August 14, 2007

Dear Friends back halfway around the world,

What’s new in Thailand? Glad you asked. We have an interim government, and those in command are hoping that the citizens will vote in favor of a new constitution that their committee wrote. The Thai schools started a new academic year in June, and I am teaching music therapy, English for musicians, woodwind ensemble, and flute and oboe lessons. Also, I have an unofficial bassoon student, which has given me reason to dust off the poor neglected bassoon again. My puppy is now full-grown, big enough to scare off burglars, but not very convincing, as he usually approaches newcomers with his teddy bear in his mouth.

The rains come down daily, giving us fresher air than the dry half of the year—and clean, beautiful gardens. One visitor from Egypt asked me, “Don’t you overdose on green around here?” We have great flowers and fruits all year round, but the fruit season I love best has just passed; the mangos and mangosteen are my very favorites. In June, July, August, we enjoy lamyai, lynchee, and longan. Sounds like a song, doesn’t it? There is another fruit that abounds this time of year called rambutan. The fruits look like shiny red golf balls with spiky yellow-green spines or “hair” sticking out all around. They are not my favorite fruit for eating, but they sure look pretty on the table.

Speaking of the table, there are usually 10 or 15 students gathered around my great room table for the cell group meetings this year. We stand around the table enjoying the evening meal and fellowshipping before the games, prayers, and worship begin. Standing around a table is not a Thai custom except in cases of potluck meals where the selection is so great that moving around is a necessity. Traditional Thai custom would involve sitting on a mat on the floor and reaching across the mat for toppings for the rice. Modern Thai citizens sit on chairs at tables just as most Westerners do. In the case of the cell group, the chairs would take up too much room—seating only eight, and the selection is large, so we all enjoy floating around the table picking up various foods to go with our sticky-rice balls. I usually offer several raw veggies with sour-cream dip (not Thai custom at all) along with Thai entrees and typical Western cakes or cookies (sometimes bread). A few of the Thai students have begun to ask for baking lessons again (it’s been several years since students wanted to learn my style of baking), so sometimes I have helpers in the kitchen as I prepare for the crowd. We meet on Wednesday nights this year, because Monday nights were taken for a new band practice that involves many of the cell group regulars. So far, only two of this year’s freshman class have been attending, so we’re praying for more interest from that group of students. (You might pray for that too; at least 10 of the 30 freshmen were listed as Christians on the registration cards. If those 10 would show an interest and bring along their non-Christian friends, we could have a revival in the music department!) That would also give us a solid group to carry on next year in my absence. In June 2008, I will be Stateside, doing itineration. When your church or study group begins to make plans for the summer, I would love to be included in your schedules. Last time that I was in the States for a summer, I enjoyed taking part in Bible schools and church camps as well as the more usual presentations to adult groups and congregations.

Now that the school year is in full swing, the schedule is full of concerts. This coming weekend there are four concerts, with two conflicting on Friday night. On Tuesday and Wednesday and the following Friday there are more concerts, several from groups visiting from overseas. Judi and I will play a flute and harp concert on August 25, and then on the following weekend, I will play along with one of her students in that young lady’s junior recital. Who said that life was simple in developing nations? Not in the cities, not anymore. Long-term missionaries tell of times when they would hunger for a classical music presentation—going months without any to attend. But now, the public has to choose between multiple offerings each weekend.

A concert that pleased my heart recently was brought to Chiang Mai by a former student of mine. He had continued his music studies in Bangkok after graduating from Payap University. Now he is the proud owner of a bass flute, which he played along with colleagues and a Japanese professor in a very excellent flute quintet. It is so good to see former students using the skills that we helped them learn. Many of our Payap graduates have become music teachers and performers, and many contribute their skills every Sunday in their churches. The early missionaries brought their church music with them to Thailand 200 years ago. Then, as now, the music is a wonderful attraction that brings people, believers and non-believers, through the doors and into the church. Your contributions have been a part of this process for many years, and the fruit is multiplying, thanks to you and your prayers.

Truly,

Annette George

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