An Unusual Request
By: Mike Bowles, a Pacific Rim Missionary serving in Thailand

“It is better to go to a house of mourning than to go to a house of feasting, because that is the end of every man, and the living takes it to heart.” Ecclesiastes 7:2, NAS.

When Sut Jai’s mom got sick, we volunteered to taxi the family back and forth to the hospital. On Wednesday evening an urgent call came from the hospital. We arrived minutes after his mom had died. I reached over and hugged my friend and told him to let me know if he needed anything.

I sat in the hospital waiting room as Sut Jai made arrangements for his mom’s body. He came over and asked, “Can we use your truck to take my mom back to the village?”

I’m still relatively new to Thailand, and I don’t always understand Thai, so I wasn’t sure if I had understood him correctly. Sure enough, he was asking for help transporting his mom’s body. I’ve been asked to help move a lot of things in my pickup, but this was new ground. “Um, sure,” I replied in a semi-state of shock.

First thing I realized was that I needed gas, and I didn’t want to stop at the station with a dead body in the back of the truck. I excused myself and drove to the gas station to fuel up. When I returned, the body was still being prepared for transport. I chatted to pass the time until they told me to drive the truck around back.

In an area next to the trash cans I saw her body laying on a gurney wrapped up in one of the blankets that Amy and I had given out a month ago when it had gotten so “cold” here. As I drove up it dawned on me that I have a short bed pick-up!

The Kui people are not large, but Sut Jai’s mother was about 4 inches too long. “Oh no,” I thought to myself, “Now they’re going to belt her into the front seat next to me.” I quickly suggested that we bend her knees, but it was too late for that. She was already stiff.

Sut Jai and his brother were able to angle her in and prop her head up on the wheel well. The brother was concerned that the wheel well was hard, but Sut Jai pointed out that she was already dead and would not feel it. Since this solved the issue of her sitting up front, I provided a pillow for her head and closed the tailgate.

After a 45 minute drive we arrived at the family’s home. Many had come to wait for the body and mourn with the family. Wailing could be heard as we pulled up. Believe it or not, my tailgate wouldn’t open. That wasn’t going to happen, so I gave the tailgate a mighty heave and yanked it open. The body had gotten fairly wedged in, but with the extra help we were able to remove her. I did not stay to see if she laid flat. I bid my friend good night and told him to please let me know if he needed anything else. After all, it couldn’t get any weirder, right?

The next morning, I was awakened by Sut Jai. He needed to go back to town to get the death certificate and to do other errands for the funeral. I took him and his brother, the monk, around town. We talked (as best I can) about many things both spiritual and cultural.

When we returned he asked me to come in and pay my respects to the dead. This is a touchy area as I did not want to do anything to compromise my testimony or weaken my witness. The Kui light incense sticks and bow in front of the coffin to honor the spirit of the recently departed. It is part of the animistic practice of ancestor worship. My neighbor lit a stick and handed it to me. Not really knowing what to do, I asked him if it would be alright for me to pray to God for his whole family. This I did and everyone, including the monk, seemed quite pleased.

It hurts that I am unable to communicate more deeply with Sut Jai. I want to be able to show him the difference between Christianity and his Buddhist and animistic practices. For now I will have to leave it up to the Holy Spirit to do that part for me. Thai funerals last five days and end with the cremation of the body. I am sure that I will have many more opportunities to help my friend this week. I hope that these opportunities allow our friendship to grow and ultimately to draw him and his family to the love and eternal security of Christ.

Pray that:

Sut Jai and his family will come to faith in Christ.

Mike and other Pacific Rim personnel will continue to be diligent in language study so they can share the hope they have in the heart language of the people.

Pacific Rim is a region of the International Mission Board, SBC.