The Redemptorists of Thailand
By John Jelinek
The following article is about the travels of John Jelinek
and Raul Rodriguez in Thailand.
When I was in the fourth grade, I told my classmates
that I would not be back in school the next year because I
would be doing missionary work in New Guinea. To my dismay
the missionary work in New Guinea did not materialize, and
I returned to the fifth grade the following fall. However,
through the years the desire to do missionary work abroad
continued to grow. During a conversation with Father Gary
Lauenstein of the Redemptorists in St. Louis, I mentioned
my interest in doing missionary work. Father Gary told me
of the missions the Redemptorists had around the world and
offered to look into the possibility of my visiting one of
them. After a great deal of research and work by Father Gary,
Father Chuck Beierwaltes, and Father David Polek, I was invited
to go to Thailand. Thus, in May of 1999, I found myself on
the opposite side of the world in the care of the Redemptorists
of Thailand.
First Glimpse of Thailand
When Raul and I first arrived in Bangkok, the Redemptorists
of Holy Redeemer Church greeted us. We were shown extreme
hospitality by Vice Provincial Father Bachong Chaiyara and
all of the members of the community. Holy Redeemer Church
is perhaps one of the most beautiful churches I have ever
seen. The church was done in Thai-style architecture from
the ceiling to the floor. There are doors along all sides
of the church, which allows air and the sounds of the lively
city to flow in and out. The Stations of the Cross are done
in two giant plaster relief sculptures, on the opposing sides
of the church running lengthwise.
There is a wooden statue of Jesus with His arms outstretched
to the people and there is an altar for Mary and Joseph on
each side of the church, both of which are always covered
with wreaths of fragrant flowers. Holy Redeemer serves a large
portion of Bangkok's visitors and foreign residents, while
still offering Masses in Thai. Centered out of Holy Redeemer
is Ruamrudee International School in Minburi. This Redemptorist
school is K through 12 and is ranked among the top schools
in Southeast Asia. Holy Redeemer became Raul's and my home
base. From there we traveled about Bangkok and beyond. While
in Bangkok, Father Robert Martin took us to visit the American
women in prison. Doctor Garcia took us to the Immigration
Detention Center. This is where all of the refuges, mostly
from the surrounding countries, are detained until their countries'
embassies claim them.
Vice Provincial Father Banchong Chaiyara and Father Jim Thanu
helped guide us in planning our travels and in meeting our
transportation needs. One of our first visits was to the Human
Development Center and the Mercy Center in Bangkok. Father
Joseph Maier, Sister Joan Evans, and Brother Dang, led us
into the slums of Bangkok to see a world most people would
rather not know existed.
Building Hope in the Slums
It is mind-boggling to see the modern buildings of Bangkok
looking like any other modern city of the world and then to
see the houses of the poor. Many of them look like tree forts
or kids' clubhouses. The houses are built over swamps and
open sewers made out of whatever wood and metal siding that
could be found. Drugs, alcohol, and prostitution claim control
over the lives of many of the adults and children living here.
Hopelessness greets you when you first realize this is where
these beautiful people have spent their whole lives and their
children will suffer the same fate. At first, I found the
thought of a world without hope, overwhelming and almost immobilizing.
Sister Joan showed us a little shack in the midst of the rugged
houses built wall-to-wall, and told us that it was a school.
It is one of many that have been built through the Human Development
Center. With this discovery a sweeping joy came into my heart.
With education, at least some of the children in the slums
would have a chance to rise out of them. The centers also
offer the children and young adults a chance to learn a skill,
such as sewing, motorcycle repair, and farming. These types
of skills help the young people find ways of making money
other than through the drug trade or prostitution, and give
them a future to look forward to.
Medical care for the people living in the slums is nonexistent,
yet through the Human Development Center, God has created
a way. Brother Dang, a registered nurse, makes daily rounds,
visiting anyone who might be sick or in need of medical assistance.
The Mercy Center also has a hospice attached to it for AIDS
patients. As the number of AIDS victims continues to rapidly
grow in Thailand, such facilities are a blessing to the families
who can no longer care for their loved ones in the advanced
stages of the AIDS disease.
