Death of a Beloved King

A letter from Sharon Bryant serving in Thailand

Winter 2016

Dear Friends,

How can I begin to describe Thailand in these days? It’s impossible, I know, but I must try. On October 13, 2016, Thailand’s beloved king, His Majesty King Bhumipol Adulaydej, Rama IX, died. Born in the U.S.A. in 1927 as his father was studying medicine at Harvard, this man never thought that he would be king. But the unexpected death of his older brother in 1946 put him on the throne as a young man of just 19 years of age. Over the next 70 years this king guided this Third World country into modernity and kept it out of the many political conflicts rampant in Southeast Asia in the tumultuous decades following World War II. A trained engineer, he initiated many projects throughout the nation to improve the daily life of Thai people, paying for many of these projects out of his own personal funds. An accomplished musician, he played jazz with the stars and wrote 48 compositions that are performed by musicians the world over. He built and sailed his own boats. After the Asian financial crisis in the 1980s, he wrote his own book, Economics of Self-Sufficiency, which has since transformed lives of Thai people in this agrarian nation. But, more than anything else, he is remembered for having visited his people in every corner of this kingdom, gotten down on the ground to speak with them and learn of their problems, and issued proclamations and decrees to change legislation, administration, and services to improve their lives. This photograph is the one that is most loved by the Thai people, for it is the first to show a Thai monarch perspiring on one of his many trips to visit his people—just one measure of this father’s love for his children and his efforts on their behalf. The country will be in mourning for a year. Everyone is wearing black. Hundreds of thousands have already visited the Grand Palace in Bangkok where his body lies in state. Please pray for the Thai people during this time of grief. Pray also for a smooth transition in leadership.

Please pray for our newest CVTs who just arrived in Thailand. One of them, Leah Dewey, comes to us from Orange, California. She will be working at Sajja Pittaya School, a small Christian school in Bangkok. Her gifts and past experience working with children will help that school tremendously. As you can see, she is already diving in to learn and adapt to Thailand customs, but the next two months will be challenging as she settles in and learns how to serve Thai children at the school in her ministry here.

Pray, too, for me as I adapt again to life in Thailand after spending four months among you in the U.S.A. Thank you for your constant prayers and your support of me and this ministry. Don’t forget to add “Christian Volunteers in Thailand” to your church budget for next year. Your financial contributions and your prayers are critical if I am to continue to serve here.

Until we meet again,

Sharon L. Bryant

Please read this important message from Tony De La Rosa, Interim Executive Director, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)

“Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine.
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you;
when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. (Isaiah 43:1b-2, NRSV)

Dear Friend of the Presbyterian Mission Agency:

Thank you for your prayers and for your financial support of Sharon Bryant this year, and any previous year. We hear from our mission co-workers how much your prayerful financial support has meant to them. Please know that you are a vital part of ministries throughout Thailand.

Even as I thank you, I want to let you know that this is a critical time for our congregations and all people of faith to commit themselves to support mission co-workers like Sharon. Our global church partners greatly value her service, and you well know how important this ministry is in building connections between the body of Christ in the U.S. and Thailand.

We have historically relied on endowment interest and the general offering from congregations to sustain the vital work of all of our mission workers. Those sources of funding have greatly diminished. It is only through the gifts of individuals and congregations that we are able to keep Sharon doing the life-giving work God called her to do. A year ago, in May 2015, we had to recall some mission workers due to a lack of funding. World Mission communicated the challenge to you, and you responded decisively and generously. Through your response, we heard the Spirit remind us, “Fear not!”

Today, I’m asking you to consider an additional gift for this year, and to increase the gift you may consider for 2017. Sending and support costs include not only salary but also health insurance and retirement contributions, orientation, language training, housing, travel to the country of service, children’s education, emergency evacuation costs, and visa/passport costs.

My heartfelt thanks for your prayers and support of our Presbyterian mission co-workers. In the coming season, we will celebrate God’s sending of the Christ child, the source of the good news we share. May you experience a new the hope, peace, joy, and love that are ours because “perfect love casts out fear” (I John 4:18).

Thank you for saying “yes” to love.

With you in Christ,
Tony De La Rosa
Interim Executive Director, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)