Gleanings from the Field - 5 new articles

One of the greatest needs of Thai churches today is the desire and ability to rightly divide the Word of God. 

If you were to visit Thai churches across the Protestant and Pentecostal spectrum, you would often hear sermons that are only loosely connected to the Bible. There are many self-help sermons, allegorical sermons, and rousing exhortations to serve God and receive his blessings. Many sermons are topical, meaning that the preacher has chosen a topic that he wants to preach on and then has sought out a Bible passage (or passages) that support what he wants to say. In church small groups, it is common for Christians to read the Bible together and then immediately ask, “What does this mean for me?” instead of first asking, “What does this passage mean?”

We should praise God for growing his church in Thailand, and for changing the lives of Thai Christians, bringing them from the darkness of sin into the light of God. However, how can we understand what God is telling us about himself, about ourselves, and about the world around us if we don’t have basic skills in biblical interpretation? I am not talking about high level academic skills but rather basic Bible study skills that lead believers to ask questions like, “What is happening in this passage?” “Who are the characters?” “What are people saying and doing?” “What is the background to this story or letter?” “What did this mean to the original readers?” and “Is this passage history, poetry, prophecy, parable, or something else?” 

Closely related to these basic Bible study questions is the conviction that the entire Bible is God’s Word to us; and the whole Bible should be read, studied, preached, prayed through, and meditated upon. Churches need to preach though entire books of the Bible, such as Genesis, Isaiah, Matthew, or Ephesians.  We cannot feed ourselves spiritually (and pastors cannot feed their flocks spiritually) with a continual diet of random verses stapled to entertaining stories, and personal anecdotes and experiences.  Jesus told his disciples to teach ALL that he commanded them (Matt 28:20), not just an assortment of inspiring highlights.

Unfortunately, neither the traditional educational or religious background of most first-generation Thai Christians has prepared them to read and understand the Bible. Similar to many other places in East Asia, traditional Thai education emphasizes memorizing the information given to you by the teacher, and then repeating that information on the test.  Asking questions, critical thinking, and summary and evaluation of information is not valued in most Thai schools. Unlike Christianity, Thai Buddhism does not have a central holy book that everyday Buddhists are encourage to study, discuss, and memorize.  Buddhist preaching pulls wisdom and anecdotes from multiple sources, piecing them together as the preacher sees fit. And in the Buddhist worldview, you can acquire merit simply by listening to a sermon even if you don’t understand what it is about.

Despite all these challenges, there seems to be an increasing number of Thai Christians who are hungry to know God’s Word. They want to understand their Bibles better in order to know God better and grow spiritually.

The new term just began here at Chiang Mai Theological Seminary (CTS) and the biggest class is Principles of Biblical Interpretation (หลักการตีความหมายพระคัมภีร์). Last year, this course only attracted 5-6 students but this year, the class is overflowing with 40 students. That’s a huge increase!  Both Thai church leaders and everyday church members want to learn how to better read, understand, and interpret God’s Word.

Professor Thanit teaches a course at Chiang Mai Theological Seminary

Besides formal training like seminary courses, there are also multiple informal or semi-formal training seminars and workshops on Biblical interpretation, teaching, and preaching that happen in Thailand.  For example, over the last several years the Langham Partnership has been working alongside local Thai pastors, professors, and missionaries to run preaching workshops and preaching clubs to help both full-time and lay preachers to develop their ability to understand and teach the Word of God. These initiatives are supported by the Thai-language publication of materials such as Fee and Stuart’s How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth” (อ่านพระคัมภีร์อย่างไรให้คุ้มค่า) and several booklets in the “Pray, Prepare, Preach” series. These books and more are available from Kanok Bannasan (OMF Publishers Thailand).

Praise God for theological seminaries, churches, and parachurch organizations in Thailand that are teaching Thai Christians to read and interpret the Bible. Pray for groups like Chiang Mai Theological Seminary, the Langham Partnership, and numerous churches and schools that are faithfully teaching God’s Word and are responding to the desire of Thai Christians to know God’s Word, and to rightly understand and teach it. Like many places around the world, poor handling of God’s Word and Gospel-lite preaching are common in Thailand. But it doesn’t have to be that way. Let’s pray.

   

Learning Thai is no simple task.

