Jim Larson's ThoughtsJim Larson's ThoughtsThoughts of a Christian pastor-missionary who works, along with his wife, to help women out of Thailand's sex industry Articles
Two daughters
2008-05-29 19:50:00 Last night I had dinner with two of my adult daughters. One just finished college with an education degree. The other only finished 7th grade, but has been working towards her G.E.D.. One is happily married. The other is single with two children, and has had many relationships. One looked healthy and bright. The other, just coming out of a bad addiction relapse, looked gaunt and beaten, with even a tint of jaundice. One grew up in our home, nurtured and provided for. The other grew up with alcoholic parents including a father who would beat and kick her, at least until she left home at age 13. One will find a good job when she goes back to the U.S. The other can barely hold a job. Our daughter Anna is visiting from the U.S. for three weeks. Besides hanging out with us and being a refreshing encouragement, she is helping with the ministry and brushing up on her Thai. She and her husband Ben plan to return in two years ... More About: Daughters
Leaders in training
2008-05-29 04:40:00 Last week we sent Gai, Miaw and their daughter Chompu to the northern province of Payao, where Gai and Miaw have enrolled in the Payao Bible College. Gai and Miaw's desire is to complete degree program that includes four years of study and a year internship, then serve in ministry, possibly with our own Servantworks team. It was just 3 years ago last January that we met Miaw, then a timid 17 year-old, in front of a bar in one of Bangkok's red-light areas. I still shudder to think where she might be if that meeting had never occurred. Gai as well has had his own struggles with addictions. Both however are extremely bright and talented, and we expect will someday be leaders of many. Meanwhile we pray for their adjustment to a rigorous study program. Payao students work to support themselves, including growing rice in the colleges own field, so Gai and Miaw's overall cost for tuition, room and board is only about $200 per... More About: Training , Leaders
Not time yet
2008-05-18 18:29:00 We all wonder what it must be like to die. I caught a bit of a taste yesterday. I took Gai and Miaw, a young couple in our program, along with Bpop and Bpon, two single guys who have been spending with us, to do a small roofing project at Miaw's grandmother's house in the Lopburi province. We were mainly going to replace a lean-to tin roof in front of the house, but the main roof, made from used bituminous tiles, also had some unplugged holes. Bpop and Bpon were building framing for the lean-to, so I got the caulk gun out to patch the holes in the main roof. "Can I walk on that?" I asked Bpop. "How much to you weigh?" "About 65 kilograms." Ok, that was a bit light. I actually hang right at about 67kg, or 147lbs. "Yeah it will hold." "Ok." So up I went. I tread lightly, trying to stay on the seams, and patched some holes. No problems. I asked Miaw to ... More About: Time
No hitter
2008-05-13 17:06:00 Sorry about this one--doing what a parent has to do. Anna graduated with an education degree a week ago Sunday, finishing with a perfect 4.0. I teased her all they way through about getting a no-hitter. Like any no-hitter in baseball there were close calls.
Recent highlights
2008-05-13 01:40:00 Ok, It's been a long time again. I find that sometimes I just need time off--too often I find myself writing a blog entry late at night. Here are some recent highlights: Went back to Buriram for a day with Stephen and Sandi Freed of International Teams . Center 4 has a new loom, and the hardworking women there are cranking out silk and cotton fabric for handbags. The $200 investment should increase their production efficiency two or three times over their old homemade equipment. Pear, our wayward 14 year-old, has called a few times. Her father died in a motorbike accident earlier this week, so she has come back for the funeral. We saw her briefly--she obviously felt awkward, but clearly had not learned her lesson, thinking she can just live a free life as an adult. Tonight she called, saying that she wants to come back and be in school. However it may be too late, and in Thailand you can't start school mid-year. We'r... More About: Highlights , Recent
Just the beginning
2008-04-16 18:00:00 Our family went to Buriram Sunday-Tuesday, over the Thai Songran holiday. At The Well Center 4, Prang blew us away yet one more time with her servant heart. This time she and her team had put together an event to bless senior adults in her village. It was completely the team's own initiative and expense--nothing came from The Well's budget. The Center 4 team served a meal, gave a short presentation about the love of Jesus, gave me an opportunity to talk about that topic as well, then gave each honored guest a blessing with water in the Songkran tradition, a shirt or vest that the team had sewn, and a small cash gift. This is what we started The Well for, to see women bringing Jesus to their communities. It made me feel like our 3 1/2 years so far in Thailand were just an introduction, that the real thing is just beginning. Prang and team sing a song. Judy and I bless some folks with water. As cool as Michaela is,...
