Thai Journal ‘25 - #9

 

“Come ye apart and rest a while!” That’s what Jesus said, and that was the theme of my devotional to begin our two days of relaxation on the island of Koh Samed. After a week of hard labor in the cornfields and with a bunch of very energetic kids, we (along with our APIU host, Namthip and friend) took a true vacation.  It is an 8-hour round trip by bus to the pier on the mainland, and then a 15-minutes speedboat ride to the island. As always, we were greeted at the pier by the famous Phra Aphai Mani seaorgress statue. It is a character in the epic, 48,700-line

Thai poem, which took 20 years to compose (https://en.wikipedia.org /wiki/Phra_Aphai_Mani). The team had a blast in the ocean (my first time, in 22 years, entering Thai waters); on the beach; in the lovely rooms at the Sawasdee Coco resort; eating great food by the ocean; and taking in a spectacular fire show; and just hanging loose! I finally found green mangoes and tried to eat it with delight – unsuccessfully! But joy came a few minutes later, when we found the real thing; and that gave me the opportunity to demonstrate the true, God-given way to eat mangoes! We also found Alex, and his Jamaica-themed bungalows. He has never been to Jamaica but,

love it! ShelleyB gave him her Jamaican cap and Ja$100 bill. As always, a highlight is having our final meal at the famous Pad Thai restaurant. We have become good friends with the family who own the business. They look forward to us visiting each year. The grandmother started the restaurant 50 years ago with her special pad thai recipe. And the three generations of the family continue to operate it. We are building relationships even on the faraway touristy niche of Thailand. As we finished lunch, our driver (Mr. Boonmat) for many years called Deanna, Keziah, ShelleyB, and me to share with us the sad news that his wife was just diagnosed with stage 4 cancer and will be going into surgery tomorrow. We prayed with him and assured him of our continued prayers and financial support. If anyone would like to donate to assist with the large medical bills, please click on this link: http://wallawalla.edu/Thailand, and state that it is for the General Fund.  We arrived back on campus safely.