Another site where the Redemptorists have answered the call
of Christ is in Pattaya. Here Father Raymond Brennan, a man
of incredible compassion and ingenuity, working with a devoted
staff and numerous volunteers, has changed the lives of thousands
of young adults. He has founded an orphanage, a school for
the blind, a school for the deaf, a vocational school for
disabled young adults, an old age home for stateless people,
and a home for the street kids. All of the students come from
underprivileged homes. Schooling is completely free for the
students and their families. Everything is paid for by outside
donations. The vocational school for the disabled is ranked
number one in South East Asia and Thai or Japanese companies
have employed 100% of the students leaving the school. When
Raul and I walked around the breath-taking grounds of the
schools, the joy and exuberance the students show as they
played wheelchair basketball amazed me. The hope and the desire
to meet life head on like anyone else pulses through the students
and the faculty, all of whom, with the exception of one, are
disabled.
Among the Hmong
After being in Bangkok for about two weeks, Raul and I made
a 14-hour train ride to Chiang Mai in the northeast corner
of Thailand. Chiang Mai is known for its beauty and its lush
forests. It is also the home of the Hmong Hill tribes and
a loving man, named Father Harry Thiel.
Father Thiel has taken the Hmongs under his wing and has done
a great deal to help preserve the culture and language of
the Hmong. He has created the Hmong Catholic Center, which
serves as a boys' school for the tribal people, a catechist-training
center, and a place of guidance, which helps the villages
plan agricultural, economic, and building projects. In schooling,
the boys learn about their own culture, history, and language,
which is different from Thai. In addition to their own language,
the boys learn English, Thai, and Laotian.
Raul and I were blessed with the opportunity to visit seven
different Hmong villages. At the first village, we were able
to observe Father Thiel perform a marriage and a baptism.
I do not think that I could have imagined a more beautiful
people. Many of them are farmers who live near or on the land
they work. Many do not have electricity or running water.
As we walked down the streets of the villages, the children
would giggle and ride their bicycles past us. When we would
ask to take someone's picture, they were bashful, but proudly
smiled for us.
Fr. Harry
Thiel - Obituary
Further Travels
From Chiang Mai, we flew to Udon Thani in the northeastern
part of Thailand. There we met the delightful Thai Bishop
George Phimphisan. Upon our inquiry, Bishop Phimphisan extended
to us a wonderful hospitality, and gave us so much reading
material about the church in Thailand that I have not had
a chance to read it all to this day. We only stayed in Udon
for a day and were off again to Khonkaen.
Father John Phairot took us to the leprosarium
in Ban Noi. The Redemptorists, along with the Sisters of the
Infant Jesus, Daughters of Charity, and the Brothers of St.
Gabriel, have cared for the lepers of Thailand for many years
now. Due to the care of these faithful ministers and advances
in our knowledge of medicine, leprosy has almost been eliminated
in Thailand. All of the lepers in the care of the Redemptorists
are elderly. They live in a home for the elderly and are kept
active by making crafts and learning new skills, such as loom
weaving, broom making, and bed making. When we visited them,
they were full of life and very delighted to see us.
This wonderful opportunity to experience the missionary work
of the Redemptorists will forever change my life and for this
I thank them endlessly. These priests in the service of Christ
have moved mountains and overcome impossible odds. They have
forever changed the lives of countless numbers of people and
brought the Word of God's love to them. In watching them,
I see the true majesty of the priesthood lived, and the power
it has to truly change the world for the good of all of God's
people.
In the laity of the churches in Thailand, I see a devotion
that I only hope I will one day be able to emulate. Seeing
the poverty so many people live in has awakened my sense of
responsibility, for I realize that it is by pure circumstance
that I do not live in these conditions. I have no birthright
that entitles me to the many gifts we take for granted in
America. And there are neither curse nor crimes these people
have committed to deserve their suffering. These are our brothers
and sisters, children of God, and we must share the resources
God has entrusted to us, by physically working for them, or
through donations and finances, or by keeping them in our
prayers. Thank God that the Redemptorists have responded generously
and faithfully to the work of God in this beautiful country
of Thailand.
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