The God of This City

 We’re still in Changmai this week, heading up the Japanese church here while the pastor takes a much-needed break back in Japan. We were buying food yesterday, vaguely aware that we needed to ‘stock up’ in case the threatening revolution got worse.  Suddenly there was a loud announcement and we could  understand just enough Thai to realise they were saying we  had ten minutes to exit the store. What we didn’t realise  was that in light of the events in Bangkok, there was now a 7PM curfew on all the country. As we drove home, we could see the smoke from fires burning throughout the city of Changmai. Not Bangkok, but the city in the far north where   we thought we were safe. This has been a week to remember. As an American, I’m   not used to being truly frightened by the government, but this week gave me a taste of what it’s like to literally not know what will  happen next to the place you call home or the people you love.  Although we had, as we mentioned last week, safely moved to this town in the far north, we watched the tv with horror as Bangkok burned. We thought of people we knew and tried to reach them, sometimes succeeding, most  times not. Looking around, we wondered what we might need to grab on our way out the door if the word came to evacuate. So far, I don’t think it’s going to come to that, but it does help you evaluate the things you thought were “essential”. 

In the end, Tony and I decided that the only thing we needed to concern ourselves about was our bodies, and maybe our passports. Right after we left Liberia back in 1977, the president was assassinated, and for several weeks, chaos reigned over the whole country. One day, we were told, a bunch of American Marines showed up in a helicopter and said they had could take those who wanted to offshore to a Navy ship and safety. Problem was, seats were limited, and only those with American passports were allowed aboard. As it turns out, our missionaries (includingTony’s parents) decided to hunker down and stay. The only thing Mom really missed was more sugar so she could make cookies for the kids.Down in Bangkok, the young couple who live next door to us were trapped by the fighting, and started their missionary career by being brave and keeping their heads down. I wish I could   be more poetic, perhaps attaching a pithy meaning to all.  this, but I’m still too stunned. In the words of one of the latest songwriters, “You are God of this city, You are King of this nation,You are hope for the hopeless, You Are”. Please Pray for Thailand.

 Marsha and Tony 

O LORD, I say to you, “You are my God.” Hear, O LORD, my cry for mercy. O Sovereign LORD, my strong deliverer, who shields my head in the day of battle—(Psalms 140:6 – 7) 

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