Yesterday was a good day. We sped right through clinic and were done by noon. Karissa, Jerg, Kali and Jennifer all worked in the pharmacy. Peggy continued with her awesome job at triaging patients. Emerson continued to work as Paul, sharing the Gospel. I (Jan Smiley) saw patients while Brandon and Karla shadowed in hopes to learn something (hope I was a good teacher).

After clinic we went down to see Yvrose and her family. Karla took her guitar and sang for them. I don’t think she had it long before one of them took it and was playing for us. They entertained us with a few contemporary songs we sing, only they were in Creole. After visiting Yvrose we rested for half an hour before heading up the into the village for VBS. We told the story of the good Samaritan, and Karla and some of the translators acted…

Dateline: After Clinic #5 in Bandam Rongrat (near Tak Fa)

File this one under the category of “Stories Too Amazing to Not Be True.” Dianne has always told our teams they shouldn’t be surprised at anything that happens when we go to Thailand. You are likely to see and hear almost anything.

Today, we returned to a village where our Forest Park team visited just seven months ago in November. There is a farmhouse situated in the middle of sugar cane fields about three-quarters of a mile outside of town. Think of swaying palm trees in the yard and cool breezes blowing across the best looking farmland I have seen in Thailand.

There is a church that meets at the farmhouse in a garage-like space they added on to the side. Several years ago, there was just one Christian family here, much like the village we visited yesterday. They have…

Dateline: After Clinic #4 in Pracha Ruamjai

Today’s challenge was to go into a rural village–and I mean really rural–where there is only one practicing believer and support Christian work at its most basic level. We were told that this was an area that would be resistant to Christianity. The day certainly lived up to its billing.

This is an agricultural area known for its rice and sugar cane production. For those Thailand trip veterans reading this, it is in the region near Bat Cave Mountain. We drove past the end of the pavement, and at the end of the gravel road there was a collection of four barn-like buildings making up the village center. I don’t know where the village was–never saw it. It was reminiscent of a snipe hunting game with our team as the unsuspecting victims.

We learned that the community leaders in surrounding villages had not…

Dateline: After Clinic #3 in Phra Cha Rua Jai

We traveled north this morning from our hotel in Nakhon Saron for 90 minutes to a rural agricultural community. We came at the invitation of Pastor Supaichoate, who is one of the most effective church planters in Thailand.

About eight months ago, a farmer in this village accepted Christ and has led seven others in his family to do the same. They started a home church which has grown to the point that a medical clinic and kids program can now propel it to the next level. Each Tuesday, Supaichoate travels there to lead a Bible study.

When the church was told that a medical clinic was coming from America, they could not believe it would really happen and began to worry that they would be hated in the community if we did not come as advertised. But, we did come–in…

Dateline: After Clinic #2 and Lodged for the Night in Nakhon Sawan

After packing up this morning and leaving the hotel in Kanchanaburi, we drove north for 90 minutes to the town of Nong Prue.

Driving through rural farming areas and passing several Buddhist processionals led by elephants, we arrived at the Baptist church that was started by the one we served yesterday in Kanchanaburi. We set up the clinic in the church building, which was about the size of an extra large Sunday School room back in Joplin.

Two years ago, a mobile medical clinic came to this town when there were just a handful of believers and before there was a church building. Now that the church has survived a hard-labor birthing process, we came with a mission to propel it forward with new prospects, believers, and community visibility.

The clinic saw 137 patients, including a mix of…

Dateline: After Clinic #1 in the Province of Kanchanaburi (“gahn-janaugh-buri”)

Today’s task was to stand up a medical clinic in Paak Praek township–part of the city of Kanchanaburi. The goal of this clinic, beyond sharing the Gospel, was to increase the prominence of the local Baptist church with the provincial government officials and the citizens.

Much to our surprise, the clinic was fully supported by the civic government–which is unusual for Christian activities, especially in the more populated areas. This province is somewhat of a tourist area and site of the Burmese-Siam railroad and the famous movie “Bridge Over the River Kwai.”

The city had pre-publicized the event with multiple large signs throughout town that read, “Our township, in conjunction with the Baptist Christian Church, have organized a medical clinic in honor of the King of Thailand. We invite the brothers and sisters of our town to come for free…

Dateline: Sangchan View Hotel in the Province of Kanchanaburi (“gahn-janaugh-buri”)

This was a travel day to the western part of the country in preparation for our five clinics. After Bible study and church this morning, we left for a four-hour trip through Bangkok and towards Myanmar. Several items of interest:

• We learned that Joplin is a household word around the world, even in a small city in what was once the ancient kingdom of Siam.
• Cheryl Derbyshire introduced us as visitors at Bangkla Baptist Church using their Thai language. We could not understand anything except a few words including “Forest Park” and “Missouri.” We did, however, understand her swirling hand motions when she explained the tornado. The immediate recognition on the faces of the congregation was obvious as she spoke of Joplin.
• She told of a team that thought so highly of the Thai people they were willing to…

Dateline: Bangkla Baptist Clinic in the Province of Chachoengsao

Housekeeping items first:

• There was no Day 2 update because we were in the air crossing the International Date Line.
• We are exactly 12 hours ahead of the U.S. Central Time Zone. Just change am to pm, and you will know what time it is here.
• We traveled for 34 hours and 28 minutes from driveway in Missouri to the driveway in Thailand. Our longest flight was 10 hours from Seattle to Tokyo. It was followed by a “short” flight of 6 hours from Tokyo to Bangkok.
• When you see references to “Doug” or “Cheryl,” remember that they are a couple who came to Thailand 19 years ago after Doug finished medical school in the U.S. They have served as Baptist missionaries in this community of 25,000 as directors of the Bangkla Baptist Medical Clinic. Doug has a Thai doctor…