‘Rent-A-Friend’

Wuttichai Jaisuasu (Wuut) and Gaan Yotisarn are Thai WYAM missionaries.  For about $6 a day – plus covering their share of the food, room and travel costs, I had a Thai ‘friend’ travel with me to the four locations in Thailand where the September 2007 World Race teams were assigned.

with the September 2007 World Race Team

Wuut is 24 years old.  He grew up as a Buddhist.  Wuut has one semester to go before completing a communication degree from the state university in Bangkok.  It is Wuut’s dream to minister with the Muslims who live in southern Thailand.

with Wuut at a Hindu Temple Ruin

Wuut and I traveled by overnight bus with team Beloved One to Buriram – where we spent four days. Roger – the host for team Beloved One, took us to a place where there are elephant shows.  Roger also took us to an ancient Hindu temple ruin.  Early the day after we got to Buriram with team Beloved One, we traveled for two hours in a very comfortable van to a community center which was completing a two day camp where English was being taught.

an Elephant Walking Over Wuut

Team Beloved One Pariticipating in the Closing Exericises

of a Two Day Camp in Learning to Speak English

Wuut and I took a train from Buriram to Sikhoraphum to spend three days with team ignite.  It was Wuut’s first time to ever ride in a train.  Wuut had never visited the Buriram and Sikhoraphum regions before.  During our time in Sikhoraphum, we went with ignite to two grade schools where team ignite taught English in different classes.

A grade school near Sikhoraplum

Jeanette teaching English in a Thai Grade School

After spending time with team Beloved One and team ignite, Wuut and I returned to Bangkok. Because Wuut had to take several exams the following week, Gaan became my next ‘rent-a-friend’.  Gaan is 26 years old.  He was married about two months before we left for Ratchaburi and to spend time with team seven:eleven.  Gaan’s wife left for Indonesia – for a YWAM training conference there, the day after we left for Ratchaburi.

Enjoying a Seafood Dinner with Gaan

Because Gaan was able to use one of WYAM’s vehicles – a covered pickup, we were mobile.  When the hosts for team seven:eleven scheduled a work day at a pastor’s home that was located about two hours away and because it would have been a really tight to fit into the host’s SUV, Gaan and I headed to the nearest beach where we spent several hours enjoying an empty Gulf of Thailand beach.  We also went to two floating markets.

Gaan’s Pickup That Took Ten Adults, Two Children and All Our Luggage

on a Five Hour Trip from Kanchanaburi to Bangkok

a Floating Market Near Ratchaburi

While Gaan and I were in Ratchaburi, seven:eleven taught English to some nurses at the local hospital.  After four days in Ratchaburi, Gaan and I headed for Kanchanaburi to spend time with team L.E.S.S..  On the way to Kanchanaburi, Gaan stopped at the railroad bridge which is infamously remembered as the ‘Bridge over the River Kwai’.

Team seven:eleven Fellowshipping with Their Host Couple

While with team L.E.S.S., we slept under mosquito nets in an elevated, open structure that is someday to be a house.  Team L.E.S.S. had spent some of their time at a nearby grade school – helping out with painting the school.  The day that team L.E.S.S. left in Gaan’s pickup to return to Bangkok, Thailand’s Princess visited this very rural school.

My Home Under The White Mosquito Netting for Four Nights in Rural Kanchanaburi

Eating a Meal with Team L.E.S.S.

The real bonus from being with each September 2007 World Race team is now being able to visualize each team as they live and as they function together as a communal family.  I was challenged by the genuine hunger that the young men and women on the September 2007 World Race have to become radical, transformed Christ-followers.  They are impassioned to have their lives used through simple presence and through their faith to have lives eternally effected in the countries where they are in during their World Race.  I was also challenged by the sacrificial commitment that Wuut and Gaan have made to be YWAM missionaries in order to pass on to their own people the Good News.

September 2007 World Race Team Leaders: (from left to right)

Mark Newland – seven:eleven

Kyle Crimi – L.E.S.S.

Heather Trimble – Beloved One

Molly Garner – ignite

Wuut with A Couple of Boys Who Live at Roger’s Orphanage

Gaan on a Gulf of Thailand Beach