Culture shock
2008-04-13 03:08:00 Pear has been gone for a week now. Apparently she had been planning her escape for some time, and has covered her tracks well. No one seems to know where she is. She did show up briefly at her mother's on Tuesday, but rather than grabbing Pear and sitting on her, her mom just asked if she was going to call me and casually let her go. The other day Bpon and her little brother helped me look for Pear. We walked up On Nut Soi 10, Pear's childhood hangout. Soi 10 is a busy narrow street with absolutely no sidewalks--more like an alley. I was carrying my computer bag, and had to hold it in front or behind to keep it from being bumped by a passing car. I am not kidding. I thought to myself, “What kind of culture builds streets like this?” We found Pear's father's home. His landlord was there, said he had not seen Pear. Then her father walked up, sporting a fresh tattoo on his lower left leg, ... More About: Culture , Shock
Not forgotten
2008-04-07 02:36:00 Usually when I don't get a post up in a while it's not because there's nothing to tell, rather too much. Besides that, when there's too much to tell it also means I've been busy. When you deal with the poor, there's always a crisis somewhere. Here are a few of the issues that have come our way in the last couple of weeks. 1. Pear ran away again. I am so bummed. She was to go on a 3-day excursion with her mom. We sent her to her mom's home Friday night, but on Saturday found out they didn't go because her mom couldn't get off work, and that Pear had gone. 2. A young couple we married a month ago had a major fight right at one of our centers, that included her chasing him with a scissors. Afterwards she said she really wanted to kill him. We're still working through that one. 3. A 19 year-old single mom has a loan shark debt that her ex-boyfriend got into, that requires her to p... More About: Forgotten
Fun with language
2008-03-25 17:23:00 I found this on a friend's Facebook page. fi yuo cna raed tihs, yuo hvae a sgtrane mnid too Cna yuo raed tihs? Olny 55 plepoe out of 100 can. i cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it dseno't mtaetr in waht oerdr the ltteres in a wrod are, the olny iproamtnt tihng is taht the frsit and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it whotuit a pboerlm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Azanmig huh? yaeh and I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt! Fascinating--I can read that easily, but this, John 5:19 in Thai, to me is laborious: And Sunday I hope to give a whole message in Thai for the first time. Sigh. We'll see if I make it. More About: Language
My day before Easter
2008-03-23 06:04:00 I was hoping for a light day including some time with Sam but here we don't hope too much for that sort of thing. Here are yesterday's main activities, roughly in order of occurrence: Lent 1000 baht (about $32) to a student who called at 7am asking for help to get to a doctor. He'd had a nasty stomach ache for a few days, getting worse. We tend to take Jesus literally when he says to give to people who ask to borrow from us, unless they develop a bad track record. Hardly anyone has. Did some straightening around the house, collected dirty clothes for laundry. We have a helper who does laundry and general cleaning for a few hours on Saturdays. Judy and Jaimie were away at the beach with Heather and Hannah Hook, visiting from the U.S. Tried unsuccessfully to fix our front sliding screen door, which had fallen off its track and was scratching the floor. We rent, but tenants here are generally responsible for most ... More About: Easter
Beyond borders
2008-03-21 16:14:00 The other day Ohn returned from the nearby country where she was born, which for political reasons I will not name here. She went there last month to get her birth certificate and passport. Ohn is one of our older students, who before she joined us nearly 3 years ago spent 16 years working the Western night scene in Bangkok. She lived nearly all her life with no papers, and therefore attended very little school. However Ohn is very bright, talented and self-educated. Returning to her home village for the first time since age 6 naturally felt strange. She had not even seen her mother in 10 years. “I felt lonely, afraid,“ Ohn says. “I couldn't believe those were my relatives.“ But more than that, from the first day she saw that her village of 400 homes was full of brokenness and the negative effects of modern poverty. Drugs, drinking, gambling and teen sex are the norm. “Every teenager uses ... More About: Borders
Head bashing
