We departed Yangon and flew back to Bangkok early on the morning of Tuesday, February 24. Waiting for me in our hotel lobby bright and early on that morning was Rev. Dr. Yah Ha Lay Lay La and his wife, Susanna (pictured above). Yah Ha is the Professor of Pastoral Theology at the Karen Seminary in Insein. He is also a very good friend of our congregation (having visited Utica a couple of times) and we share the bond of both being graduates of Eastern Baptist Seminary (he with a DMin degree and me with the MDiv degree). Seeing Yah Ha and Susanna just before we departed for the airport was a perfect benediction to a very memorable trip to Myanmar.
Upon returning to Bangkok most of our group spent the afternoon doing some sightseeing. Ed, Jeff, and I visit Wat Po, a Buddhist temple near the Grand Palace famous for it giant reclining Buddha. The photos below are of Wat Po.
The evening was spent enjoying dinner and saying our goodbyes before most of the team caught the 6:50 a.m. flight from Bangkok to Toyko and eventually various destinations in the U.S. I stayed an extra day. And, Peter Vogelaar remains in Thailand for a couple of weeks making contact with various NGOs involved in refugee resettlement and observing cultural orientation classes at the Mae La Refugee Camp.
In my next post, I will reflect on insights, learnings and further questions generated by my time in Burma and Thailand.
