Last Day

Hi guysss…

How have you guys been? We have sadly come to the end of our mission trip and with sinking feelings, we have to part from this wonderful country. We thank God for his continuous grace and LOVE throughout this trip. So here we go sharing about the most awesome Thailand Mission Trip ever.

The day started off with the famous soaking session led by Aunty Carol. Personally, I was very very very very eggcited for the time of soaking and receiving from God. I love how we are able to bask freely in God’s presence and let God connect with us (something which we all want to be able to do again and again back in Singapore). We then proceeded to individually affirming each other and it was amazing to say the least. Our hearts were left feeling full and overflowing with joy and peace. It was nice to see even the youths sharing words they received from the Lord to encourage and affirm the older ones! They really have stepped up over this trip and Shaun was just sharing on how he was proud and happy to see all of them grow.

After a spiritually fulfilling morning, we headed of to Paew’s famous stall. Though we were sad that kway chap was not on the menu today, the awesome wanton mee and beef kway teow was a more than satisfactory substitute. We actually slurped up around 40 bowls for main course alone. Of course there was the mouth-watering chendol, ice coffee and fried snacks (like goreng pisang).

Next up was children’s club at Pakathan!! Though we expected only 4 kids to turn up, NINE kids actually attended!! More than double what we expected!!!!!! :O God is good and we had an awesome time of fellowshipping with the children. There were songs, food and even an impromptu skit put together by the team. Uncle Jeremy is our superhero. He really took charge of the children's club and tanked the awesome task of engaging the kids (which he did flawlessly, once again). Thank God for Uncle Jeremy~ ^^ And, some of us also got to experience first hand Thai massage by one of the ladies in the village.

Some team members prayed for another lady with knee pain and back pain. That woman even felt better and was very thankful for that. A-tid-taan (prayer) works! Praise God!!!

For our last dinner, we headed to Thanpraporn for wonderful fried rice cooked by Saiyan’s mum. Apparently, the supposed (not very nice) frozen garden vegetables (the ones with corn carrots and peas) in the fried rice were actually fresh vegetables painstakingly prepared by her. The extent of her hospitality despite us just knowing her for a short while was pretty astounding. I’m sure we all felt the warmth and love through the simple yet delicious fare. Praying one last time for all the Thai workers, we poured our hearts out to God to bless them! Once again, we are all very thankful for this opportunity to pray, minister and simply bless the Thais and especially the church workers. Just as they have been a great joy and great hosts, we were glad to be able to return the blessings we received.

After the painful goodbyes, we had the last song thiaow trip home. Honestly, Pi Nok (our driver) has been the best song thiaow driver eveerrrrrr. He just has so much joy in him that his laughter and smile will just warm everyone up. Then came the final reflections during our night sessions. Qi led us to take a moment to pen down our thanksgiving and take aways for the trip. As the thoughts flowed, we realized how gracious God has been to us. Here is a short summary of all our sharings.

Uncle Jeremy – new prayer and worship experience

Esther – capacity to love, increase of love stamina

Ivian – take back God’s love given to the team

Jerone – God of so much more

Justin – aspire to do missions, thankful to be able to part of the team, and GROWTH

Boom (Thai youth) – able to see old friends and forge new friendships

Alex – greater love, hope to bring the passion for healing back to Singapore

Peilin – worthiness

Lydia – conscious love and exciting prayer life

Qi Hui – not to revert back to old self, embrace new identity

Clarence – emotional healing and mugatat (Thai version of bbq and steamboat)

Kelyn – different person, love of the Thai people, trying to emulate them

Shaun – Gospel revealed to many ears, new people that came to church this week, youths rising up

Kelda – things went smoothly, new friendships

Cheryl – joy of praying and ACD

Audrey – humility and ACD

Deborah – thankful for the new set of clothes that God has given me (spiritual clothes)

Ah Bi - making new friends and finding out God loves the poor

Auntie Carol – supernatural teamwork + family J

Uncle Henry – I am thankful my wife came with me on this trip + support back from home, from the team, support from Thailand

We thank you all for your prayer support back at home, they have been, as Lydia said ‘carrying us on eagle’s wings’. See you all tomorrow. We will miss Thailand :’(

Ending off, “God can use anyone anytime, anywhere, anyhow, to do anything” as said by Clarence. Amen and goodnight folks.