2008-03-17 01:27:00 Yesterday when Plah went to visit her family in Bangkok, her aunt sprung the news that there was a Western guy ready to pay good money for her. Plah is an intelligent, 92-pound 17 year-old with bright round eyes and full lips setting off an oval baby face. She would hold her own in a cuteness contest with anyone on the planet. Plah came to Bangkok with her family not long ago and was taken to work at a bar. It only took a day on the job for Plah to decide it wasn't for her. She came to The Well, followed shortly after by her 16 year-old sister. Once again Plah was faced with standing up to her family--an incredibly tough task in East Asia where family loyalty is everything. She flatly turned down the offer, prompting her aunt to fly into a rage. Plah's aunt threw her down, fell on her and whacked her head against the floor, causing a minor concussion. Then she ripped off Plah's shirt and called the neighbors to ... More About: Head
Miracles
2008-03-11 15:47:00 I promised an update about the fun things Prang and Michaela are seeing at The Well Center 4 in Buriram. Michaela thankfully has written it for me . We now have close to 60 enrolled in 4 centers. The latest newcomer--a 19 year-old whose boyfriend took off just when their son was born 2 months ago. Without a miracle we're soon going to have to start turning people away--out of space, short of workers, funding getting tight. It's a nice problem to have, but we're praying for that miracle. More About: Miracles
Forced rest
2008-03-07 17:31:00 I started getting a scratchy throat 2 weeks ago. That turned into a fever and I think the worst, most persistent sore throat I've ever had, lasting 3 days. Swallowing was torture--I was actually learning to avoid it. Only a double dose of ibuprofen made it tolerable. It looked irritated, not infected, but I started on amoxicillin just in case. The sore throat went away, but I've still been fighting bouts of low-grade fever for the last week. All together I missed 5 days of work, and was only 50% when I was working. I know that calls for medical attention, but to be brutally honest I am not much for going to doctors. I'm better now. So for better or worse, while I have had some forced rest over the last 2 weeks, it only meant Judy had to work harder. Last night she exclaimed, "The Well is my entire life." Yeah, I know. There have been some extra discouragements lately. We've b... More About: Forced , Rest
Goodbye Larry
2008-02-28 20:26:00 I just found out that Christian rock pioneer Larry Norman passed away last Saturday, February 24 at age 60. Welcome home, Larry. Thanks so much for taking back the good music. I could mention a lot of Larry's songs that inspired me, but probably none more than this one: I am a servant, I am listening for my name I sit here waiting I've been looking at the game That I've been playing and I've been staying much the same When you are lonely you're the only one to blame I am a servant, I am waiting for Your call I've been unfaithful so I sit here in the hall How can You use me when I've never given all How can You choose me when You know I quickly fall So You feed my soul and you make me whole And you let me know You love me And I'm worthless now but I've made a vow I will humbly bow before You Oh please use me, I am lonely I am a servant, getting ready for my part There's been a chang... More About: Goodbye
Woman at the well
2008-02-26 17:54:00 Dan Hennenfent from Cup of Cold Water sent me a link to this video made by Student Life, posted on Godtube. More About: Woman
Servant working
2008-02-21 16:45:00 Even though The Well is the main ministry of Servantworks, we began it with a bigger purpose--to tell the story of regular people doing irregular things, following the example of Jesus. Our good friends Matt and Heather Hook have been leaders by example from the beginning--not just in Matt's role as past president, but as people living out the priorities of Jesus in a neighborhood most would choose to stay away from. Here's a nice article about them in their local suburban newspaper. One correction: Prang has a 12th grade education, not 6th. More About: Working
Home at last
2008-02-14 16:49:00 We were eating French toast this morning when a short figure with tousled black hair and pink pajamas appeared at the kitchen door. Pear said nothing, only smiled warmly and lifted her hands and a wai, the traditional Thai greeting. She joked, or rather teased with us for a couple minutes, then left to get dressed. I've written about Pear in several posts since we met her about 6 months ago. She was adorable from day one with her button nose, disobedient wavy hair and impish gregariousness. "I want her!" exclaimed Judy. At the same time she was wild, acting out the chaos of her unmanaged and unloved life. She will soon be 14, but has already had far too many experiences a child should never have. At first she stayed at one of our women's centers but did not thrive. She talked often of wanting to run away and sometimes did take off with permission. One of those nights she ended up being raped by an older teen. ... More About: Home
Help
2008-02-14 01:27:00 We have had a sudden growth spurt and now have more than 50 students between 4 centers. Means more funding pressures, worker pressure. If my numbers are right we now have 15 girls age 17 or under. Not all came from bars, but all are at risk. Tuesday we accepted a 40 year-old with a 2 month-old baby. Yesterday a wayward 18 year-old came back. I lay awake nights wondering what to do next.
