Mission Team's Reflection & Reports
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Reports and Reflections – North Thailand Mission Trip, Dec 2005
Korp khun krup, Thailand
God’s work is awesome and inspiring to behold. He works in so many ways, sometimes suddenly like a clap of thunder and sometimes gradually like a seed sprouting, but always overcoming and life-transforming. The centre that He has planted in Northern Thailand is an incredible testimony of what He can do when there are workers obedient and willing.
The children we encountered were beautiful in their purity and passion. As I played with them, taught them and talk to them, God showed me how precious they were to Him and I just started to love them, from the youngest toddler to the oldest teen. I was unexpectedly humbled by their earnest and unashamed prayers, in particular on the night we arrived when they turned towards us and raised their voices to bring down the roof in prayer. Being a part of their chapel services was a privilege every morning. I cannot adequately describe the joyful delight of their praise, their heartfelt faces raised to heaven in the most sincere worship I’ve witnessed, and the overwhelming intensity of their prayer. The soaring sound of hundreds of children, their voices blending together as they cried out to their Saviour was something I will remember many years from now.
When the teacher told us the sad pasts of the children, I was quietly stunned. Most had come from broken families. Many had seen their share of sexual abuse, violence and abandonment and death from drugs and AIDS. Speaking with them revealed a little of their painful histories and family tragedies. Yet this wasn’t the thing that shocked me. What shook my heart was how their hearts were still so content, how their faces shone with a joy that couldn’t be found anywhere else but the Lord. How they had truly traded in their sorrows, shame and pain for His perfect joy.
I couldn’t understand it when I thought back to my friends in Melbourne who had relatively storm-free lives, who had ten times as much in our eyes, and were yet so miserable and restless. Was it that these kids didn’t know any better here, with poverty and disease being so familiar? What did they have that gave them such bright hope despite their bleak futures and lack of opportunities? Then I put two and two together. God was their joy, their peace, their love, their hope. Peace when a sibling died from a drug overdose. Love that they couldn’t receive from their parents. Hope from the assurance that God was at work in their lives in spite of their unhappy circumstances.
We sing that all we need is God, that He is everything we need. I never truly understood this until now. When they had nothing at all, God intervened. He was simply everything to them. Take away God and they had nothing. I started to understand. I wanted to sing these words with this conviction too. Take away my family, my friends, my computer, my career, my ability to walk, hear, see. If I were left with God, would He be more than enough? Does abundant life mean possessions, social standing, job satisfaction, warm fellowship? Or does it simply mean a beautiful relationship with my Father?
The young people I met at New Life showed me what it means to be completely in love with Christ. What it means to count their salvation the greatest and most awe-inspiring blessing. I thank them so deeply for this and I come back desiring to know God better than I do now and to somehow impart the lessons I have learnt to the people I love. I come back praying to see my beloved church here join with our brothers and sisters in Thailand and all over the globe in shining like stars in a world of darkness and unthinkable despair.
Jonathan Wong
God works everywhere and in everyone. A few years back, there was nothing but a vision, and now stands an incredible centre giving “new life” to drug addicts and destitute children. It is truly a blessing to be able to go on this mission trip and to see God’s wonderful work in Northern Thailand.
“Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength” (Nehemiah 8:10). And in Isaiah 49:13, “Shout for joy, O heavens: rejoice, O earth; burst into song, O mountains! For the Lord comforts his people and will have compassion on his afflicted ones.” Indeed, the New Life Centre is a living testimony of these scriptural truths. The kids, with smiles on their faces were constantly rejoicing. Their earnest prayer was filled with faith, and their praises and worship was fired with passion.
Their morning chapel at 6am filled me with admiration as they can worship so freely and give it all to God every morning. As I was told about the children’s sad past, I realize how great it is to commit everything to God and lay it down at His feet.
On top of the extraordinary faith, the children at the centre display many good qualities. Three that really touched me are hardworking, humble and thankful. During our stay, we were honored to teach English and songs to the children at the centre. Of course during the first lesson the children were unable to grasp what we taught them as it was fairly new. However as the week progressed, we were able to see tremendous improvement. They were persistent in learning and practiced what we taught them even after class. They were extremely humble and even though they had many talents, they never showed off and taught each other what they knew. Often I would give them a word of encouragement, “you learn really fast” and they will reply “no lau shi, just a little”.
The children were not only content, but thankful for their current circumstance. They did not take anything for granted but always gave thanks. As I reflect to my life in Australia, many everyday blessings has been taken for granted -from the clean clothes, to the good food, and most of all the education. The children barely lived in luxury yet they are thankful for everything that was given to them.
