Author: I-van Leong

We divided into 2 teams, one team to help in adventure camp which was led by Jeff and the other team to go to help Belinda.

Belinda and Jeff are missionaries for 15 years in Thailand. They have 3 teenagers as well as an adopted son -Stephen. I have more opportunities to experience her  missionary’s life today.

It was a bit of adventure to go on the  public transport. We have Belinda waiting for us at the destination bus stop and a bit of fun communicating to the bus ticket seller.

Belinda showed us the things we need to do. Hannah was a quick thinker and observant person as always. Hannah, Angel, Nathalie were our bakers, they baked brownies and cookies to sell in market. The rest were packing different gifts for schools, hospital etc. Some of us learnt to make animal balloons and had great fun.

We went to Belinda’s local markets and we set up a stall. We sold cookies and brownies as well as sang Christmas carols. Yes we sang in Thai.

I thank God for missionaries like Jeff and Belinda for their 15 years of faithful service in Thailand. Spending time at Belinda’s home to help, seeing her juggle with different things come along.

I am amazed with her flexibility, effectiveness in managing all the logistics as well as looking after Stephen, her adopted 3 years old son. Her easy going personality made me feel at ease as well.

Despite busily instructing us what to do, she also needed to look after Stephen still with patience and smile, that was something I would take away with and ask God to help me to develop that character.

In the market, we sang Christmas carols , sold our cookies and brownies, we were to interact with people and kids liked the animal balloons.

Although we could not speak their language, with smile and body language, we were able to communicate. The lady who was selling fruit opposite to our store, she gave me extra mandarins. Despite her small gesture, I could feel her kindness.

Talking with Belinda during dinner time and experience in the market, it seems to me that making Jesus known to Thai people is a slow process and patient journey for Christians and missionaries.

Please pray for the gospel work and seed planted will grow and prosper in the right time. Pray for Thai people’s heart will open for the gospel.

Pray for missionaries friendships with locals and opportunities to share gospel.

By Tracy

Today six of the team travelled to Krabi (about a three hour drive from Nakhon) to help out on an adventure camp with 60 Year 6 students. The intention was to catch a longtail boat from Krabi to the Railay peninsula and run a whole afternoon of activities, head back to the beach and finish off the batch of spaghetti for the kids.

It’s at times like these that one thinks of Proverbs 16:9 – “the heart of man plans his ways, but the Lord establishes his steps”. Almost nothing went according to plan. We arrived at Krabi quite late and the start was delayed. A few of us got lost navigating around the peninsula because it was our first time there. The kids were ill-equipped/some of the activities were too ambitious for such a hot and humid day and some of them got minor heatstroke. The group got split up around the peninsula and it was very stressful running around figuring what was going on and where kids were etc (thank God for working phones and Whatsapp!). We all ended up back at Krabi quite behind schedule and had a really late dinner.

To be frank I was far from the one who had the hardest day but it was still discouraging to see the kids having a hard time and seeing our (maybe not so well thought out) plans fall apart. During the sharing that night we were reminded to focus on the positives and to trust that God’s plans are better. Good conversations were had, we all learnt new things and the kids all seemed happy and content after dinner. Heading into tomorrow with more optimism!

Another plus: Railay was stunningly beautiful. Looking up at the gargantuan rock formations we were reminded how small we were and how big and mighty our Creator is.

By Lennox

Praise God for unity in Christ and morning team prayer time

Local Outreach team:

– Thank God that yesterday, we were able to pack gift packs for Christmas outreach. Many people to came along the market outreach. Pray that they will be attracted to Jesus through His joy and love in us.

– Pray for the Kid’s club and hospital visit this afternoon. Pray that we’ll show our love to the kids and that they’ll be interested in who God is.

Adventure Camp team

– Thank God that the first day has passed by safely and everyone enjoyed themselves despite a few students having heatstroke and changes to plan.

– Pray for a good day of interacting with the students and for the safe return of the adventure camp this afternoon.

On Day 4, 5 people from our team along with OMF Missionaries Jeff, Daniel & Megan will travel to Krabi an adventure camp with sixty teenagers. The rest of the team will stay in Thammarat to bake cookies and take part in market outreach with Belinda.

Please pray for:

• good interaction and safety on the adventure camp, which includes abseiling, kayaking and English activities
• Jeff’s health and energy as he leads the adventure camp
• good connections at the market outreach
• the team to continue to witness God’s works and love to local Thai people

– Charissa & Stephen

A memorable moment:

– To prep for the Adventure Camp at Krabi beach tomorrow, Annie, Lennox, Alice, Joshua, Steven and I were required to cook 10kg of tomatoes into a bolognese sauce to feed the 60 Year 7 students who will be attending the camp. The camp will be an outdoor activities camp where students also get to practice their English on us. Never before have we ever even seen so many tomatoes, let alone cook it! Also learnt a nifty tip from Daniel when slicing onions – breathe through your mouth only and you won’t cry! Method has now been tried and tested by the team and happy to report – success!

