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July 9, 2000
Dear Friends:
On June 5, Payap University began its 27th year. It will be our
15th year at Payap! This year Payap will have over 9,000 students
studying in nine faculties and the graduate school. The beginning
of the academic year is always an exciting time. The year began
with many planning meetings for administrators and faculty. Orientation
for new overseas staff and students, organized and carried out
by Martha’s office, was held on May 30. This year we have
a number of teachers coming to teach at Payap after taking early
retirement in the United States and Australia. These experienced
persons make a valuable contribution to the university, for they
are able to serve as mentors for Payap’s younger faculty
and staff.
During Thai summer this year, we went to the United States to
visit colleges and universities with Dr. Boonthong Poocharoen,
Payap’s president. It was a good trip. We started in Atlanta,
where we attended the meeting of the presidents of the Association
of Presbyterian Colleges and Universities. This meeting offered
President Boonthong an opportunity to meet with the other presidents
and learn of their work. Payap is pleased to have an exchange
agreement with the Association of Presbyterian Colleges and Universities.
This year we sent four Payap professors to four different Presbyterian
colleges in the United States for a two-month immersion experience
in an English-speaking environment. These teachers have now returned
to Payap, and each one is teaching a class in English in his or
her specialty in the Division of International Programs. We are
hoping to repeat this program with four more of our faculty next
spring.
Our trip then took us to Washington, D.C., Maryland, Vermont,
Massachusetts, Michigan, Illinois and Oregon. During this time
we explored possible partner relationships with U.S. colleges
and universities. Discussions included ways that Payap and U.S.
institutions might cooperate in our TEFL (Teaching English as
a Foreign Language) program and in the development of a new medical
school.
After this three-week trip, we took two weeks to see family and
obtain some needed medical care. Age seems to be creeping up on
us. Although we don’t feel old, our bodies are telling us
something different. Martha had successful cataract surgery in
Boston and John was diagnosed with high blood pressure and put
on medication and a diet that does not include salt or his favorite
food, ice cream! He is elated that he has now lost 20 pounds and
plans to lose 20 more by the end of the year.
We had a great week baby-sitting for our then eight-month-old
grandson, Nathan. He is a big boy, and you know it when you have
to climb to the second story to change his diaper many times a
day!
When we returned to Thailand John spent several days in the southeast
of Thailand lecturing to a group of about 20 pastors and church
leaders from Burma, who have been in Thailand and the Philippines
studying the relation between religion and community development.
Next week John goes to the Seattle-Tacoma area with two Thai
professors (one Christian and one Buddhist) to spend three weeks
speaking on interfaith (especially Buddhist-Christian) dialogue
and relations in Thailand. The Greater Seattle Council of Churches
is sponsoring this program. The team is scheduled to speak several
times each day at Christian churches (both Roman Catholic and
Protestant), Jewish synagogues, Buddhist temples, and to meet
with other religious and community groups and leaders. John and
the two others from Thailand will conclude their visit to the
States by attending the international meeting of the Society for
Buddhist-Christian Studies, which will be held this year at Pacific
Lutheran College in Tacoma.
The past several months have been, with the exception of a few
days, delightfully cool. Once again, as was the case last year,
we are experiencing gentle showers almost daily. The ample rainfall
these past two years has helped to produce a bumper crop of delicious
fruits. The farmers are now in the process of planting their rice
crops and the lamyai harvest has already begun. The Thai economy
seems to be slowly picking up following the severe economic downturn
that occurred several years ago. The recovery is not yet complete,
but many of the halted construction projects in Bangkok and Chiang
Mai are now being resumed. This is a good sign.
We have been pleased this past year to host many individuals
and church groups from the United States and other places. Last
year two representatives from the Myanmar (Burma) Council of Churches
spent a week at Payap’s Institute for the Study of Religion
and Culture participating in a workshop on inter-religious relations.
And last month the moderator of the Presbyterian Church of Myanmar
spent a week at the Institute.
We invite individuals and groups from the States to visit Payap
University and the Institute. We believe that the best way to
understand and appreciate the church’s global mission is
by studying and experiencing Christian work firsthand in places
such as Thailand. Thailand offers a unique opportunity to consider
and re-evaluate the nature and mission of the Christian church
in a religiously plural world. Programs provided by the Institute
for the Study of Religion and Culture are designed to allow visiting
individuals and groups to see and experience firsthand the work
of the church in this area and to re-think how Christian faith
is related to various other forms of religious faith. Any of you
who might be interested in arranging for a two- to three-week
visit by members of your church or community should contact John
at the Institute.
We thank you for continuing to support our work with the Thai
people and with the Thai Christian and Buddhist communities. May
God enrich your lives with an increased sense of meaningfulness
and fulfillment as you seek to be faithful to God and to serve
others.
Sincerely yours,
John and Martha Butt
The 2000 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 158
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