As we find ourselves in Thailand for Christmas, the Sports Friends Thai team has been very gracious and hospitable towards us. Last week one of the Thai staff invited us to go Christmas caroling with him and the youth from his church. They picked us up shortly after 6pm for our evening of "Thai style" caroling. When we arrived at the first stop on our caroling tour, I couldn't help but smile at the name of the last song in the song book, Ferliz Navidad (Merry Christmas)! Grinning from ear to ear, I informed Bryan that not only would we be singing a Spanish Christmas song in Thailand, but we would be adding a "R" to the Spanish word Feliz!!! Click on the video below to hear a sampling of the Christmas carols we sung.
We started out by singing to a few families in the slums of Chiang Mai and then climbed back into the cars to head to another location. Though we were cold, we were enjoying singing alongside our Thai brothers and sisters. About 2.5 hours into our Thai Christmas caroling experience, Kim, the SF staff who was taking care of us, turned to us and said "We have twelve houses to go to tonight and that was only house number two!" Then he did what all good Thai people do...he giggled!!! The fun had just begun!
Caroling in the slums of Chiang Mai, Thailand
A curious little girl
Around 11:30 pm we found ourselves singing to a house without any lights on. It appeared as though the occupants had already gone to bed. In the States, waking people up to sing Christmas carols to them would be considered rude, but not in Thailand! Just as we were finishing the couple emerged from the darkness, dancing and singing with us, in their pajamas! They even invited us in for snacks and warm drinks. Bryan and I thought that surely the group would call it quits for the night and start again at a more reasonable hour the next evening, but no - they were sticking to the plan! At this point, Bryan and I were struggling to stay awake, while the youth were still going strong. Around 1:30 am we finally arrived at our final destination about 40 km outside Chiang Mai, our starting location. We huddled around a small fire while we serenaded the final family on our program. After we finished singing, they invited us in for some BBQ. In typical Thai fashion, we sat on the floor eating family style. As the food was passed around, several people told us which dishes to avoid. They must have been thinking "Why waste roasted pig intestine on a farang (the Thai word for foreigner) when they probably will only eat it just to be nice?!?!" :) And at 2:00 am, we were extremely grateful for their thoughtfulness.
After 8.5 hours of caroling, we were frozen, exhausted, and encouraged. How sweet it was to sing about the birth of our Savior along side Thai believers.
After 8.5 hours of caroling, we were frozen, exhausted, and encouraged. How sweet it was to sing about the birth of our Savior along side Thai believers.
The caroling crew enjoying a snack at one of the homes we sang to.