Yet another
2008-02-11 01:33:00 The sad stories just keep coming. Saturday night I met a widow with 6 young children. Her husband had died the day before. She looked blank, forlorn, with puffy eyes from weeping. Around her lay 3 of her beautiful children, trying to sleep. Once in a while one girl would scratch her lice-infested head. About 100 people were gathered at the wake at the Buddhist temple in the Uthai Thani province. It is a very poor community; this family has a small one-room house on a tiny plot. The visitors were quite busy drinking and playing cards. I was told there would be no collection to help this poor woman, neither now or in the future. Thinking about our already overspent budget both with The Well and personally, I kept remembering Isaiah 58:10 --"if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry...." There was no question. I gave her about $90 through Ouey, a student of ours who is her relative. Ouey explained it was b...
The road to dignity, part 2
2008-02-10 22:11:00 The other day I walked into The Well Center 1 for morning worship to see Ohn sitting next to her 8 year-old son that she had not seen since he was 2. Even though he lives in Bangkok with Ohn's father and sister, her father had deliberately kept them apart. Ohn joined us 2 1/2 years ago after 16 years of bar and street life. She was a brand new Christian, but like most who come from that lifestyle, she was very immature and self-centered. While she had made plenty of money in her old life, she used it to support an expensive lifestyle and did not financially support her son. And even though Ohn had extra funds for her first year at The Well because of a sponsor, she still did not sent the support that her father expected. So to spite her, he refused to allow her to see her own son. Over time we began to see Ohn's self-centeredness change to God/other-centeredness. She was an avid student of the Bible from the beginning--reading o... More About: Part , Road , The Road , Dignity
What would you do?
2008-02-06 01:13:00 When Larry Behrens was here 2 weeks ago he left behind a book he'd bought at the airport, Alive , the story of the Uruguayan rugby team whose charter flight crashed in the Andes in 1972, and ultimately 16 survived for 10 weeks. The book is very detailed in its nearly day-to-day account, including the unhappy gore of the survivors' resort to cannibalizing those who had already died. I remember seeing the book in high school but couldn't imagine reading it then. The book gave ample attention to the difficult decision the survivors had to make: to eat dead people, even bodies of their own friends, or die. It was not an easy decision, and did not come without much argument. It began slowly, as survivors kept praying and hoping for a rescue, and with almost no food at their disposal, began to suggest the unthinkable. Even many days after the reluctant decision was made, some survivors would do the best they could to avoid partaking...
The road to dignity
2008-02-05 01:09:00 June woke up yesterday at 4:15am, excited about her first day on her new job at Western Digital, the hard disk manufacturer. June is nearly 27, but this is the first "real job" that she has ever had. Our staff are skeptical--June is not known for dependability. Even while much improved recently after a few months in addiction rehab, her work habits at The Well were anything but stellar. She would often complain of head and stomach aches and want to take time off. How in the world would she be able to stand up to a real factory job? June insisted she could do it, and rented a room near the factory, about an hour north of Bangkok. June came to us nearly 3 years ago out of jail, at age 24. Her story is one of the most difficult we have seen. Beaten and neglected as a child, on her own from age 13, June grew into fighting, prostitution and drugs. Her life, she says, had no value, no meaning, no dignity. Her first ch... More About: Road , The Road , Dignity
Eastern European women
2008-02-04 01:29:00 We're always overwhelmed, always seeing something that we wish we could do more about. One of our volunteers last year through Adventures in Missions, Elizabeth Scaife, wrote this post about encountering some of the Eastern European women who are trafficked into Thailand to work at night. The Nightlight ministry has done some outreach to them, but I know they feel overwhelmed the same as we do. I put this image in for effect, but it's actually borrowed from http://blog.kievukraine.info/2007_07_01_a rchive.html. More About: Women , Eastern European
How to upgrade
2008-02-03 02:33:00 Foolishness may not pay, but ignorance can. I meant to tell this story a long time ago after I first heard about it, but forgot. When Prang went to the U.S. last October she flew by herself. Naturally she was quite nervous, but we reassured her and gave her detailed instructions for changing planes in Tokyo, her only real challenge. However we left out one detail that was too obvious for us to think of: assigned seating. For her first flight to Tokyo, Prang boarded the plane and sat down at the first seat she saw available. No one else came to claim it, and according to her description, it happened to be first class. First class was full on the next flight, so she ended up in business class. It wasn't until Prang and Michaela flew together from Chicago to Houston that Prang's error/blessing was discovered. Naturally Prang was embarrassed--we just thought it was a fun blessing from Heaven.
