When One Life Ends My Week Goes On

Sunday night I took the night bus to Khoa Lak. There are three types of buses in Thailand: VIP, 1st class, and 2nd class. VIP night buses cost 1000 TBH. There are only three columns of seats in the bus and lots of room to fully recline. The 1st class night buses are 550 TBH and about the equivalent to a normal bus in America. The 2nd class buses cost 400 TBH. There are four columns of seat with the rows so close your knees touch the seat in front of you and the AC may or may not work. I was recommended to take 1st class because its not to expensive, but also is comfortable; so that is what I got.

The bus left at 8 pm from Bangkok. I fell asleep at 9 pm. I was woken up by a load crashing noise and us coming to a screeching halt at 10 pm. Confused at what had just happened I looked out the window with the rest of the people on the bus. I could make out a broken motorcycle on the other side of the road just behind us and pieces of the bike lying on the road. We sat there for 10 min as I tried to process what just happened. right before we left, it hit me to look for the driver. As I looked only to see something farther behind us lying motionless on the road. And then to my horror, as we were pulling away, another truck came by and ran over the seemingly mangled body. At 12 am the bus stopped and everyone had to get out. Another bus arrived at 1am and we all loaded up to leave. Five minutes later we stopped at the same place as before, were told to get out again, and waited another hour for another bus. At 2 am we loaded up on a 2nd class bus and traveled the remaining 9 hours in that.

All in all I left the bus ride very tired, soar, emotionally drained, and dreading my ride back to Bangkok Friday. In all of this what haunts me the most is that our bus driver killed a man. We were late, because we killed someone. I know it was not my fault, and I know I could not have done anything to help, but the fact that the bus I was on killed someone is...heavy. And I can't believe the bus driver didn't even have the decency to pull the body off to the side of the road.

So now that I have dropped a heavy story on you, I am going to share what I am doing in Khoa Lak this week. If it feels odd reading about the lighter parts of life that I am about to share right after reading about someone dying, then you may feel something of what I feel living it after experiencing a life lost.

I will be in Khoa Lak until Friday. Each day, I will be teaching English with two other instructors to 25ish students for 1 1/2 hours. I will be visiting Step Ahead's four preschools, homestays, and Thai Totes projects. I was told there was a lot of manual labor planned for me to do as well but it has rained a lot lately inhibiting me from working. The rain has been a blessing from God because it has allowed me to get a lot of much needed R&R. Tuesday I hiked through the jungle to a small remote beach with some friends. We made our own track an field competition where I made first in the shot-put and runner-up in the long jump and the 100 meter(ish) race. Today I rode an elephant. I have also had some time to sit and read. It is so nice to have that time. John John is letting me borrow a book called Irresistible Revolution by Shane Claiborne. It is a must read for anyone who has ever asked the question, "What does it mean to be a Christian?" or "What is it that God wants a Christian to do in life?" or have thought, "I know what it means to be saved, now I want to know what it means to follow Jesus."

Please pray for the driver of the motorbike and his or her family and friends. Also for the driver of the bus. I can imagine it would be easy for him to let the guilt of hitting the motorbike haunt him or to completely write his actions off as no problem at all. Pray he finds the proper middle. Life is short and you never know when it is going to end. Nothing in life is safe, so live recklessly for God who is eternal and whose rewards are eternal. We all have to suffer someway, I choose to suffer for God. We all have to die someway, I choose to die for God. Through Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour I know I will be raised from the dead so what should I fear in life. Nothing and no one can hurt me unless my Father wills for him to. So if Christ is for us who can be against us.