A funny thing happened the other day in my Church History class -- not funny 'ha, ha', but funny 'odd'. We had a discussion. Students actually expressed ideas and personal opinions. Now in America that is not such a big deal, but in Thailand it is. Thais are taught to respect their teachers, which means in part that you don't want to show them up by asking questions. Asking a question might imply that the teacher had not been clear. Thai education has also been mostly rote learning so personal expression is not particularly valued. This can be somewhat frustrating for us missionary educators.

The course is Asian Church History. The day's topic included teaching about the missionary techniques of a particular worker in India. He concentrated his work on children. After I talked about his strategy and the results, I asked, "Well, what do you think. Was it a good idea or not?" Silence – not unexpected. Then I tried a different tact. "Suppose," I asked, "you were going to start the first church in a village, would you think it better to concentrate on children or adults." Much to my surprise, I had six different responses in a class of about twenty students.

One of the reasons I am in Thailand is to help future leaders in the Thai Church to think personally and seriously about issues that will impact the Church in the following decades. That day was a good start for these second year students. Thank you, Lord.