Moving on
2008-02-02 17:42:00 The purpose of The Well is not just to help women get on their feet, but to train them as leaders. Slowly, it's happening. Today an email came in from Fern, one of our students who is now in a training program with Youth With a Mission . Here is an excerpt: This week I learnt how to hear God’s voice from Art and Ellen – there is a book about them called “A Walking Miracle”. I have a lot of homework. I have good friends here. Art and Ellen prayed for me last night, and God spoke to them, so when they prayed for me, they knew everything about me even though I never told them. They saw a vision that I had already had plenty of times. It was of a little girl (me) in a dark room alone. Then, in the vision, God reached down and took my hand. He pulled me out of the darkness. Ellen saw the vision, and Jesus sung a song to me through her. When she sung it, I cried a lot. Some of the words were “I love you Fern, I love you Fern...I have loved ... More About: Moving
Catching up
2008-01-22 17:47:00 When you get behind in blogging it's tough to catch up. So here are some quick bullet updates: Nobody bought me the Lamborghini or gave $1.6 million. Maybe next year. The Well now has about 45 students in 4 centers. One center alone has over 20. We've had some ups and downs with trying to prosecute the rape case mentioned in the last post. The police have been unhelpful--we ended having to investigate the case ourselves. We believe we have enough evidence to pursue it--we've established where it occurred and that it could have happened within the period of time when the 3 guys claimed they went to fill their pickup up with fuel while our girl was in the back. Prang and Michaela are bustin' out with The Well Center 4 in the Buriram province. School teachers who used to tell kids not to go to Prang's house because of her Christianity are now friendly. Local government officials are supportive...
My Christmas thought for this year
2007-12-25 19:26:00 On Sunday I looked into the eyes of an accused rapist. He was afraid, angry and defensive at the accusation, trying to convince me that he had an alibi, that his 16 year-old accuser had fabricated the whole thing. To my knowledge all evidence, including medical, says he did it. The victim and her counsel have only to say the word, and he and his 2 brothers will be arrested, perhaps this week. She is currently working through the tough decision to press charges. If convicted, they could get 20 years. Their mother and girlfriends are afraid as well. One has a child. Another is 7 months pregnant. “They're not bad boys,“ the women say. “They've never hurt anyone.“ They don't know that another girl is now making a similar accusation, and tells me she believes that others have been abused as well. Sin hurts both victims and perpetrators, wrecking lives, families and societies. It's brutal and ugly. Eve... More About: Christmas , Thought , Year
All I want for Christmas
2007-12-22 11:27:00 You can buy me this Lamborghini Reventón for $1.6 million. Or you can sponsor a woman with one child to leave or avoid prostitution for $1500 for one year. If you read this blog, you know my clear preference. Ok, I suppose we could raffle the Lamborghini for say 2 million and rescue 1,000 women or so. Yeah, that would be cool. More About: Christmas
War and peace
More articles from this author:2007-12-10 18:35:00 We're always fighting a battle somewhere. We win some, we lose some. Most are ongoing--we advance, then retreat, then advance. Three stops forward, sometimes one back, sometimes three, then a half forward, etc.. We often live with the conflicting feelings of euphoria and heartache at the same time. I had always thought “heartache“ was a metaphorical word, but sometimes I have walked around with a literal ache in my chest, grieving over the bad choice that one of our “loved ones” has made, such as when Gait recently ran away, and we are sure she relapsed in her addictions. But at the very same time I might be floating from excitement when someone makes a good choice, such as when Pear decided to come back after a few weeks serving men at a night-time “restaurant”. I know what Jesus meant when He said how much Heaven whoops it up when a broken person says “Enough. I'm coming home.” We ar... More About: Peace , War and Peace 1, 2, 3, 4 |
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