Love,

Deborah and Audrey  

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Day 7 Christmas is here in Thailand!

HELLO TIME FOR DAY 7'S REPORT

Matthew 18:4 
Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

After a WOW night of awesome, Spirit-led extended worship, we all woke up really filled to the fullest with the Lord's joy and Love and ready to start our Sunday church activities! I must add that during the 2 hours of intense worship brought all of us to our knees simply worshiping our awesome God of Love, all of us experienced such a tangible presence which really set our hearts on fire for more Love and more Power!

We had bread for our breakfast which was brought to us by... Lydia,Justin,Kelyn! Special fillings included sweet candyfloss tasting thingys, PBJ (peanut butter jam). We had it on our songtiao. It was a really refreshing start to today as we were literally freeezing when we woke up to an announcement from Kelda that the temp was 20 Degrees! Whoo! Thank God everyone is healthy and strong now just in time to brace ourselves for today's weather!

Arriving at Thanprapon Church, we were excited and hyped up to have this chance to celebrate Christmas with the locals, and saw that the youths and children actually arrived even earlier than us! Apart from the christmas deco (streamers and balloons) which we put up the day before, Air even hung up huge canvas paintings on the walls, which added that special touch. More children and elderly folks started streaming in and soon the service started with a full-house congregation, which later on spilled out to the outsides of the church (there were about 50+ locals?) Praise the Lord! The Christmas service was organised by the local church - Thank God for the chance to worship and sing carols together with the Thais, the divine opportunity to share our skit and plant the seeds of the gospel in the hearts of many (all who watched were really attentive, Yay!) After our skit was a sermon, we shared and even taught them our Jesus you're my superhero dance, which even got some 80 yr old grandmas grooving, haha! Then it was Qi's sharing which really touch the hearts of many. During the prayer led by the Thai pastor, many bowed their heads in prayer... and we will continue to pray for every seed that was sown, to be reaped in a harvest in His Time!

Then came lunch, and it was super AH-ROI-MAK-MAK[SUPER TASTY]. Rice,vegetable, fermented fish ( the smell of it was like OHHHHHHHH MY) After lunch, we went to buy coconut flavour icecream- super tasty -- it had glutinous rice in it. yummy! after lunch hour was free time so we continued to fellowship and bond with the children, even praying for people and even massaged them (massage is like our favourite physical touch love language).

Keeping Thanpraporn church + Pi Shaun in prayer :)

Late afternoon it was time for Sawingha church. The adult service was held in this really lovely sanctuary with a view of the garden. As the worship started led by Chu and 2 teen guitarists (one of them Pi Miu's daughter :), we could really feel God's presence as the Thai worshippers really sang from their hearts. Ah-jaan Henry preached the powerful message on Forgiveness and looking ahead into the future God has planned for us. He even prepared clips from Kungfu Panda 2, and the congregation really enjoyed it. The message spoke to many as some shed tears and others gave thanks for the word of God.

Children's sunday school went on at the same time and deb, u J and team even re-enacted the story of Jonah! Kudos to the impromptu budding actors and actresses. Then it was time for the plastic keychains - shaping and creating many different kinds of animals as gifts to the children, it was an instant Hit! Of course a children's session is never complete without U Jeremy's famous balloon sculptures!
Seeing the joy on the little ones faces is really most valuable, and we will continue to pray that they grow up in childlike faith in the Lord.

Having experienced the typical Sunday in Ps Engkiat and team's schedule, we really feel inspired by their constant joy, faith and passion, and commitment - praying for an abundance of blessings for each of these  wonderful Thai bros and sis in Christ.

Dinner Time -- In Clarence's words, the BEST thai dish ever!
Hotpot+bbq 2-in-one.. Pi Chrisina, Sing and other church workers actually set up 5 charcoal stoves and prepared tonnes of meat, vegetables, desserts... Their hospitality really warmed all our hearts <3 Settled into a really really really Yummy dinner, and what made this meal so ultra special was the fellowship with our Thai friends. U Jeremy spontaneously proposed a Yum Seng toast to which we Singaporeans gave our best shot!!! Haha I think in total we actually Yum Seng-ed about 15 min! 1st toast to the team for every individual's hard work, 2nd to our wonderful Thai friends and hosts, 3rd to our AWESOME GOD!
(at the end of it, Saiyan couldnt get enough and proposed his own toast to Shaun and Qi in advance for their wedding. to which the team and all really fully supported as can be heard from the volume of their Yum Sengs). The evening ended on a high!