After a week in the relatively well established centre, we went up to a new work at Pathang which is located at “Doi Pathang” (Or Mount Pathang). We were able to see the beginning of a new centre being built. The villages and towns are much smaller, and the hill tribes there live in clusters among the steep mountain slopes. We were driven around to a few small villagers on the back of 4WD ute, and were asked to pray for the church building and workers there whether established or yet to be established. Some were just vacant spots leveled and ready to build. Some were just rough huts cobbled together with bamboos but effectively used as classroom and church. As we were driving I thought to myself, why are we going all the way just to say a prayer? However when we prayed for the first church building, I sensed the Holy Spirit filled the area and I stood in awe. It was then that I realize that prayer is most important and through prayer and faith, all is possible. The faith of the workers there is incredible as they took the effort to drive us up the treacherous mountain tracks just to pray for the church sites.
It is hard to believe how great God’s work is unless you see it for yourself. Everyone is a part of God’s masterpiece. I encourage everyone to go and see God’s work in Northern Thailand and be a part of it. Ko pa chao wei pong.
Kenneth Ang
Sa wat dee kaa!!!
Well this mission trip to Thailand has been a blessing, an eye opener, an inspiration … basically, it has been one of the best experiences of my life. I had been told that on my first missions trip I would gain more than I give, but I never could have imagined all the blessings given to me through this trip.
Arriving at the New Life Drug Rehabilitation Centre, I was touched by all the children there. Though they were a bit shy at first, after a few classes with them, the strength, love and faith that the children and adults there was amazing. I was taken aback with the passion with which these children praised and prayed to God. On our first night in the centre, the whole team was totally awestruck when in the middle of the service, the few hundred children in the ‘church assembly hall’ (named the Nehemiah Hall) stood up, turned to us, and all in union, prayed for us their individual prayers and blessings.
Waking up each morning before sunrise, our thoughts and hearts were turned to God through the Christian songs which were blasted through the camp as a wake up call, and in the early morning chapel. At 5 am in the morning we could hear the sounds of the children in the hall practicing music, and truly worshipping God without any hindrance or distraction. In the morning service, we followed the children who led us in songs, and their accompanying actions. I found it extraordinary, that just being in this place, and looking to the children as leaders, we were able to forget all our self-consciousness, and happily dance to songs, whereas back in Australia, we may have stopped and thought: “Am I embarrassing myself?”
Throughout the week, during classes and in the Thai school, I was moved by how loving and respectful these children were. They were thankful for everything that they had. They didn’t have many ‘treats,’ or toys or anything… but they found happiness in chasing around crickets, using a spider as a yoyo, and most of all, they were just so thankful for being in the centre itself. Wherever you went, whenever you saw them, the children would always be smiling.
The best was when we were able to sit down in smaller groups and actually get to know them personally. It was then that we were able to find out all the atrocities that these children have been through. They’d been through war, family break downs, death, and abuse; but still, they were happy, and thanked and loved God unconditionally. Even more touching, was how for many, their greatest endeavor was to go out, and share the gospel with everyone they could, as their hearts told them “I have been given this amazing gift of Jesus, and now I want to give to others too.”
Visiting the villages up in the mountains, and seeing all the work being done there, we were all struck by the amount of faith that the people, who planted churches far up in these mountains had. They did not have the ‘funds’ or any materials at all, but they trusted in God for everything, and God provided. Through them, God is doing mighty works, and touching lives, where before there seemed little hope and happiness. It was truly amazing to witness all of this, and to see how God is raising up these children, to mighty men and women of God, who are going to go out there and impact the world in an awesome way.
Jeannine Loh
Reports and Reflections – North Thailand Mission Trip, Dec 2005
“Unless the Lord builds the house, its builders labour in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchmen stand guard in vain.” Psalms 127:1
If not God, who can change a barren land into a “heaven of Northern Thailand”?
If not God, who can turn broken hearts into such joyful dancing?
If not God, who can sustain them when the fallen world seems so overwhelming?
With the primitive impression of Northern Thailand, I had prepared for no shower and no flushing toilets. So you can tell how surprised I was when we arrived. It looks like a resort centre! The teacher told us seven years ago, they had to sleep in scorpion-infested houses and eat snakes; but now the villagers all call the center “the heaven of Northern Thailand”! “They may live in the desert and sleep in the forests in safety.” (Eze 34:25) This is one of God’s promises for the centre and indeed God has fulfilled.
