Thai Journal ‘25 - #2

 We got to the university at 3:00am Friday morning; got to bed at 4:00. I got a good 3 hours of sleep. That’s the way to defeat the jet-lag dragon – plus keeping active ALL day. And we did. Some of us spent

the morning touching bases with our merchant friends, getting our phones setup with Thai sim-cards, and getting chicken and dog food for the farm. After lunch and orientation, we headed for the highway fruit stand and the Lotus shopping center where we had our annual Pizza Company dinner. We ended the day with Vespers.

Sabbath morning began with worship in the auditorium of the Asia Pacific International University. This Service was for the non-Thai English-speaking congregation (the International Church). This is the largest demographic at the University. This week the Thai congregation met in the main sanctuary. At

1:30pm we joined the group conducting Branch Sabbath Schools at Uncle Prasarn and Auntie Nang’s farm, where half of our team will be working. As always, they invited me to give the worship talk. As in times past we gave them dog and chicken feed (compliments of Kalene Dittman and Lorraine Jacobs), and Real Time Pain Relief, compliments of my wife, Violet. Prasarn and Nang were absolutely overjoyed to see us return. After a tour of the farm, we headed for the White Buddha – a 600-step climb! Some of our team members did it in under 10 minutes!

For the first time I skipped the hike. I’ve not been climbing the three floors to my office in the Admin building consistently as much as in years past. I was not ready for this year. I will be next year! We ended the day at our famous dinner spot, Srifa (Blue restaurant). Another delightful reunion and sumptuous food.

If you wish to see all the trip photos (the good, the bad, and the funny) go to my photo album: https://www.flickr.com/photos/143715478@N06/albums/72177720328523480.

Here is a link to Doug McClay’s album: https://www.dougmcclay.com/WallaWallaU/n-cBSkHQ/Thailand-2025