One of the greatest needs of Thai churches today is the desire and ability to rightly divide the Word of God. 

If you were to visit Thai churches across the Protestant and Pentecostal spectrum, you would often hear sermons that are only loosely connected to the Bible. There are many self-help sermons, allegorical sermons, and rousing exhortations to serve God and receive his blessings. Many sermons are topical, meaning that the preacher has chosen a topic that he wants to preach on and then has sought out a Bible passage (or passages) that support what he wants to say. In church small groups, it is common for Christians to read the Bible together and then immediately ask, “What does this mean for me?” instead of first asking, “What does this passage mean?”

Learning Thai is no simple task.

For those of us who’ve spent a considerable amount of time climbing this Everest, I’m sure you can attest to this reality. While there are certainly a number of noble reasons for learning a new language, doing so “for the sake of elect, that they also may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory”(2 Tim. 2:10) is most commendable.

In the midst of your struggle to acquire Thai in order to be a witness for Christ, remember that the struggle of language is to be counted among the various difficulties endured for the sake of gospel. Jesus died the one big death for us & for our salvation. Now, we die little deaths in the day-to-day for the promotion of his kingdom in the world (1 Cor. 15:31). As we battle to learn Thai, a kind of death is at work in us so life can be at work in others (2 Cor. 4:12). Love calls us to pursue the other. Therefore, we don’t wait for Thai people to learn our language so they can hear the gospel. Rather, we step out & seek to learn their language first. We go to them first. In so doing we reflect the image of the one who didn’t wait for us to come to him (we never would’ve!), but rather came down to seek & save us first.

Although there is ultimately no silver bullet to learning the Thai language, there are various tips & tricks that can certainly aid in the pursuit. The following list of bullet points (in no particular order) is not exhaustive, but I hope it can be of some assistance to you as you work away at the language for the good of Thai people & the glory of God in Christ. I’ve also included a small sampling of feedback from Thai language learners who were asked what they would do differently if they could start learning Thai all over again.

If you know anything about cross-cultural missions work, you probably know that langauge learning is really important. How else can you share the Gospel if you can say things that people understand?  However, culture learning is sometimes overlooked. In the short video below, I highlight one of challenging aspects of language learning.  If you are from a Western country and are working in East Asia, you will probably be able to relate.  If you've never lived in Asia or some other part of the world that has a high-context culture, let me reassure you that what you are about to see really happens.

If you like reading more than watching, scroll down for the video transcript.  But keep in mind, the video is more fun.

If you don't see a video above, click here to watch on YouTube

The nineteenth century was an amazing time of transition globally as transportation, communication, and science more generally developed rapidly, including in Thailand. Two of my favorite stories from Thai history revolve around the 1868 solar eclipse that was seen in Southeast Asia. I thought about writing about these two stories in a single post but since more and more people are watching videos these days rather than reading, I thought I would make a short video. It turned out to be just over 3 minutes and I have linked it below for your education and entertainment. However, if you prefer reading or happen to be looking at this blog in a place where it would be awkward to turn up the volume on your device, just scroll down to read the transcript. Enjoy!

Click Here to Watch on YouTube

• Doing everything you already do in your everyday life, but do it in a second language that you had to learn as an adult, starting in maybe your 20s or 30s. Even though you may now understand that language fairly well, you often don’t understand 100% of what people are saying and you don’t know how to say 100% of what you want to express.
  
  
• Next, you’re doing your normal life in a culture where people have different ideas than you (and the people who grew up with) about what it means to be on time, how to solve relational issues, ideas of how or what should have authority, and whether communication should direct or indirect, verbal or not verbal. Oh, and the values and expectations of the community at large are different from where you grew up.
  
  
• More than 50% of the stores and products you are familiar with are not available. There are other similar shops and products but they are not quite the same.
  
  
• You are always viewed as an outsider and transient.
  
  
• To simply remain living where you are and doing what you do, you have to annually (or more often) submit a ream of paperwork (with official stamps from multiple branches of bureaucracy) together with fees for you and all members of your family in order to have permission to stay where you are and do what you do. And don’t be too quick to think about quitting your job and getting another one because your permission to stay in the country is tied to that particular job.