For those of us who’ve spent a considerable amount of time climbing this Everest, I’m sure you can attest to this reality. While there are certainly a number of noble reasons for learning a new language, doing so “for the sake of elect, that they also may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory”(2 Tim. 2:10) is most commendable.

In the midst of your struggle to acquire Thai in order to be a witness for Christ, remember that the struggle of language is to be counted among the various difficulties endured for the sake of gospel. Jesus died the one big death for us & for our salvation. Now, we die little deaths in the day-to-day for the promotion of his kingdom in the world (1 Cor. 15:31). As we battle to learn Thai, a kind of death is at work in us so life can be at work in others (2 Cor. 4:12). Love calls us to pursue the other. Therefore, we don’t wait for Thai people to learn our language so they can hear the gospel. Rather, we step out & seek to learn their language first. We go to them first. In so doing we reflect the image of the one who didn’t wait for us to come to him (we never would’ve!), but rather came down to seek & save us first.

Although there is ultimately no silver bullet to learning the Thai language, there are various tips & tricks that can certainly aid in the pursuit. The following list of bullet points (in no particular order) is not exhaustive, but I hope it can be of some assistance to you as you work away at the language for the good of Thai people & the glory of God in Christ. I’ve also included a small sampling of feedback from Thai language learners who were asked what they would do differently if they could start learning Thai all over again.

Thai Language “Cheat Sheet”

• Get a good grasp on the 5 Thai tones. They are integral to learning Thai well
• Ask for honest feedback from native speakers who will be forthright with you about your pronunciation
• Where possible, focus on memorizing phrases, not just words alone
• Spend a sufficient amount of time on foundational areas of Thai before moving on. Rushing typically doesn’t yield good results when it comes to language learning
• Start learning how to read Thai (with all the tone rules included) as soon as possible
• Giving a little time to Thai everyday (even 5-10 minutes) is better than giving it no time
• Practice writing out the alphabet as you learn it until you can do it all by memory
• Reviewing helps solidify what you’ve learned (one time through usually isn’t sufficient)
• Use transliteration only as long as necessary before switching over to Thai script
• To the best of your ability, write down/type out Thai words/phrases you hear natives speakers using day-to-day
• Take concrete steps to implement new words/phrases into real-life situations
• Identify the “holes in your Thai” & implement concrete ways to fill in those gaps (credit: Brett from Learn Thai from a White Guy)
• Stepping out & trying to speak Thai (even imperfectly) is part of the growth process
• Don’t count on learning Thai alone in a closet perfectly before attempting to speak
• Anything done right will be done wrong first. The road to fluency is filled with mistakes
• A lack of output can at times be traced to a lack of input. Keep filling up with Thai
• Look to the Lord for wisdom/understanding & pursue Thai diligently & consistently
• Whenever you read, try reading out loud as a way of developing your pronunciation

If I could learn Thai again, I would:

• Nail down the Thai alphabet

• Learn how to spell better

• Learn to read before speaking

• Learn to read from the start

• Spend more time on the foundations of Thai before moving on

• Go straight to learning Thai characters (skip transliterated Thai, ex. sabaidee)

• Being able to read makes life so much simpler in Thailand, but also has helped my Thai improve way more than if I was just relying upon listening & speaking

• Spend more time studying children’s material (books/cartoons/etc.)

• Practice my pronunciation more diligently

 

If you don't see a video above click to watch Dave Voetberg's Thai Lanuage Cheat Sheet" (tips for beginners)

   

If you know anything about cross-cultural missions work, you probably know that langauge learning is really important. How else can you share the Gospel if you can say things that people understand?  However, culture learning is sometimes overlooked. In the short video below, I highlight one of challenging aspects of language learning.  If you are from a Western country and are working in East Asia, you will probably be able to relate.  If you've never lived in Asia or some other part of the world that has a high-context culture, let me reassure you that what you are about to see really happens.

If you like reading more than watching, scroll down for the video transcript.  But keep in mind, the video is more fun.

If you don't see a video above, click here to watch on YouTube

Video Transcript

Cross-cultural communication is about more than language learning. It is also about managing expectations. 

For example, if I were in the United States and I asked somebody,

• Excuse me, where is the market?

Then I might be expecting an answer something like

• You go down this way, take a left and it will be on the right hand side.

The listener understood that I wanted specific verbal directions and that’s what I got.

