As missionaries we get used to saying ‘good-bye’ to people and places and we probably develop some kind of a routine in farewell scenes. Honestly, the ones who are ready to move on usually are in the better position. After a moment of sadness, the excitement of the new life that is going to come through is bigger.
Toub, our new SVD confrere from Laos, is getting ready to take up his assignment for language and theological studies in Australia. I was privileged to visit his family with him and to experience their love and care which really touched my heart. ‘Everything is so different’ or ‘it’s just like another world’, may easily summarise the impressions of my visit.
Growing up in a small village in a beautiful natural environment, people are bound to each other, somehow stronger than I have experienced it in other places. I just want to share some highlights. ‘Pluk kaen’ is a traditional way to welcome and farewell friends and family members. After Toub’s father led the whole family of 30 plus members in a prayer session, they all grabbed cotton strings in luminous colors to bind them around Toub’s wrist. While doing so, they expressed their wishes and blessings. I guess somehow it’s also a way to say that we are still connected and bound together when knotting one’s string around the wrist. After dinner they all stayed together for the whole night, talking to each other about what may happen to them and how to go about it. Sending someone off is a big thing in this part of the world. Luckily, someone in the family had an open truck which fit them all in, to send us to the next bus station.
His parents tears still stay with me and also stories that I heard. Years ago his father, together with Toub, stayed close with the Catholic priest at night to ensure the priest’s safety. When his dad once asked the local leaders to give permission for a Christmas celebration, the government official simply said: ‘There won’t be a Christmas celebration this year and never in the future.’ Thanks be to God, it became possible to celebrate Christmas again and the power of God remains stronger than a political system. However, sending one’s son into a totally unknown world needs a lot of faith and trust in God. Toub’s father may have asked himself: ‘Will there be someone to watch my son if he is in danger, just as I cared for the priest when he was in danger? Someone who cares and simply is a friend’ … I wonder – is there one – for Toub and others with their own stories?
