

Word

and b ett er le ad th e

member s

o f

his fami ly and other Christians at

Tung Tae

Village.

These (won and

led

more by the

w tn ss o f o u r f el low m i ss io n ar ie s

than by ourselves) and the other faith

ful Christians in at least five villages

in this

Immediate

area signify to us a

progress more heart-warming than all

of tne material progress cited above.

But also we believe tha t in tha t

battle which takes place in the heav-

enlies there has been spiritual prog

ress

made here

which

is

not

so

easily

poin ted our or even seen from our

earthly vantage points but only evi

dent

f rom

a b o v e Much se ed has

been sown over the years and surely

some of this will come to fruition

more of it if you remember to pray

Our own labor for the past several

years has been mainly with the Yao

and thus

far there has

been

only one

Yao baptized here. But we have seen

manyYao become sympatheticto the

Gospel and some progress made upon

the translation of the Scriptures into

the

Yao

tongue.

We long for more of the progress

which counts for eternity, and that

among these tribes and races there

may be made to appear towering

a-

bove

the

trees a

spiritual temple

not

made with human

hands

and wherein

reverberate, not the noises of earth,

but th e swee t stra ins o f th e d iv in e

melody.

C. W.

Callaway, Jr.

Chiengkam, Chiengrai, Thailand


14/16

Two

Ways

Didyou receive the Spirit by works

of the law, or by hearing with faith?

Gala t i ans

3:2. TheApostle Paul, in

this quest ion, succinctly shows two

w^s of salvation as wellas their

dlfierences. One way revolves around

works of

law, or better

known in

Thai

land as merit making. The o th e r

way revolves around

^ith.

But the difference between

the

two

ways are oftentimes not clearly under

stood . Those who hold to salvation by

faith

s ti ll r ea li ze that

one must

work

out his own salvation, hence they do

not seethe di fference be tween works of

faith

and works of merit. Those who

hold to salvation by merit making see

the Christian working in his religion,

so

they

think that a Christian is sim

ply making merit.

However, a closer study of the ways

will showthe differences between them;

especially in

their implications and

direc t ions .

Merit making implies that salvation

is a future uncertainty. Aformer

Budd

hist priest once told me that one never

knows

whether or not he has enough

merit to enter heaven. If, at deam,

the merit ledger is more than the sin

ledger, then entrance into heaven is

panted. But who can know his balance

^eet now, so he can know whether he

mus t

ga in

more

merit or be able to

coast

along for

awhi le? This

binds a

man to the law, to keep it.

On the other handfaith implies that

salvation is a past accomplishment and

a present reality. There is therefore

now no condemnation for those who are

in Christ

Jesus .We

know that our sins

are quite deadly, but they have been

blotted out by Jesus blood. And in the

debit ledger our faith is reckoned (to

us) as

righteousness.

And God

can

celed the

bond

which

stood

against us

with

its legal demands.. .nailing it to

th e

cross .

The direction of merit making is

inward.

Every

act of mercy, every

gift to the priests is for merit for one

self. Many rituals afford opportunities

to makemerit. The earlymorning giv

ing of food to the priests is a source of

merit for

al l

concern. The priests are

BUDDHIST TEMPLE

UNDER

CONSTRUCTION IN CHIENGKAM

gaining merit forthemselves byfollow

ing a life of jwvertyand begging. The

people are gaining merit for themselves

by giving food. People will make a

money tree by sticking bills of var

ious denominations on a

f r ame

and

carrying it ceremoniously to the tem

ple. This is spending FORoneself.

But the way of faith is spending of

oneself for

others.

A Christian knows

that he isn t

saved

by

acts of

mercy

or

by

donating to the

church

or inviting

the preacher outfor

Sunday

dinner.

But

yet a Christian will dothese

things.

Why? Because God's

Love

dwells in

him. For this reason the direction of

faith is

outward.

This

distinction between these

two

waysof merit making and faith is cru

cial in

Thailand.

So often we

are

look

ed upon as

merely making

merit by

teaching religion among die poor and

diseased

of a

foreign

nation. Tneymiss

the whole point.

The point is that we have tasted of

the sweet love of God and His forgive

ness and we

want

to share it . We have

Good News forthe man bogged down in

the impossible task of accumulating

enough merit

Therefore we seek your prayers in

our behalf as

we

labor to teach the

way

of faith.

Some

have accepted

this

way

but many, many more are in the grip

of

bondage.

For they rely on

works

of

the law.

But

they are under a curse;

for

it is written Cursed be everyone

who does not abide by all

things

writ

ten in the

book of the

law, and

do t h em .

Dav id F i lb e ck

Pua,

Nan, Thailand


15/16

Report From

P u a

As the July rains pour down, we are

also experiencing showers of spiritual

blessings such as we have not seen in

over ten years in Thailand. Neighbor

ing countries such as Laos, Burma,

and

C h i n a

h a v e seen

mass

movements

where, in

brief

periods of time, thous

ands have turned to Christ. There has

never been a mass movement in T h a i

land. After 134 years of missionary ef

fort, only about one person in athpus-

and professes faith in

Christ.

As far as

we know Christianity has not closed

down a single one of the thousands of

idolatrous temples and shrines.

