Thailand Journal 2011 #11

Oh, what a perfect day! At least for almost everyone in the group. Today we visited the Tiger Temple – an outdoor Buddhist Monastery that is a tiger rehabilitation center. We were blessed with a rainless day – and if you’d seen some of the tropical thunderstorms that we’ve encountered during the last 48 hours you’d know that that was a real miracle today. We have some real animal lovers in this group, but Lorraine especially had been looking forward to this day for the past three years when I first discovered this place. She hardly slept last night with the anticipation of this day (or because people were making noise all night long in the hotel we were staying at – could have been either one).

We started off by presenting food to the monks. They collect alms in the community every morning and the food they collect in the morning is used to feed them and the staff throughout the day. After the formal presentation we went inside the monastery grounds to an interior outdoor temple. Here the young tiger cubs were waiting our arrival, which meant BREAKFAST TIME! We, as guests, along with the staff and monks, partook of the food collected earlier in the morning. Each team member then got to bottle feed young tiger cubs. What an experience! Two of the cubs that were only six weeks old. They won over everyone in the group. And could they put up a fuss when they didn’t want to be held!!!

After breakfast the team helped walk the tiger cubs to a play/exercise area. Basically these cubs are no different than your typical house cat – they’re just a few hundred pounds bigger. And just like house cats they love to chase moving objects. Objects are hung off the end of bamboo sticks and drug around the ground for the cats to chase. After playtime they were fed some chicken and then sent off to rest a bit.

The team then moved to the bathing area. Some of the bigger cats were here waiting for their morning bath. So we got to help scrub them down and hose them off. Throughout these events the staff took our cameras and took pictures so we could fully participate in the activities. They seem to all be well trained in photography and, as you will see if you look at the picture link, they did a really great job with the photography.

The next station was exercise time for the big cats. This time the humans were put in a cage and the big cats were set free. We were down in a big rock canyon with a large pool. The handlers interacted with the cats letting them play with their toys and each other. For their size, these cats are amazingly agile. We were treated to quite a show. Tigers are one of the only members of the cat family that actually enjoy being in the water – and of course it allows them to cool off in this very hot climate.

Three team members elected to wait and join us for the afternoon program. They spent the morning at the bridge over the river Kwai, which some of you may remember from an old movie or your history of WWII. When they joined us we all spent time getting some fabulous photos with the big cats. Then we walked them back down to the canyon where we took more pictures. Each team member got to have the head of one of these magnificent creatures in their lap while a series of photos was taken. What an experience – even those who were unsure of spending time with these beautiful creatures came away with positive comments about the day.

We arrived back at the university campus around 9:00 after driving through a torrential downpour. We’re not sure what awaits us at the farm tomorrow morning after a weekend of heavy rains. But we pray that God will provide a way for us to continue working this week. Speaking of the farm, one of our team members called her father about the need for more truckloads of gravel. He brought the need to his church Sabbath morning and praise God we learned this morning that the church raised $500 to help us buy the much-needed gravel. God is Good – All the Time.

For numerous photos click on http://www.wallawalla.edu/campus-life/spiritual-life/gallery/thailand_cultural_and_mission_trip_2011.