the flood pt. 4

Since I last wrote a blog post, I have been off in various parts of Thailand vacationing with my good friend Dana.  This was the only week of vacation that we would be able to share together during her five month stay in the country, so we took advantage of it despite the flooding.  We had a delightful time, trekking in the mountains of Chiang Mai and laying on the beaches of Krabi.

While I was gone, however, great masses of flood water moved into Rangsit, the area that I live.  There is at least a foot of standing water in Grapevine and the entire first floor of the building it is in.  Just across the way from Grapevine, the the first floor of the apartment building I live in also holds standing water.  I have no idea how deep the water is now or how much damage the buildings have sustained because the flood has made it impossible for me to return home.  I am praying that Grapevine and our apartments are not looted in our absence.  Some parts of Rangsit are under more than 2 meters of water.  It is so bad that they even had to close the evacuation center on Thammasat's campus that I was volunteering at just last week.  Those 4000 people have been moved again.

I am officially a refugee.

I am currently in Bangkok, staying in a cramped apartment above a church with some other missionaries who live here.  The water supply here is limited as sewage is starting to back up as the water from the north is seeping closer and closer to Bangkok.  The people of Bangkok are just now starting to stock up on food and water, leaving all the store shelves barren.  It has finally become a reality that Bangkok might be flooded.  To what severity, no one seems to know.  If the situation in Rangsit is anything similar to how it will play out here, I expect that the streets of Bangkok will be flooded beyond possible use in the coming days.  And of course, the first areas to flood will be the poorest areas.  The slums.

Tonight, I will attempt to get on a bus to Chiang Mai, a city in Northern Thailand that was only minimally affected by the floods.  My visa expires at the end of this week and I need to see a lawyer there who has been helping me get a work permit to stay in the country.  On top of all of the stress of the floods, my lawyers father passed away this week and I have no idea if she will be able to meet with me before my visa expires.  When I leave Bangkok this evening, I have no idea if the city will flood while I am gone.  And if it does, I have no idea when I will be able to return.  Fortunately, the Lord has provided me with a place to stay in Chiang Mai in the meantime with a friend of one of my campus ministers from Truman.

It is estimated that a third of the nation of Thailand has been affected, much of which is currently under water right now.  Yes, it is bad right now, but this will be hugely detrimental to the nation of Thailand once it is all over with.  

Will you please keep my lawyer (her name is Aom) and my visa situation in your prayers?  Please pray for the people of Thailand.  For the flood waters to recede.  For my team as they lie in wait in Bangkok, displaced from our homes with only a backpacks-worth of belongings.