Thus, Thailand maintains her rep

utat ion

as one o f

the hard mission

fields. But is anything too hard for

the Lord? God IS

working

in Nan Pro

vince, and in such a way as to stop the

mouths o f those who

would

c l a i m

hum

a n c r e d it . In t h e first six

months

o f

1962we

have seen N o r t h T h a i

Lu,

Blue

Meo,

T in, V i e t n a m e s e

and

Khamu come to

faith in Christ.

There

are new believers in sevenvillages

which did not have a single Christian

in 1961. There is no large-scale turn

ing, but scarcely a week passes with

out at least one

person

turning

to the

Lord. Among the Christians, lips that

were silent for years are now testifying

to the grace of God and lives are re

vealing

victory

over sin.

In Buddhist

villages where it was impossible to sell

Scriptures a year ago,

the

demand ex

ceeds the supply.

Lest the picture appear too bright,

we would remind you that Satan is also

working full time in Nan Province. He

has never relinquished any of his terri

tory without

a fierce struggle

Among

professing Christians there is

still

jeal

ousy and dissension. Victorious living

is still

the exception rather

than the

rule. There are still more spectators

than participants among the church

es. Nai

Ra,

the first

T in

belie ve r to

be baptized, is no

longer

in fellow

shipwith the church, having fallen un

der the discipline of I Corinthians 5.

His wife still faithfully attends services.

P e r s o n a l l y

the past few months

have been trying from a physical stand

point. Garlana began to be troubled

with chest pains and weakness in March.

David Filbeck took h i m down t o Prae

Hospital on April 11. From there he

wasflownto Ch i e n gm a.i. for electro

cardiogram tests

and

furtlier

treatment

No serious heart damage was found.

We flew to Bangkokthe first of May,

and from there proceeded to the beach

south o f Cholburi

for

a month

of

rest

and fellowship. Callaways, Schaefers,

Filbecks, both Byers families, Roushes,

Sterlings, and Imogene Williams were

there. It was a real joy to gather with

our long-time co-workers and to be

come

acquainted

with the new workers.

We thank God for the harmony which

has characterized our relationship in

past years and pray for even greater

mutual love and unity in

the

things of

the Lord.

With another baby expected in Sept

ember, all is not going well. Dorothy

is under doctor s orders to spend mucn

of the time in bed. Through all this

physical illness God is proving His

grace

s u f f i c i e n t

and providingHis

s t r e n g t h to meet our weakness. We

plan to be in Prae most of September

and October and our mailing address

wil l

be c/o

Prae Christian Hospital,

Prae, Thai land.

Since illness keeps us

home

most of

the time, we have accepted requests

to hold regular

English and

Bible

classes .

T h e r e

a r e afternoon classes

for

Buddhistpriests on Mondaysand Fridays

and for schoolteachers onTuesdays and

Thursdays Evening

Bible

and singing

classes are held on Wednesday

and

Thursday. Then we lead or participate

in services in three different villages

each Sunday. In a d d i t i o n we have

been requested to work in daily classes

for th e o ff ic er s and soldiers o f th e loc

al cavalry detachment.

Garland and Dorothy Bare

Pua, Nan

Province,

Thailand


16/16

JPau e for ^Praper

1. SICKNESS of many varieties has

befallen almost every missionary fam

i ly

on

this

field during the past few

months .

We

are reminded of me

fac t

that we are compassed with infirm

ity and beset with weakness. Please

pray for the specific health needs men

tioned in

the

news notes,

but

pray too

tha t

the

Spi r i t

may

teach

us in

our weakness

tha t

the race is not to

the swift, nor the battle to the strong

but that victory is of

Jehovah.

2 . SCHOOL ING for our ch ild ren

poses constant problems and constitutes

a need for vital prayer. Some mothers

are teaching some or all of their child

ren a t home . Other children are for

much of each year separated from par

entseven by international boundar

iesas they continue their schooling.

Pray for sustaining grace for both par

ents and children in these long periods

of separation. High schools in India

may

not be

able

to

accommodate

the

many from Thailand whowill be

com

ing soon to high school age. Pray that

suitable school and boarding arrange

ments throughout high school may Be

come possible within Thailand.

3. NEW CONVERTS in

Ponjg

Lom

village near [>ua need shepherding and

teacmng

in

the

depth of

the

riches...

of God. Also Nai Ta of Gaw village,

Chiengkam.

4 .

SOME

T HA I

AND KHAMU

CHRISTIANS

have

shown a

remarkab le

sp i r i tua l maturity and evangelistic

zea l . Praise the Lord for these with us

and pray that their ardor and joy may

not

^w

cold.

5 .

YAO MIAO

ANDINDIAN

PEOPLES

have heard the Gospel but as

yet have made

little

response. Pray for

Chao, the Miao Christian, and pray

that a door may be opened of

the

Lord

2 Cor. 2:12) among

all

these people.

6. LAOS has been more quiet polit

ically during the past few months. We

give thanks r tms respite, but would

ask you to continue in supplications

fo r kings

and

all

that

are in high

place to

me

end that

political

unrest

may

not

hinder

the progress ofme

Gospel in this

land.

C. W. Callaway Jr.

Chiengkam, Chiengrai, Thailand

FIRST CHRIST IAN

CHURCH

Nin th

an d P in e

Streets

Klamath Falls Oregon

Dorothy Uhlig, Missionary

to

Thailand

Non-Profit Org.

U.S. POSTAGE

PAID

Klsmath

FaH ,

Orogon

Permi t Number 12

Documents

TribesandTrails 1962 Thailand