Thailand Journal 2011 #1

ince we chose Thailand to be a special area of mission and cultural focus in 2003, I have led a team of students, faculty and staff, alumni, and friends of Walla Walla University on an annual trip to this beautiful country. To see the philosophy behind the trips, go to the following links: http://blessingsfrompedrito.blogspot.com/2009/07/thai-09-journal-1.html and http://blessingsfrompedrito.blogspot.com/2010/09/thailand-journal-2010-20.html.

This year the trip started off with a couple little hiccups: The flight from Portland, OR, with Vie, me, and Lorraine, left 3 hours late because of mechanical problems, which meant that we missed the last leg of our flight (Tokyo to Bangkok). They put us up in the Radisson. The bright side of this was that I finally got a Japanese stamp in my passport. The down side is that I had to cancel a whole day of appointments in Chiang Mai – visit to the school in Thepsadet, see the children at the Lawa hostel (both of which Rotary of Walla Walla has humanitarian connections), and speak for the Assembly at Chiang Mai Adventist Academy. But those who know me know that I’m persistent. Instead of 2 days in Chiang Mai we did a world wind visit on Thursday – flew in very early; had breakfast with the Rotary project representatives (Dr. Boonthong , former President of Payap University; and the EuBanks, who are celebrating 50 years as missionaries in Thailand); visited the hostel where the kids missed school and put on a little program for us; chased up to Chiang Mai Adventist were we saw Nid (who was our right-hand on the 2009 trip); got a tour of the school by David Bell; lunch with him and his wife, Annabelle; and finally, took Komchan (one of the students we are sponsoring since the 2005 trip [that was part of that mission endeavor]) on a little outing. We flew back to Bangkok on time to meet the rest of the team which arrived at 11:00pm. And here is the second hiccup: When the team arrived in Portland on Wednesday one of the students with a Mexican passport and one with a passport from El Salvador found out that they needed visas for Thailand! The sad thing is that we were assured a few weeks ago that Mexicans did not need visas! And the El Salvador one caught us by surprise. The airlines would not check them in. But Bonnie our travel agent is the best! She arranged and they got the visas yesterday (today) and Delta rebooked them on Friday’s flights without extra charges. We will go back and get them Saturday night. The rest of us made the made the 2.5-hour journey to Asia Pacific International University in Muak Lek, and were in bed by 4:30am! I was up in a couple hours for breakfast with those who HAD to eat. In the past 24 hours, I had about 3 hours sleep. But when I’m energized, I don’t need sleep.

As always, I’ll be blogging almost daily (http://blessingsfrompedrito.blogspot.com/) and updating my photo website (http://www.wallawalla.edu/campus-life/spiritual-life/gallery/thailand_cultural_and_mission_trip_2011). The photos are in reverse order so that you can know where you left off the last time. If you so desire, we would be honored if you would bookmark these sites and check in on a regular basis. Thanks for your prayers and support.