Thanks be to God for all His blessings and presence here with us. Also to our wonderful hosts and friends, all the Thai workers and especially Ps Engkiat and Auntie Anong (who just cut a really sweet watermelon for our supper).  Many many more thanksgiving items in fact.

Prayer for: our last work day on Monday. We are scheduled to go to Pakathan village to support several  Christians living there,, and possibly to hold an evangelistic concert. The team is on fire to do as much outreach as possible and we just want to give off our BEST to the Lord. Please pray for open doors as we may do tracting and may the hearts of the villagers be open!

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Hi guys

Helloooooo People! Sorry for not updating you guys yesterday, we kind of got carried away while dwelling in God’s presence last night *TEEHEE*. Okay we will get back to this later, so……SATURDAY 10 dec………

We had a good night’s sleep last night as wake up time was respectively late YAY. We had our sumptuous “clarence’s black sauce mee” for breakfast, prepared by Audrey, Clarence and Deborah! After worship and devotion lead by Qi and Pei Lin, we got ready to split into two teams for two different events in the morning. Aunty Carol, Qi, Kelyn, Shaun and Ivian got on pastor Eng Kiat’s comfy car and headed to Thanpraporn church for the English club (English tuition for the kids there) while the rest had to squeeze in the Songtiao and leave half an hour earlier for Inburi church (less chilling time TOO BAD).

The Thampraporn team had to pick up Mr. Chong, who helps as a tutor at the English Club, at his house. He’s the only other Singaporean we met this trip…..just saying. Oh and he somehow knows pastor Keith and uncle Weeliang btw J upon arriving at Thampraporn church, we immediately settled down to help the kids who were already doing their English homework. At first, the kids were too shy and quiet to ask for our help or even respond to us L. Fortunately, after some time, the ice broke (perhaps too much) and we were bombarded by questions and some mischief. Qi shared that it was really fun to help these kids as they were so cute and adorable AWWWW! After the tuition, most of the kids left except for six girls. We went out to get our coconut ice cream with glutinous rice AROI MAK MAK! We then had a session of games and dance lessons which the girls definitely enjoyed to the max (Y)

Concurrently, a Christmas party was held at Inburi Church. Just a bunch of kids and the usual church workers gathering to spread the story of Jesus! We were just glad to spend more time with the kids and to forge more bonds with the Thais! The highlight of the programme was definitely a game planned by the church workers; tied turnips on raffia strings. Everyone was left rolling around the floor in uncontrollable laughter (literally). Oh and not to forget uncle Jeremy’s amazing clowning and magic performance. The kids (including us) were left mesmerized by the many little tricks he had up his sleeves. The party was a great celebration of the joy of Christmas and we definitely hope that we brought as much joy to the people as they have brought to us. God also led us to an opportunity to have a time of worship along one of the youths (basking in God’s presence)!

We Are One finally reunited at Inburi church for a short rest together before setting off for Thong En church. Thong en is a young budding church, just a simple, cozy small house beside the road. This is Pastor Eng Kiat’s latest planted church and most of the members are also from Inburi church. Deborah and uncle Jeremy led the children’s ministry with games, lesson on Jonah and making toaster keychains! Aunty carol gave her SERMON on the account of the five loaves and two fishes in Matthew. She had this idea on sharing with the church how little we came with and how much more we are taking back with us. So, she got Justin, Kelyn and Ivian to share three points each on what they learnt from the Thais. Apparently Justin’s sharing was so touching that an old lady cried for him after the sermon :’) we gathered to hear what she had to say and found out she is very weak physically, with very poor eyesight and weak legs. Of course we prayed for her and she claimed that she felt stronger in her legs but a little dizzy :O we said goodbye as we watched her rode off on her motorbike LOL? GREAT THANKSGIVING AT THONG EN! Firstly, the fisherman whom, we prayed for the other day said that he caught a very big fish, a rare catch which he could sell for 200 baht J Next, the lady with the swollen hand showed us that the swell has subsided and told us it was firmer J

NOTE: its getting late so I’m gonna rush through the last part SORRY! PHOTOS ANOTHER DAY OKAY?

