A letter from Annette George in Thailand
September 14, 2009
Dear Friends,
Water, water, everywhere — and tears too
I’ve been re-reading a newsletter that I wrote in September 2005. I note that today’s newsletter will need several of the same headings. At that time, I was witnessing the tail of Hurricane Ophelia whip the city where I was staying in the United States while worrying about the flooding in and around my house, school, and neighborhood in Chiang Mai, half a world away. Those raindrops matched my tears of loss—my mother had lost her battle with cancer and passed away in late 2004. As I write this time, I am in Thailand, and we are experiencing monsoon season, which started earlier and with greater intensity than usual. The river is already quite high, with a month or more before the rains should end. We are hoping, praying that it will not be another year of flooding. And it is another year of mourning. My father passed away early this year. I had just returned to Chiang Mai after interpretation assignment, and then it was time to travel again for Dad’s memorial service and precious time with my sister and brother. How grateful I am for my mother’s 78 years and my father’s 86 years on this earth. They were wonderful parents and were an important part of my support team in the United States.
Cell group and classes
After enjoying supper together in my living room, the students dance energetically to a Christian song as part of their “warm-up” for a time of worship and brief Bible lesson.
During our last school year I was in the United States for first semester. Arriving just in time for the start of the second semester, I had to scramble to plan and teach my regular classes and some that I had missed during the first semester. So, my schedule seemed quite full, and I found that the students were equally swamped with schoolwork and extra activities. Last year the school stopped giving classes on Wednesdays, which also meant that Wednesday night wasn’t a convenient time for the cell group to meet. Sadly, the students had not gathered for meetings in my absence. By the time I reorganized the group, there was no weeknight that everyone could be together. The piano majors had a class on Tuesday nights. Band members practiced two nights per week. There were also orchestra rehearsals and a special show choir that had lengthy rehearsals in the evenings once a week, and there were always dress rehearsals and concerts to attend. Some people think that life in a developing country must be slow-paced and easy-going. That is not true in Thailand urban university settings.
Just as we were about to start the cell-group meetings, my father died. I took a leave of absence of three weeks and came back in time to end the semester, with final classes and the frantic writing of exams. This year some students have inquired whether we were going to start up the cell group again. With that encouragement, we began again. Some evenings, only two show up at first, but then four or five more gradually trickle in. Several of the freshmen are interested in learning to bake goodies for the group, so they try to schedule an hour to meet in my kitchen in the afternoon before cell group. We are getting off to a slow start, but I think the group is encouraged by our gathering together.
Progress and plans
We are about to finish the first semester of Payap University’s 35th year. On September 25, the new College of Music will have a grand opening celebration. I will be playing with a harpist (my friend, Judi Utley) in the worship service, and several of my students will be in the evening orchestra performance. Shortly after that, the students will be taking final exams, and I will be preparing for a full-length concert with Judi.
Meanwhile, in the United States, 45 PC(USA) mission workers will be visiting hundreds of congregations to tell how God is at work around the world. It’s called “World Mission Challenge,” and it’s a reprise of a similar event in 2007 that was quite well received by the congregations. If you attend a Presbyterian church, I urge you to check out the Mission Challenge Web site to see if any of my colleagues will be making presentations at your church or one near your home. World Mission Challenge will conclude with World Mission Celebration, a large gathering for Presbyterians who care deeply about mission. The event will be held October 22–24 in downtown Cincinnati, Ohio, at the Hyatt Regency Hotel and the adjoining Duke Energy Center. Call Lis Valle at (888) 728-7228 x5279 for more information.
Truly,
Annette
The 2009 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 110
