“Going Green”.
One of our closest students, Bank, is very serious about the environment. So serious that he single handedly organized a tree planting event on the campus of Thammasat University. Bank eagerly invited The Grapevine to get involved, so we eagerly did. Bank informed us that he had successfully acquired 888 trees to be planted. We were a bit alarmed at that number, but being the go getting, “do it yourself” Americans that we are, we prepared to spend the whole day digging in the dirt. Of course, most Thai people are not as silly as us Americans and would never burden their good friends with the task of planting 888 trees in one day. When we showed up, the grounds crew had already planted all of the trees, our role was to just scrape mulch over the newly planted roots and pose for pictures. Bank had gotten some help in organizing the event and, in spite of the rain that day, it turned into quite a party complete with refreshments, prizes, and about 100 working class Thais. We were the only ones who came prepared to dig holes and plant trees and, as a result, got some interesting “smiles” from everyone else who were dressed for work that day.
This was one of the most exciting things to happen this semester, thanks to our friend Bank. It was also a great culture learning experience for us Americans who usually go into situations thinking, well, just like Americans. We are often taken back, even those of us who have been here for a while, at just how different things really are here. Hanging out with modern, westernized young people sometimes tempts us to forget that we are in a different world. Thank God for Bank, who gave us an opportunity to be reminded that we are guests here and that most people think, and act, very differently than us.
When it comes to our purpose here, it is a challenge to continually work to get our own culture out of the way of the Gospel so that Thais can see more of Jesus and less of our culture. We pray that the Holy Sprit is constantly “translating” our lives into ones that clearly reflect God’s character, even if we look as silly as we did that day. God bless Bank.
-Andy