We had dinner at this food court which had the nicest toilets (in Thailand). Uncle Jeremy wanted to wash his face again and again just to have a look at the toilet again. On the other hand, the girls were spamming photos in their toilet WHAT!?

We reached home and were welcomed by God’s wonderful creation >>> ECLIPSE + FIREFLIES = AMAZING. Thank God for giving us the chance to see these breathtaking sights J

After our showers, we had time of extended worship which went on for more than 2 hours!!! We really dwelled and enjoyed God’s presence deeply. (THANK YOU LORD!) That’s why we didn’t have time to blog #excused J

Signing off with love,

Cheryl and Ivian

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Day 5 - Real men shed tears!!!

“Sa-wat-dee dton yen! Sa-baai dee mai?”  (This actually means Good evening, how are you?)

As the sun began to rise, this marked the beginning of a wonderful day ahead of us. All the guys woke up really early to shower and have their breakfast (as usual), while the girls were still snoozing soundly in bed! A moving and audible alarm clock ( Alexzxzx) slowly popped his head into the room and exclaimed “CHERYL STILL SLEEPING AH!?”, resulting with everyone bursting into laughter.

After the yummy breakfast, our dear talented musician, Esther, led the team into a wonderful time of worship, followed by a tear jerker account from Pi Sit (Jerone) of how Jesus suffered so much for us because He loved us so much. He even shared how the maximum number of flogging in Israel was based on the number of times Jesus was flogged. :’(

Before we embarked the Song Thiaow, Ahjaan Henry encouraged us with :

1 Corinthians 13:4-5

“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no records of wrongs.”

Moving on, we went to Bangrachan to visit Pi Thong Law, a handicapped man who is one of the beneficiaries of the Covenant Seed Fund. With the help of our very capable interpreter AKA PI SHAUN HO, we heard the testimony of Pi Thong Law who fell from a great height at a construction site while doing odd jobs there. As a result, he was paralysed from waist down. As the sole bread winner of his family and being the only Christian there, he faced tremendous pressure from the people around him. Due to his physical condition, he was looked down by everyone, including his family. So the guys gathered to pray for him while the girls did a prayer walk. The presence of God was so strong and great that all the real men started crying( Clarence, Ivian, Alex etc.) His fish farm was also not doing well so the girls went to pray for the fishies to grow big and healthy so that they could be sold.

We went back to Thanpraporn Church for a super delicious lunch prepared by Pi Na. It consisted of tomyum seafood soup, deep fried fish with homemade sweet and sour sauce and a mixed veggie dish. YUMMYYYY (Clarence ate two fish heads and everyone finished off the body hahaha!) We also had cups of Thai coconut ice cream with glutinous rice and tausuan beans which was absolutely delectable.

Soon after, we departed for CG at Sa Jaeng Village where it was held under the trees.  The worship was led by Pi Air, the testimony was shared by Pi Tin(Justin) and the Bible lesson was led by Cheryl! We taught the Thai people how to fold paper hearts to give away as presents to their loved ones.


In the evening, we went to Rong Nam Taan Village to conduct an open air evangelistic concert. After the usual line-up (Ice breakers, dances, songs and the skit), Alexzxzx shared a heartwarming testimony and Pi Lydia led the Gospel clincher where seeds were sown.

The evening ended on a high note as the whole team gathered to pray for a Thai girl, Aim, who is only  12 this year. Her head was hurting earlier and when she went to the doctor for a check up, it was discovered that she had a blood clot in her brain as a blood vessel had erupted. She underwent an operation and the after effects was that her limbs on the left side of her body were weak and she could hardly move them. After fervent prayers, visions and encouragements, she could move her hands more freely as she felt strength coming back and she could also balance on her left leg with a little help from her mother. This was when during the prayer and worship, many girls started tearing  as they could feel that the Lord was right there.

