On the 24th March 2008 a team of 9 very enthusiastic members of the Noarlunga Corps travelled to Chiang Mai in Thailand for one week mission trip to serve friends, Sean & Anne Sanborn, at the City Gate Church.
En-route to Chiang Mai we stopped over in Singapore where we met with Captains Jullian & Jane Wong. Jullian is the Territorial Sports Ministry Coordinator and Jane a Corps Officer. I made friends with Jullian while in Hong Kong at the IES Disaster Relief Training. It was great to visit Jullian in his ministry context and to meet his lovely wife, Jane. We shared tea together as a group and visited The Salvation Army sports stadium where Jullian's ministry is based.
Upon arrival in Chiang Mai, the next day, we met with Sean & Anne and were transported to the City Gate Church where we met Pastor Gampon and his wife Myriam. After introductions and a short tour of facilities, we were given an orientation, introducing us to local culture, language and ministry expectations.
The following day we got to work on our mission project to paint the new coffee house, which is a new outreach ministry of the City Gate Church to their local community. We spent a whole day preparing the room for painting, which amuzed some of the locals, given the Thai way of painting. When we finally put paint on the walls, our preparation efforts really paid off. The finish product almost looked professional! While some of us painted, others of our group worked outside with some of the locals to flatten three mounds of dirt in the front garden. This provided the foundation for future landscaping.
In the evenings we were treated to some extraordinary cultural eating opportunities. First, we went to a Thai style 'all-you-can-eat' restaurant with live music entertainment. The array of food was typical of Thai Cuisine, with a selection of cooked and uncooked foods. On the tables was an aluminium cooker with hot rocks and a dome top where you could either boil or fry your selected foods. The food was great! The next evening, we enjoyed a Khan Toke meal which featured a variety of traditional Thai dancing in the most beautiful Thai setting. The food was great and the entertainment a rich cultural experience.
Next on the itinerary was an overnight trip to a couple of villages in the hills (about 2-3 hours north of Chiang Mai). We travelled in the back of a covered ute, which allowed us to enjoy some amazing scenery. On the way to the first village we stopped at Buatong Waterfall, which was awesome. Some of our group decided a paddle in the waterfall was an ideal relief for the heat.
We stopped for lunch at the first village at the local pastor's house, where we enjoyed fish that was caught an hour before we arrived. He showed us around the village and the site prepared for a new church building for 300 people! You couldn't help but admire the vision and enthusiasm of the pastor. We prayed with the pastor and then travelled on to the next village where we spent the night. The locals greeted us enthusiastically and we got to visit to two of them in their homes where we heard their amazing stories and shared in prayer together. Our interpreter for the village trip is the assistant pastor from City Gate Church, Tong Kum. He is an awesome man of God and we really enjoyed getting to know him on this trip. We then joined with the local congregation for a service in their small church building. It was an incredible experience worshipping together across language and cultural divides. I can only describe it as a modern 'Pentecost' experience. Some of our group presented two dramas, shared their testimony, sung a couple of group songs in English, and performed a dance item. I then had the privilege of preaching through our interpreter. I took the opportunity to encourage the congregation by referring to their rich sense of community we experience as an illustration of the early church in Acts 2:42-47. After the service and we shared a meal together at a villager's house, before retiring for the night. Our sleeping arrangements were certainly an adventure, as we all bunked in together in the church building on a concrete floor. It was quite a laugh watching each other figure out how to hang our mosquito nets and get as comfortable as possible with pretty basic bedding.
The next day, we enjoyed more fellowship with the locals before heading back to Chiang Mai. That was of course after the driver tended to a flat tyre! On the way back to the city we stopped at the Chiang Dao Caves for a visit and lunch. The caves were full of religious significance and Buddhist symbolism but were an awesome display of God's wonderful creation.
On the Sunday we shared in worship with the City Gate Church and were blessed with a traditional Thai welcome by two very elegant dancers. The worship time was awesome, and we again participated through drama and testimony. I had another opportunity to preach and felt led to share with this church the vision God has given our church from Jeremiah 33:6-9. The pastor who interpreted for me really captured the passion of the message and connected it well with his congregation. The pastor made a very kind presentation of appreciation to our team before we enjoyed a fellowship lunch with the congregation. In the evening we attended another service that was conducted in the language of one of the villages. This too was a powerful time of worship. After the evening service we were driven into the city to the walk-in street market. This was a shopper's paradise with a rich blend of culture and bargains!!
Two of our group flew out on Sunday night and another two on Monday morning. The remainder of the group were treated to a day of fun activities at an elephant park. We got to ride on the elephants on a trek along the river, watch an amazing elephant show, enjoy a delicious lunch, shop for souvenirs, and travel down the other side of the river on a bamboo raft. What an adventure!! The day was concluded with a pizza dinner and DVD at Sean & Anne's place.
That concluded an extraordinary mission trip that had a profound impact on each of us who attended. We were also delighted to hear that our presence was a real blessing to Sean & Anne, Gampon & Myriam and their church.
On the way home, we stopped over again in Singapore and had tea with Jullian & Jane again. They then took us on a tour of a Salvation Army Children's Home, THQ and Singapore Central Corps. We were then taken to an enormous shopping mall to spend whatever money we had left!
I was deeply impressed by the awesome ministry of our team and the way they generously gave of themselves and their finances to this mission trip. They represented our Corps, The Salvation Army and our Lord Jesus Christ in a most excellent manner. I am looking forward to how the impact of this trip will transfer through to the mission and ministry of our corps.
