To Go or Not To Go

Today is the 44th anniversary of the day we set out as missionaries to Thailand. July 8th, 1962 was a momentous day in our lives. We were, unbeknown to us, part of the last leg of an era...part of the old breed of missionaries who left families and homelands committed for life to a strange and unseen land. On that day, as the streamers flowed between the ship and the farewellers on land, the tears flowed freely on both sides. As we stood on the deck of the Arcadia, with our twelve-week-old baby boy in our arms, we didn't know if we would ever return or see our families again.

The voyage we were about to undertake was the fulfilment of God's stirrings in our hearts over a period of time. At the age of 21, while studying at the YMCA College in Sydney, I had gone to a missionary meeting to hear Sundah Sing and W.E. Maxwell of the Prairie Bible Institute, and to see "Through Gates of Splendour", the movie depicting the lives and sacrifice of the missionaries killed by the Alca Indians in South America. 2000 young people had filled the Sydney Town Hall. At the end of the movie the challenge was given "Who will go as a missionary for the Lord?" There was very little response. I was convinced that did not apply to me. I was not called or suited to be a missionary, I was sure. Then a second challenge was given. "Who would be willing to go as a missionary IF the Lord should call them?" I remember thinking, "I can't escape that. If the Lord should call me I would be willing". I slowly put up my hand in response. To this day I laugh..."The Lord said, 'I see that hand'!" I returned to New Zealand to experience a wonderful visitation of God in many cities of the South Island where Ron Coady and myself saw hundreds come to the Lord with miraculous healings.

Bunty and I had not yet met at that time, but the Lord was stirring her heart also. She had read the book "CT Studd", about the upper-class English cricketeer who had given up everything - his inheritance and his position - and gone out as a missionary first to China, then India and finally, Africa, founding the W.E.C. missionary organisation. She began attending missionary meetings every Saturday night at the W.E.C. base in Sydney. Every missionary she met and heard speak stirred her heart and she longed to go where people had never heard the Gospel. She would pray day after day "Please Lord, please Lord, send me". Finally, again silently praying this while listening to a missionary speak, the Lord spoke clearly to her heart, "Someday, somehow, somewhere, you will go".

Not long after we were married, we sat out on the small island at Balmoral Beach in Sydney and prayed together, "Lord where do you want us to go. We are willing to go anywhere." He spoke clearly to our hearts, "Just start going and I will show you where." So we began to move. We started to pack up our things and told our family and friends we were going. From that moment on it seemed that every time we turned on the news, or looked at a magazine, or heard someone speak, it was always about Thailand. It soon became very clear to us that that was where the Lord wanted us to go.

We applied at the Thai embassy for visas to allow us to live in Thailand. Thailand at that time was under martial law. We waited and waited and waited but the only visa available was a 3-week visitor's visa. Numerous leaders in the Body of Christ counselled us..."Don't go on a tourist visa. Wait for your permanent visas to come through". We decided to ask the Lord. As we prayed, a peace and joy filled our hearts. His answer was "Go". So, as we set sail on July 8th, with our numerous crates of household goods we had received as wedding gifts, the visas in our passports allowed us only three weeks.

Our journey aboard the Arcadia took us through the Philippines and Hong Kong. Our travel agent had told us that from Hong Kong to Bangkok we were booked on a luxury Scandanavian liner and the voyage would take three days. Nothing could be further from the truth! When the day came to board the liner for the final leg of our journey we were taken across the Hong Kong harbour by row boat to a rusty old cargo ship called the "Hang Yang". A rope ladder was thrown down for us to climb up and on reaching the top we were greeted by a concerned looking captain with the words "They didn't tell us you had a baby"!

Only two other passengers were on board with us...two young Swiss men backpacking around the world. There was no deck to relax on. We had to keep in our cabin for the whole trip, except at dinner time when we ate with the captain sitting at a very rocky table. The cabin was filled with cockroaches. There was no airconditioning and we had to put the specially provided "air catcher" out the porthole to get some air into the cabin. Unfortunately all it caught was the waves and seawater would flood in. We hit a tropical storm and instead of the journey taking 3 days it took 7. Both of us were very seasick. There were absolutely no facilities for the baby...no fresh water to wash his towelling diapers. We had to jettison his nappies out the porthole. We joke about the "golden trail" all the way from Hong Kong to Bangkok...the first disposable diapers. There was no way to sterilize his bottles and Bunty had to go down to the engine room and try to communicate in sign language to the very amused Chinese crew the need to boil them and fill them with boiled water.

It was with great joy - and great relief - the morning we saw the coastline of Thailand and finally arrived in Bangkok. Amazingly, despite all our crates and luggage, the customs men accepted our three-week tourist visa and we disembarked.

Space doesn't permit us to tell of all the Lord's wonderful working in getting us settled in a little Thai house but the biggest miracle was about to happen. Without realising how difficult it would make it, we were foolishly travelling on different passports - mine a New Zealand one, Bunty's British, and David, although officially on Bunty's passport, was an Australian citizen - and so, trying to get a resident visa, I was having to deal with three different embassies. None of them would help until finally, someone in the New Zealand embassy took pity on us. "My secretary is the niece of the General who is in charge of immigration", he said. "I'll see if she can get you an interview". The Lord was at work! With only one day left on our tourist visa the niece was finally able to get me an appointment with her uncle. As I walked into the Immigration Department and was directed to the General's office, I couldn't help but notice the many illegal overstayers behind the barred windows in the rooms along the corridor. Although we had not overstayed our visas (even though we had no funds for our return passage), it was still a little disconcerting to see them imprisoned there. I had been told of the importance of the Thai custom of showing respect by always keeping your head below the one in a superior position. When I opened the door to the General’s office I saw a little man sitting behind a huge desk. I am sure it was a very amusing sight to the angels and to the General himself to see me putting my hands together in a traditional “wai”, lowering my head and waddling on bent knees towards the man at the desk. As I sat down in front of the General’s desk, his first question was a very disheartening one. “Did you see what we do with illegal overstayers as you came along the corridor?” “Yes sir” I said. “You want to stay in our country?” he asked. “Yes sir” I said again. “Your family wants to stay?” “Yes sir”. The General stamped something on his desk, signed it and gave it to me. He had given us a ninety-nine year visa!

This was the beginning of miracles in this era of our lives in Thailand. To follow over the next years were to be many more wonderful miracles and many, many converts to the faith. About these miracles we will share later.

This wonderful answer to our prayers was God giving emphatic confirmation to our willingness to obey Him and our particular calling to Thailand. Obedience is a key for all of us as we seek to respond to God's callings and directions.