We bade farewell to the locals and travelled to 7-11 for our usual nightly milk rounds. ( GO MEIJI! ) Also, with everyone feeling very patriotic, we started singing National Day songs like ‘Where I Belong’, ‘Home’  and  ‘Singapore Town’ etc. Realising that 5 days have already past, we thought of how time flew and soon we will be back in Singapore so don’t miss us too much! 

With lots of love,

Uncle Jeremy and Keldaaa  

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Day Four – Eat Pray Love

We woke up bright and early to a sumptuous breakfast consisting of tuna, sausages and toasted bread with melted cheese. (Yum! – Clarence) This gave us a lovely kick-start to our busy day of visitations. First stop! We paid a visit to the church in Inburi, and were pleasantly greeted with the sight of a new sanctuary that is almost completed. A spacious expanse greeted us as we entered the new facility on the second floor of the church, together with a stage (that is HUGE) :O At this stop, we took the opportunity to pray for the church workers in this church with regard to their family and physical health. The session ended on a high note with a satisfying session of massages that left the church workers exclaiming “Chorb! Chorb!”  ( “Like! Like!” in Thai)

 

Next stop! We travelled to a church member’s house in the Thong En district. Upon arrival, we met up with Fay, together with her mother and daughter (Pinky). We learnt that Fay had unfortunately been diagnosed with a tumour in her head and fervently committed her to Christ in prayer as a team. This encounter with God touched her emotionally and she and her family were evidently encouraged and touched by God’s work in them. We also got the chance to pray for Nuan - a lady with a growth on her forearm, which was visibly enlarged, preventing her from carrying out her daily chores with ease. Although the lump did not disappear completely following prayer, she testified to a decrease in pain and some of us observed that the swelling in her arm actually went down. God’s work is indeed mighty in Thailand!

We had the fortunate opportunity to visit Fay’s father-in-law at his workplace – the river where he fishes. Astonishment came upon us as we witnessed the fishing contraption at work – an equipment purchased through the help of the Covenant Seed Fund, that enables Fay’s family to stay afloat financially.

LUNCH! We dropped by a roadside stall that offered delicious fried rice, Phad Thai and a dish comprising different meats topped with basil. Yum yum! Enough said.

We blitzed home to get our paraphernalia for the Evangelistic children’s concert that was set to take place in the evening in Saweng Ha Village. With the help of fervent prayer and God’s intervention, the Gospel was received with great enthusiasm through the skit as well as engaging games that got the children hyped up and excited throughout the evening. Following the skit, Esther gave a testimony and a gospel clincher that was met with positive responses as many team members witnessed the children praying to receive Christ and even tearing as the Holy Spirit moved within them. All thanks be to God for this outcome!

Dinner was nothing less than satisfying, with chicken rice lovingly prepared by Pi Na (Great reminder of Singaporean cuisine) that had us (e.g. Clarence/Jerone/Alex) returning for second rounds. :O :O

We ended the delightful evening with a round of prayer and praise amongst the TMT team and the church workers. It was a good time of bonding as some of us got to know the church workers better while sharing in their troubles and joys.

Signing off & love you all in Singapore!

Esther and Clarence ;)

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Day 3 - Back to School!

Konichi-WA!

For YoWAs, today was the first time we entered a school in a long, long time. The moment we entered Wat Pra Prang School, Uncle Jeremy was already engaging the onlooking students with great enthusiasm. He even went the extra mile by dressing up with a colourful bow tie, smiley face badge and clown mask. Don’t we just admire his affinity with children?

We thank God that the lesson plans were well executed and the students had very positive attitudes towards us. We felt really appreciated and welcomed J Pi Shaun, Pi Air, Pi Boom and Pi Sayyan saved the day by helping with the translation, making communication with the students much easier. Yes, in school we’re addressed as Pi-(our name). For example, Jerone called himself Pi Sit. “Due to my unique name, the name ‘Sit’ replaced my former name. Therefore, I’m now known as Sit Ho. Aunty Jenny, don’t angry ah,” Sit explained.

