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how it works

TITLE: Esteemed | Previous Challenge Entry
By Marlene Custer
05/04/22
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Our first trip to Asia brought many unexpected experiences. My assignment was to teach Tribal children English at a Thai public school. Because I had a Thai teacher as a co-worker, who was quite competent in English, the assignment went well. After being in Thailand a few weeks, we were taken to a Hilltribe village for a Sunday morning Worship service. We were there early, and after stretching our legs a bit, we slipped into the little church and sat down about two-thirds of the way from the front. It wasn’t long until several villagers came to us and motioned for us to take a front-row seat. I started to protest, saying our present seats were just fine, but our hosts said, “No, they really want you to sit on the front row.”

Some months later, at another church, we were ushered to seats on the platform—right behind the speaker. No sleeping in that service!

But probably the most humbling to me was when we accompanied the school children to a special competition at another school. As my husband and I walked around admiring the art work and other entries, we saw a window where coffee was being served. Oh, that seemed like a great idea. When we approached the window and requested coffees, the servers began searching the cupboards. We wondered what the problem was; we could see a generous stack of paper cups right by the coffee pot. Soon they returned to the window and handed us our coffee in nice china cups and saucers! We wavered between being grateful and being embarrassed.

We were in Thailand only a year so we didn’t get complacent about the preferential treatment. I wonder—if we were there longer would we get used to it, or worse, come to expect it? While the Apostle Paul admonishes the Thessalonians to respect those that work hard among them and hold them in highest regard (1 Thessalonians 5:12, 13 NIV), he also warned the Romans, “Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought.” (Romans 12:3 NIV). I believe Paul is teaching us that there is a balance.

I will always count it a great privilege to have lived and worked among the Thai people. They are forever in my heart!

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