Blessings in Bangkok

“Two weeks in Bangkok? WHY?!”

That’s been the response we’ve gotten from several people when we shared our travel plans. As far as touristy activities go, Bangkok does not merit that long of a stay.

But Bangkok offered a lot more to us than just popping in a few wats and shopping malls (though it has plenty of both). Bangkok was a place for spending time with friends…

Good friends:
Our timing for Bangkok was amazing. Our good friends, Allison and Wade, who live in China (we visited them for Christmas) have been in Bangkok for about six weeks eagerly anticipating the arrival of their first baby! We rolled into town on a Saturday afternoon, and Stephen Michael made his grand entrance into the world on Monday evening.

Stephen weighed in at about 9 pounds… big baby!

It was such a treat for us to be able to visit Wade, Allison and Stephen while they were still in the hospital, and to share a few meals in their apartment. We know in our time away traveling we’ve missed being around for the births of many of our friends’ babies, so it was especially fun to share in the joy of this season with good friends.

Group shot with Stephen and his proud parents.

Old friends:
I (Bethany) lived in Bangkok for a couple of months in 2005 with a summer mission project. I worked with university students, mostly just practicing English and hanging out. So it was a reunion of sorts coming back to Bangkok and reconnecting with Thai friends. Many of the students we worked with have gone their ways, several living abroad. But I was excited to know that the core group was still in Bangkok.

The core group: Wi, Bo, (me, Dave), Sem, Ning and P’Pom. What a blast to catch up with old friends!

We spent one Sunday afternoon just like we did every Sunday of that summer I lived here… we went to the park and several people played frisbee or soccer. Then we followed up with dinner at the same mall we went to every week–Central Lat Phrao. It was great to relive the tradition! But also, our Thai friends took us on a tourist outing to Asiatique, a new night bazaar on the riverfront in Bangkok. We had a lovely evening just browsing the bazaar and soaking up the lively atmosphere.

Enjoying the park.

New friends:
Well, we couldn’t have asked for any better hosts than Martin and Carrie, who so generously opened their home to us for two weeks. That might be the longest that anyone has offered us such hospitality! The Chappell family lives in the heart of Bangkok, where Martin pastors an international church. We were delighted to find out that one service was in English! We were able to spend some time helping out with some of the refugee ministries of the church, as well as getting to know several of the local families. Once again we were reminded that the relationships we build along the way are one of the greatest gifts of this journey.

The Chappell family: Cody, Carrie and Martin and us. Such wonderful hosts!

Doctor friends:
What? OK, so this one doesn’t fit quite as well as the others, but to be honest, it was one of the primary purposes of our lengthy stay in Bangkok. Thailand is great because it leads Asia with its hospitals, priding itself in offering Western standard healthcare to the international community in Bangkok and beyond. We knew this would be our best opportunity to get more legitimate testing for Dave’s tummy troubles than what we had in London eight months ago.

We had a great experience at Bumrungrad International Hospital… we could walk there from the Chappell’s house, the standard of care was all we expected, and our doctor was friendly and spoke great English. And the best news? Dave DOES NOT have Celiac’s disease as we had thought! Praise the Lord! We’re so excited. The doctor said he might be experiencing some stomach issues because of damage done by past infections, but it does not appear that anything of other significance is happening in his digestive tract. We are SO grateful that we don’t have to be as restrictive in what we’re eating while on the road. But we continue to believe that many of the changes we made to our diet after the testing in London were beneficial, and we plan to stay focused on eating “real food.” But yes, we did have a celebratory pizza… and it was amazing!

And now, even though the time here has been great, we are ready to hit the road again. It’s time to get moving… we only have a little more than a month left in Asia. The beaches of Southern Thailand and Malaysia are beckoning, as is the United States. That’s right, in about six weeks, we should be on home soil, preparing for our journey back across America. And while we are looking forward to it, for now, we’re enjoying each day we have in Asia.