The afternoon’s Christmas program was well received by both the students and teachers. Credits to the logistics team! It wasn’t easy to find the strategic spot for video projection, because it was an open area. By God’s grace and guidance, we were able to go through the activities with ease and without much anxiety. During the skit, I was touched by the unity of the team. Those who were at the backstage were continually praying for the seeds that were sown in the hearts of the children to germinate through our Christmas program. It’s like a continuation from the vision I saw yesterday. As Deborah had shared during tonight’s debrief, ‘everyone worked with each other with so much ease. The unity could only be supernaturally given.’ Wise words indeed, wise words indeed. After the skit, she gave a powerful testimony which not only impacted the kids, but also encouraged many of the team members. Indeed, God has opened a door for us to reach out to the students. We’ve come this far from chasing after school buses just to distribute children’s club invitations to eventually landing ourselves in the school to teach and interact with the students.

Even though we had to wake up earlier than usual in order to get to the school on time and were almost completely drained of energy by the end of the day, we know that our labour is not in vain in the Lord. Our labour is a labour of love:

“We remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. “ - 1 Thessalonians 1:3

Prayer Requests:

1. Pray that students invited will come to the Christmas service this coming Sunday and be touched.

2. Pray for good health amongst the team members

3. Pray for continual protection

4. Pray for God to use us mightily during the 2 visitations at Inburi and Thong En District

5. Pray for outpouring of the Holy Spirit on us when we do our evangelistic concert at Sawaeng-Ha Church and that hearts will be opened to the gospel. Pray also for Esther who would be sharing her testimony.

6. Pray for more youths to come for this concert.

Take care and God bless,

Seedling

Sit-(Pei)Lin (No pun intended)

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DAY 2 - Awesome Beginnings

            สวัสดี คุณเป็นอย่างไร! For those of you not as well-versed in the thai language, we just said hi. Thank you to those who have been keeping us in your thoughts and prayers, we are doing ok so far. :D Thank God for continuing to watch over our team members – those who were feeling ill yesterday are definitely feeling better today!

           

            Today, the main activities were visiting Thachang church members at their homes, as well as the Children’s Club and cell group at Wat Yat Soi village. We visited perennial TMT favourites Pi-Miew and Pa-Noy at their homes, and were glad to find out that they have been doing relatively well since the last team visit, and took the opportunity to pray for their health, spiritual well-being and daily needs once again. The visit to Pi-Miew had a particularly large impact on the team, as many team members were deeply touched by the Holy Spirit, especially when we were praying over her physical ailments. Peilin even received a prophetic image of a lone tree surviving amidst a flood, with the faithful regularity of the sun’s rise and set bringing new mercies and healing every morning. Overall, Pi-Miew felt really blessed by our prayers, and even managed to get some much needed rest in the peaceful atmosphere of prayer and worship! When we met her later that day, we found out that her physical pains had disappeared and that she was feeling much better on the whole. (: Praise God for his healing grace!

            At Wat Yat Soi, we executed a puppet show and skit for the children’s club, and Clarence and Lydia taught the Thais the five “love languages” during the cell group. Our experiences today really taught us that even when we are feeling unprepared and inadequate, God will come through for us! We were blessed with four Thai workers who helped us voice the puppets and really created an entertaining spectacle for the children. Kudos also to Clarence and Lydia who, with the anointing of God, were able to carry out a workshop which really resonated with the Thais.

            Continuing yesterday’s trend, it seems that the team’s prophetic link with God is working well! Peilin received a verse (Isaiah 53:2) which affirmed the verse received yesterday, and many team members were blessed with visions and words of knowledge. Deborah received a vision at Pi-Miew’s place about a stream of healing rushing over Pi-Miew, which was affirmed by Pi-Miew’s testament of feeling a cold blue liquid flowing through her body. Jerone also received a powerful promise that in his lifetime, one of the ubiquitous massive Buddha statues would be replaced by a cross. We would like to thank God for his manifold blessings to the team and we hope that our senses will continue to be attuned to God’s voice!

            Finally, we would like to thank God for the wonderfully awesome food that we were able to enjoy. (: Aunty Christina’s cooking never fails to leave us with huge smiles and enlarged tummies. More pleaseeee!!

            Please continue to uphold the team in prayer as we embark on our programme at Wat Pra Prang School tomorrow. Some team members are still feeling a little under the weather, so please pray for healing and restoration of energy! 

XOXO

Justin and Kelyn

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