However, if I were in Thailand and I asked someone

• ขอโทษนะครับ  ตลาดอยู่ที่ไหนครับ (Excuse me, where is the market?)

I might get an answer like

• โน้น (over there) *motions with head*

As an American, I don’t find that kind of answer abundantly helpful because it doesn’t give me enough information to go on to find the market.

But Thailand is a high context culture where non-verbal communication is valued. Background and contextual information is assumed.

In low context cultures like North America or Europe, the majority of information is verbal so precision and detail in words is important.

The important point is this: If you’re trying to communicate in a second language, and you are not getting the answers you are hoping for, the problem may not be language learning. The problem may be with culture learning.

   

The nineteenth century was an amazing time of transition globally as transportation, communication, and science more generally developed rapidly, including in Thailand. Two of my favorite stories from Thai history revolve around the 1868 solar eclipse that was seen in Southeast Asia. I thought about writing about these two stories in a single post but since more and more people are watching videos these days rather than reading, I thought I would make a short video. It turned out to be just over 3 minutes and I have linked it below for your education and entertainment. However, if you prefer reading or happen to be looking at this blog in a place where it would be awkward to turn up the volume on your device, just scroll down to read the transcript. Enjoy!

 

Click Here to Watch on YouTube

Video Transcript:

In 1868, King Mongkut of Thailand had a dispute with his court astrologers. And it wasn’t the first time. Mongkut was adopting Western science which conflicted with the cosmology of 19th century Buddhism. He loved calculating the movements of the sun, moon, and stars. But he rejected the idea that celestial phenomena had any effect on human affairs. Many in his court thought otherwise.

In 1868, Mongkut calculated that a solar eclipse would occur on August 18th and he traveled to the beachside village of Wah Koh in Southern Thailand to observe it. The court astrologers calculated it differently and Mongkut wanted to prove them wrong. On August 18th, King Mongkut was in Wah Koh and saw the eclipse happen exactly as he had predicted. He returned to Bangkok triumphantly and derided the astrologers who had been proven wrong. King Mongkut was taking Buddhism into the modern era. Buddhist philosophy and spirituality would be kept, but cosmology and astrology that conflicted with modern science would be abandoned.

Meanwhile, in the far north of modern day Thailand, the eclipse had a very different impact.

In the city of Chiang Mai, American Presbyterian missionary Daniel McGilvary was having discussions with a Northern Thai man called Nan Inta. A staunch Buddhist and former abbot, Nan Inta had come to McGilvary for medicines and became intrigued with the new faith he preached. Though it contradicted the fundamentals of his religion, could it be true that he could receive a free and full pardon of his sins through the merits of another? The two men also debated geography and the natural world, including the nature of eclipses. Nan Inta had learned that an eclipse was caused by a supernatural monster eating the sun. But McGilvary claimed that modern science enabled him to predict that day and time that the next eclipse would occur.

As King Mongkut eagerly awaited the eclipse along the beach in Southern Thailand, Nan Inta did likewise in the mountainous North.

The timely arrival of the eclipse shook Nan Inta to the core. Afterwards, he spent a sleepless night thinking about what it could mean. If his books had been wrong about the eclipse, were they also wrong about religion? Early the next morning Nan Inta came to see McGilvary. His first words were, “Mên tê” (It’s really true). “The teacher’s books teach truth” he said, “Ours are wrong.” Nan Inta was the first person in Northern Thailand to become a Christian and his conversion opened the way for others to follow.

One eclipse. Two men. Two different results. Many forces have contributed to the shape of modern day Thailand. But in its time, a single solar eclipse played its part in changing worldviews and opening options of belief and disbelief for future generations.

To learn more about the history of Thailand and Christianity in Thailand, please visit thaichurchhistory.com or check out the articles and books linked below:

Karl Dahlfred, “The Peculiar Conversion of Nān Inta, the First Christian in Northern Thailand” 

Thanet Aphornsuvan, “The West and Siam’s quest for modernity: Siamese response to nineteenth century American missionaries.” South East Asia Research 17.3 (November 2009): 401-32.

Karl Dahlfred, Daniel McGilvary: Pioneer Missionary to Northern Thailand ~ Available on Kindle and paperback https://amzn.to/4bvJxfj (associate link)

Chris Baker and Pasuk Phongpaichit, A History of Thailand (4th Edition) ~ Available on Kindle and paperback https://amzn.to/3yarDQR (associate link)