February 2007

Dear Friends,

The following is a devotional I gave at our all faculty and administrators meeting at Payap University last October. After the meeting I received our first donation for our “Community Dogs Project.” Since this meeting we have put in place a community dogs care team and sterilized over 30 dogs and cats. I also received a call from our president one day asking me to stop the war between the dog lovers and the duck lovers. It seems one of our dogs had attacked a duck that is fed by our secretarial science faculty! I think we have figured out a solution. These creature care concerns are helping me get to know many wonderful people with hearts full of compassion. I think that God’s kingdom is expanding on the campus of Payap University.

Devotional

This morning I want to begin with a question and three Scriptures. The question is, when you hear the word “dog” what comes into your mind? Do you have a basically positive response? Think of your own dog that you love? Or sweet little puppies? Or is your response more negative? Maybe you are afraid of dogs? Or you think they are a nuisance or just cause problems?

Then God commanded, “Let the earth produce all kinds of animal life: domestic and wild, large and small”—and it was done. So God made them all, and he was pleased with what he saw. Then God said, “And now we will make human beings; they will be like us and resemble us. They will have power over the fish, the birds, and all animals, domestic and wild, large and small.” So God created human beings, making them to be like himself. He created them male and female, blessed them, and said, “Have many children, so that your descendants will live all over the earth and bring it under their control. I am putting you in charge of the fish, the birds, and all the wild animals…. God looked at everything he had made, and he was very pleased.
Genesis 1:24-28

Good people take care of their animals, but wicked people are cruel to theirs.
-Proverbs 12:10

We know that in all things God works for good with those who love him, those whom he has called according to his purpose.
-Romans 8:28

Just over a month ago, some dogs were killed on our campus in an aggressive manner, and this upset many students and staff people. Shortly after this event, President Pradit received a fax from the Lanna Dog Rescue organization of Chiang Mai complaining about the incident and offering to help. The writer of the letter is a strong Buddhist, a woman whose faith is important to her, and she encouraged us to apply our Christian principles by caring for the creatures among us and not allowing them to be killed in such a manner. She offered the help of Lanna Dog Rescue to create a solution to the problem of stray dogs on our campus.

So we set up a meeting with the people involved. I had learned about the problems that the dogs can create—danger of disease, biting, noise of barking, and litter after litter of puppies. I was a bit nervous about the meeting—not so sure that we could find a good solution.

As Khun Roshan, the leader of Lanna Dog Rescue began to teach, I learned a lot. She said the problem of stray dogs is not the dogs’ fault. The dogs are being dogs. Human beings have used dogs to help guard their communities for millions of years. We have brought them into our communities. The problem of stray dogs is a problem of human irresponsibility. We do not provide adequate care for them, so they become a nuisance.

Thus, if together we take a bit more responsibility, we can change stray dogs into community dogs—not personal pets, but community dogs. We can form a club or team of those who are especially concerned. Survey the dogs. Dogs are territorial—they generally stay in the same area. Sterilize all of them. (This not only prevents more dogs being born, it reduces aggressiveness, biting, fighting, and noise.) And give them their shots. Regularly check them and treat them for ticks, fleas, and mange. Feed them. Keep this club going for the long term, and over time, you will have no more stray dogs—because you will have changed your stray dogs into community dogs.

Khun Roshan even suggested that Payap University could become an example for other universities and other institutions and communities. This way of dealing with dogs can change not only Payap University, but other universities in our city. It can change Chiang Mai, and maybe even spread all over Thailand. Wow. If we try this, and we are successful, we may become part of a simple but powerful social change movement. We can help make history in Thailand—maybe even the whole region.

As I listened, I had a conversion experience; my fear and anxiety were turned into hope. I saw this big problem as a wonderful opportunity. You may be thinking I am an idiot or silly, but I am quite excited about the possibilities.

This week, we had the first meeting of our new club—a club of students, teachers, administrators, and staff joining together to change our stray dogs into community dogs. The survey has begun. We are working on getting the dogs fixed and getting their shots. We will be organizing teams to care for the dogs in the different areas of the campus. We are arranging for fundraising to care for the dogs. The dream has already begun to take shape. Maybe you would like to become part of this new club or help support with money or food?

What does this have to do with the Scripture? Everything. Scripture teaches us that God made all the creatures of the earth, and God loves them. God made human beings to care for the garden and the creatures. This is our main job. We have the responsibility. If we do not care for the creatures, we are not doing our job. In Proverbs, the writer says clearly that people of virtue care for their animals. We at Payap strive to be a community of virtue. Changing our stray dogs into community dogs is a small simple thing we can do to become more virtuous. In Romans, Paul tells us that God works in every situation to bring about good for those who love God and are working for his purposes.

Last month, when the dogs were killed on our campus and the president received the fax, was a challenging and difficult situation. I was nervous when we had the meeting with the upset students and staff. But God is working with us to change this challenge into a wonderful opportunity to do a new and creative thing in our community.

In our mission statement we say that we seek ethical excellence. Our stray dog problem has become a possibility—for us to become a benchmark community for all the universities of Thailand. We can show our ethical excellence through making a wise, intelligent effort to address the heart of a difficult problem and change it into a source of joy and pride.

Our mission statement says that those who study here will be people who can improve themselves, think creatively, demonstrate virtue, and take responsibility for themselves and others. This problem has given us the opportunity to improve as a community, to learn and to work creatively on a solution, and it is giving us the chance to demonstrate virtue and, most of all, to allow us to take responsibility for these precious creatures.

At Payap we also enjoy working together as people of different faiths for the good of our students and society. This is a project that joins people of all faiths to express compassion and care for these creatures in our midst and have a wonderful impact on society.

God loves us. God loves dogs. We don’t need to be afraid of problems and difficulties. God will work with us through many problems to become a more caring and compassionate community.

Life is never boring in mission in Chiang Mai, Thailand, at Payap University. Thank you for your prayers and concern.

Blessings,

Esther Wakeman

The 2007 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 119