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April 15, 2006
Dear Friends,
I have just returned from a week of rest and relaxation in Christchurch,
New Zealand. I recommend it as a wonderful experience.
A week ago I celebrated Palm Sunday in the cathedral in Christchurch.
This cathedral is what the town was built around years ago, and
it remains the center. The seating capacity is for more than 1,000.
The male choir and the organ music were a real treat for me, something
that I miss in Thailand. The congregation was made up of regulars
and tourists and all were made to feel welcome and important in
the service. We were invited to join in the palm parade, without
any practice, which was to occur halfway through the service.
With this invitation came the comment that this event had probably
not been without some confusion when it first took place.
Included in the service was a dramatic reading, with several
voices of the congregation and the full congregation as the crowd
response, reading Matthew 26. It was very powerful. The service
also included Communion, in which everyone went to the front.
In this Episcopalian service there was a great deal of response
from the congregation. The native Maori language was written and
sometimes included in responses and prayers. I could not always
keep up but never mind, and I knew no one there but felt truly
included. It was a most meaningful service. I hope yours was too.
While in New Zealand I visited with friends who had worked in
Chiang Mai twenty years ago and retired fifteen years ago. The
husband was a gifted piano teacher, and the wife an artist. The
stained glass windows at the seminary were her design. The husband
was diagnosed with a brain tumor in December and his treatment
has left him unable to do much at all. Even so, they took me on
a car tour of the surrounding area and a picnic lunch overlooking
the crater of a volcano. It was very evident that these wonderful
folks have put themselves in God’s hands.
While in Christchurch, I also met up with two young former teachers
from Chiang Mai International School. We visited for a few hours,
catching up on each other’s lives. They are both happy with
their present teaching situations but are grateful for their two
years working in Thailand. People seem to become family quickly
when they work together here. Meeting up with folks who you once
worked with here in Thailand is always fun.
Now that I am back in Chiang Mai I am readjusting to the heat.
It is the hottest time of year and the Songkran festival is taking
place. For five days, (three, officially) everyone throws water
on each other all over town. Older folks and teens sit in the
back of pick-up trucks using metal barrels to hold quantities
of water or huge squirt guns to soak whoever they pass. Small
children will be standing at the side of the roads with buckets
and dippers ready to splash the motorcycles and cars that pass
by. These days, some use garden hoses and just stand there with
a steady stream shooting water on whatever and whoever goes by.
This is all done in good humor and in the spirit of fun. Traditionally,
sprinkling water on someone’s head and hands is a blessing
and a sign of respect. This formal service is also part of this
holiday. People go to the temple to bless the monks. Students
at schools will pour water over teachers’ hands.
Tomorrow is Easter Sunday. I plan to go to First Thai Church
situated across from the river. This is often where people fill
up containers for the water throwing. To accommodate this, First
Church changed the time of their service to nine, hoping to avoid
all the holiday traffic. The service will not be very much like
last week’s, but I’m sure it will be meaningful too.
School resumes on Monday and I look forward to seeing my students
again and hearing all about their travels and holidays. I am thankful
for the time away and feel refreshed and ready for the next months
ahead.
Again let me say thank you for your continued prayers and concern
for mission. My best to you.
Michal Dobson
The 2006 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 122
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