Mission Trip to Bangkok, Thailand. 14 - 22 Dec 2007

I’m keeping this short. Why? The more I write, the more long-winded I get. (:

What is a mission trip? To me, it’s fundamentally all about fulfilling the Great Commission. That is, to go into the world and make disciples. What can we, or anyone, do in eight days? Nothing much, really. But what can God do using our eight days? Great things, I’m sure. Yeah! Our trip was mainly to support Pastor Derric from church. The other key people were Stephen, another missionary, and a Thai pastor.

Hmm. Fluffy.

Bangkok is a beautiful city. Not too different from any other, but beautiful because I’m convinced God is going to bless it richly.

This is the view from our hotel. More specifically, from Franco and Eugene’s room, where all our team meetings and team breakfasts were held, and where there was a balcony overlooking the city. I distinctly remember just sitting down and watching the cars zoom past one morning (Monday, if I’m not wrong), and thinking what a privilege it was to be there.

The aurora rays of Thailand. They call it ‘sunset’, I think.

To the right, you can see a white building which is a flat in the first residential area we visited. It’s the home to mainly middle-income Thais, and it’s where Derric hosts his kid’s club. We had the honour of joining his kid’s club party as oversized kids from Singapore and playing with all of them. I really enjoyed it. Mainly, I was struck by the simplicity of it all. We weren’t doing much, just hosting a few games and singing a few songs, but each boy and girl that came left different, and that’s what matters. Through even small things can we be a blessing to others.

Here, I sit in awe of Chong Hao’s singing.

This is the only picture I took of our Ajan’s house. Ajan is our Thai pastor, and we call him Ajan because it means pastor in Thai. To us, he was like THE one and only Ajan, so once we started calling him that, it stuck. Except to Eugene, who used ‘Pastor Ajan’, but let’s not go there… You can see a wide opening with metal shutters nearby, so it looks like the garage, but it’s actually the adjacent vacant lot that pastor’s neighbour agreed to lend him for the week. Very timely, because the Christmas party was planned within this period, and we needed a space to host it. So what happened was that we used both the space in front of Ajan and his neighbour’s house, and it turned out perfect to fit our banner, a plastic roof and a makeshift area for us to perform. As Stephen Keller put it, “it’s quite amazing” how everything fit into place.

This is a picture I took standing in the hotel thinking. There was a song that was playing in my mind at the time. The Thai song we learnt to sing to the people we met. It’s called piam rak, which, if I’m not wrong, means ‘great love’. And though it was a song that was meant to minister to the Thai kids and parents, I think it was definitely a song that ministered to me. Through my lousy Thai, I could pick up a few bits and pieces of the message. “Yesu” – Jesus; “Rak” – love; “dai” – can; or able; “khon" - man. And that’s the Christmas message for you.

Yeah! Emo.

The one thing I won’t forget about the trip are the people I met. The team for one. Brilliant people – we really managed to get along well despite being so different. But the people that impacted me the most are the people who resonated the love of God in their daily lives. Yeah, the love of God. It’s hard to explain. It’s not rational, certainly. But I could see it, really clearly, in people. In Pastor Derric, who put aside his life in first-class everything Singapore to live in Thailand, and serve and love its people. In Ajan, who put up with all our rubbish with many smiles and a ‘mai bpen rai’. And in the way you can see he’s pastor not only to his ministry team, but to his family as well. His young son was being outright annoying, but the way he disciplined him wasn’t harsh. It was assertive and sincere. The love and care he showed them, I feel, really reflects the love Jesus shows us.

A sidenote – Ajan’s son is named Pray. At least, that’s what it sounds like in English. I think that’s a brilliant name.

 

En route home. This is the airport. I like the blue tree.

As I mentioned earlier, we can’t do much alone. It’s only God who works through us that can do miracles. I’m quite blessed by the country and its people. Going to keep the ministry there in prayer. It would be good if you could, too. (:

Oh! And as requested, Piam Rak.

Piam rak

Em
เปี่ยมรักจนเต็มล้น
Piam rak jon tem lon
C
ผู้คนในใจ
Puu khon nai jai
D
ด้วยความห่วงใย
Duay khwaam huang yai
Em
จึงได้เสด็จมา
Ceung dai sadet maa

บรรทมในรางหญ้า
Ban tom nai raang yaa
C
ทรงนามว่าเยซู
Song naam waa yesu
D
ผู้คนควรรู้
Tuk khon khuan ruu
Em
ว่าทรงเป็นผู้ใด
Waa song bpen puu dai

Chorus
C D
นี่คือข่าวสำคัญ
Nee kheur khaaw sum khan
Bm Em
ที่สุดในหัวใจ
Tii sut nai hua jai
C D
เพราะผู้ไถ่ได้มา
Pra phuu thai dai maa
G B
อยู่กับเรา
Yuu kap rau
C D
เปลี่ยนความเศร้ามือมน
Plian khwaam sau meut mon
Bm Em
ด้วยแรงแสงสว่าง
Duay reng seng sawaang
C D
แห่งความรักพระคุณ
Heng khwaam rak pra khun
Em
และเมตตา
Le maet taa

ที่เมืองเบธเลเฮ็ม
Tii meung bet-ley-ham
ที่เคยเงียบเหงา
tii kheuy ngiap ngaw
ผู้คนปวดร้าว
Puu khon bpuat raaw
ไม่มีที่พึ่งพิง
Mai mii tii peung ping
ตะวันเริ่มทอแสง
Tawan rerm thor seng
ประกายแห่งความหวัง
Pra kaay heng khwaam wang
ผู้คนสุขสันต์
Puu khon sooksan
ผู้นั้นเสด็จมา
Puu nan sadet maa

Gideon Chew
25/12/2007

Merry Christmas (;