The spirituality here is a strange mix of Buddhism and animism that I am still trying to figure out. But here are some of the observations I’ve had so far.

The Friday after Thanksgiving was the Thai holiday of Loy Krathong. It happens on the first full moon in November, at the end of the rainy season and the end of the rice harvest. Practically every Thai person buys or makes a “Kratong”, or small boat made of banana leaves, flowers, incense and candles. When night falls people gather at every body of water– rivers, canals, ponds and even pools– to float their kratongs and to offer petitions of forgiveness to the water godess for mistreating the country’s waters. More recently it has become a huge party with food vendors and fireworks, akin to our Fourth of July.

My teammate Dave and I decided to participate in this cultural event by offering our kratongs not to a river goddess but to Jesus, as prayers of repentance and gratitude. Dave and Ratchai, a new believer in the community, each made a lamb out of pipe cleaners and cotton balls to symbolize the sacrifice of Jesus, which they placed on their kratongs. Pie, Ratchai’s wife, gave me a pre-made kratong which I added three crosses to.

We took our krathongs to a nearby pond. Hundreds of people were already there, kneeling at the water, holding their krathongs up to their foreheads and placing all of their sins on the kratong. It was a really powerful moment for me, to see so many people praying to a god who cannot hear them, who cannot forgive them. It increased my desire for the Thai people to know Jesus, the “kratong of God” who can truly carry away their sins. As the four of us offered up prayers to the Lord and floated our kratongs I felt an immense gratitude to know and worship a God who hears my prayers, who is living and active, not an idol created by men. Pray with me for Thai people to increasingly turn away from their idols and begin to worship the true and living Lord.

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One of the most obvious symbols of Thai animism is the spirit house. Every building, from restaurants and banks to personal homes all include some sort of shrine to the various spirits that the Thai people believe reside there. The size of these red and gold structures depend on the size of the building– people in Permsup usually mount a small shrine to a wall, whereas a hotel could have a spirit house on its grounds that would nearly fill a home in Permsup. People stock these shrines with bottles of water (open, with straws sticking out), fruit and other food to appease the spirits.

At first I wondered if this was just a cultural decoration or custom, like the many “Christians” in the States who may have a cross or two in their house but whose religion means little to them. But as I’ve been increasingly able to talk with people I’ve come to realize that these spirits are very real to people. There have been a couple nights that I have spent alone in my house, which to me have not been scary at all– I have great neighbors who are always aware of who is coming and going in our neighborhood. But even those neighbors are amazed that I can sleep at night. I’ve recently realized this is because they are afraid of spirits. Whenever they are alone it is like they are haunted.

A couple nights ago Jen and I had a HUGE spider in our house, which sent us screaming and running out of the room, and which attracted all of our neighbors asking us what was wrong. When they found out it was a spider they all laughed and were very amused that the farong are afraid of spiders. Without batting an eye a couple of the women went in, caught the spider and let it go outside (bad karma to kill anything, you know).

The next day it was obvious that the story of the screaming farong had spread throughout Permsup. As I sat out in front of the community practicing my Thai with some of the women, many of them asked me if it was true I was afraid of spiders. They, apparently, are not squeamish at all of these giant insects. But many of them admitted they were afraid of spirits. When I would tell them I wasn’t, this was very perplexing to them. “You’re afraid of spiders but you’re not afraid of the spirits??”

Pray that I would be able to learn the words to communicate how I am not afraid because I am protected by the Holy Spirit from any other force in this world. This feels like an open door to be able to explain to people the peace I have as a worshipper of God. Pray for hearts that are open to receive this peace in exchange for their fear.