It was hard to believe how much the children have been through when looking at their smiles because they are just so joyful. Most of them have experienced the darkest sins of human beings, yet the joy of the Lord really is their strength. “Sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; poor, yet making many rich; having nothing, and yet possessing everything.”(2 Co 6:10) Through human’s eyes, they may appear pitiable and poor; but through God’s eyes, they are precious and rich. Therefore, when we went up to the mountain and visited the villages, the tears in my eyes were not for poverty and primitiveness but for their lives without God. God has made me truly realize that He is the only thing and everything we need and how painful and heart-breaking it is when He sees that He is not the priority in our lives. God’s love towards us has become so real to me!
The faith and passion of the people there has struck me. They always focus on God and the promises He’s given. We went to many new places where they plan to build new churches and centres. Some of these places are just plots of land with long grass. However, through the eyes of faith, they see churches full of people worshipping and all the villagers turned to God. They praise God when they still have financial problems. They praise God even when they have no idea where the next meal for 200 children will come from. They truly believe that God’s grace is always sufficient and His promises and love never fail.
Before the mission trip, my ears had heard of many testimonies about the centre. But now my eyes have seen how God has been leading His people step by step. By looking back on how God has fulfilled each promise and looking forward to the vision He has given, I feel so blessed to work with God as part of His plan at this moment. And as the last line from the centre said, “Raise your holy hands and pray for the new lives of the drug addicts and the salvation of the children!” We may have different lives and experiences, but the same God we believe has bound us together; and as His people we are all working together for His kingdom and glory.
Angel Lee
Our flight finally touched down at Chiang Rai Airport at around 9.30pm on Tuesday night. The rest of the team caught the earlier flight at 1.45pm and had arrived at the New Life Centre by now. Our delay and missing the earlier flight was due to the incredible long queue at the airport as Angel apply for her entry visa. Then our scheduled flight at 6.00pm was delayed a further hour due to engine trouble.
As we left the arrival gate, we were met with two brothers (we knew later that they were the leaders/teachers) waving a cardboard sign with “New life Centre” written in Chinese. We were quickly ushered into a ute and drove into the darkness of the night with our luggage bouncing along in the back of the ute. I started a conversation with the brothers and realized that they were both hardcore ex-drug addicts with a litany of crime! A silly thought flashed across my mind, “nobody will know even if they rob and kill us both, then dump our bodies in the jungle; who will find us in these thick jungle tracks?” As we drove on in the darkness, I thanked them profusely for their patience, having been waiting for us since 3.00pm, even skipping their dinner! Brother Yang and Brother Wang had incredible tales of drug addiction, brokenness, depravation and crime. Yet how the Lord had delivered them. The power of the gospel and the testimony of transformed lives were right before our eyes!
At about 5am the next morning, the centre was abuzz with the sounds of morning exercise followed by passionate worship and earnest prayers. Breakfast was at 7am, lunch at 12pm followed by dinner at 5pm – every meal is rice with 2-3 dishes of organic vegetables grown by the centre. The sweet potato leaves were the tastiest of all. A pig is slaughtered once in a few days to provide meat for the population of some 250-300 people of the centre and their many new works within the province.
The children are keen to learn and surprisingly, even the local Thai school was so open to us. We taught mainly English and used songs and actions all the way. The school Principal actually asked us to stay for a month or come back again for longer term!
Having read the newsletter from the centre about the harsh and humble beginnings since 1997, I fully expected to see a more primitive setting. But God’s grace and provision are so very real as His servants trusted Him. After a short span of seven years, they have three permanent 2-storey concrete buildings, several “floating restaurants” (dining shelters above the fish ponds) which they use as class rooms and many dormitories for the children and adults complete with water and electricity supply.
After the first week of relative comfort, we were driven to Chiang Khong, a border town and river port on the banks of Mekong River. For a few dollars, you can get a pass to cross over to Laos on ferries. We visited a primitive centre for a dozen children at the fringe of the town. Then we walked to a piece of land, about 5 acres, purchased by faith, ready to be built into a new children centre for some 200 children. We prayed and proclaimed in unison that it will be a land of blessing and shelter as well as a base for the extension of the gospel.
Next we proceeded to climb Mount Pathang which is some 1800m above sea level. Many Miao, Akka and Lisu tribes live among the hill slopes. As the old thatch huts are in the process of being pulled down and rebuilt, we had a campfire and slept in sleeping bags as the cold mountain winds lashed at our faces. The morning greeted us with a sea of clouds beneath our feet as we looked toward the many valleys below us.
What is the most indelible impression for me? I have to say it is the faith of the founding couple. One who has tasted the mercy and grace of God will never be the same. They are driven by the vision and call of the Lord upon their lives. They risk their lives and give their all toward the work. Their love for the children and addicts are so intense. As we respond to the call, God will provide everything – more than we an ever dream or imagine.
Ps Jeremy Wong
posted by Jeremy Wong @ 11:39 AM
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