Something I learnt:

– When planning for the camp, it became clear that although there may not always be a plan that we can follow, we can take comfort in the fact that God has a plan and will see that it is done through us. Although we only had half a day to plan activities for a two day camp, it was clear that God provides and with the little resources our team had, we were able to make 10kg of spaghetti bolognese sauce and design a scavenger hunt game around Krabi peninsula with a treasure box prize, made up of the goodies we brought over from Australia!

Something to pray for:

– Please pray for the children at that camp that their eyes, ears and hearts will be open and they will be able to sense God’s love through the beauty of his creation, the activities we run with them and the conversations each of us will have with them. Pray for the safety of the team as they conduct activities such as obstacle courses, abseiling and caving and that even despite the little Thai we know, we will persevere and develop good relationships with these children.

This afternoon, I went to the local market with OMF missionary Andreas and Ivan, Tracy and Nathalie. I followed Ivan and Andreas initially in handing out biscuits and pamphlets to local businesses. Andreas knew these market stall owners and they were friendly in accepting the gifts. An owner was robbed by burglars and was distressed and asked us to pray about it. I was surprised by this and Andreas told us she was the second person in the market asking for prayers.

We switched with Tracy and Nathalie and manned the store and started handing out Christmas leaflets. It was hard just saying “churn” (which means ‘invitation’ in Thai), tell people I am from “Australya” and to barely remember all these Thai phrases including “I don’t understand you” that Andrea taught but I recall from previous meetings that serving and loving the people is important.

I witnessed the market had so much work to do and I was touched by what Andreas plans to do with the market, with a sign on the ministry centre overlooking the market and a modified tuk tuk (food truck) selling pizza. I saw how God is working here in the market.

By Alex

We went to the local market and have a store with Andy (Andreas). Andy is a foreigner from Europe with wife and children. He has been in Thailand about 2 years.

The store is quite simple. CDs, Christians books and free Christian tracts were placed on the foldable table. We have 4 ppl from the team with Andy. We handed out Christmas invites for people passing by our store.

I felt mute at the stores. I only could speak one word “chern” which means “please” when I gave out Christmas invites and smiled. A lady wanted to ask me something. I could only smile and didn’t know what she asked. I felt a bit helpless suddenly.

There was a girl waiting for her mum next to the store. I gave her a Christmas invite and a Christian tract. Nathalie said the girl was reading the tract. We prayed for her and I gave another Christian book to her later on. Prayed that God uses those Christian materials to lead her to know him.

We have an opportunity to hand out cookies and Christmas message booklets to different store owners who Andy knows.

I was touched by Andy’s perseverance for serving our Lord in the market every Thursday. He made friends with the store owners and has an openness for talking to people. Please pray that God will bless his market ministry and draw more people to know him and people will response to the Christmas invites.

By Tracy

On our 2nd day I teamed up with Alice to be teachers. Thank God for the ideas and good team work along the way. We managed to run the class time for 1.5 hours with year 3 students without much preparation and only with a half hour notification from local missionaries. We were on our own most of the time.

I am so impressed by the students’ behaviour and politeness. Thailand is called land of smiles and I could feel the students’ sweet smiles. It was fun and amazing to hear how the rest of the team went.

By Tracy & Alice

Josh and I were teaching year 2 children. Initially they couldn’t understand what we were saying when we introduced our names but slowly they understood and even learnt to introduce their name to us! The children were fun to be around with in teaching them numbers, Colours and the heads and shoulders song. Some were rowdy, 2 second attention span, sleepy and naughty but they really loved us having around! 🙂

By Alex and Josh

Turns out 10 year olds actually know a lot of animals, including hamsters and camels! One could question whether they were teaching us Thai or we were teaching them English 😛

We played fruit salad to finish up and when one kid was upset, they put aside winning to make sure the kid was okay. Praise God for the love shown by these kids in a country where God’s love isn’t widely known.

By Hannah & Ellen

What do we do with 30 active Year 5 Thai students for 1 1/2 hours? Stephen and I played games with them, and taught some English songs. One song was We wish you a merry Christmas. Stephen was able to share the Christmas story with the help of an interpreter, and explain why Christmas is a happy time. What a privilege to be able to share with the children about a God who loves them and sent His Son Jesus to save them.
Praise God for Chusin School, set up by Thai Christians with the vision of sharing Jesus with Thai families.

By Charissa

https://www.facebook.com/alice.SY.li/videos/10156257925870612/