2005 Thailand Mission Summary

 

Seven Houghton College students and the Dean of the Chapel traveled to

Thailand for a twenty day mission experience during Mayterm.

After over 24 hours of travel, the group arrived in Bangkok the evening of

May 10th and met Dan and Pada Merrilatt, Wesleyan Missionaries who were

 our mail contacts and resource persons.  We spent Wednesday in orientation

 at the Muang Thai Church in Bangkok where the clergy couple,

Drs. Nantachai and Ubolwan Mejudhon, both of whom have their doctorates

 in missiology from Asbury, are very active in training long and short-term

 missionaries.  Wednesday evening we had the opportunity to share a song

 and testimonies at the mid-week prayer service.  Thursday we took an all

day train journey north to Uttaradit, considered a backwater by more urban folks.

 

                                                                                        In Uttaradit we staffed a three-day English camp

                                                                                        for all ages (I worked with some college teachers).

                                                                                        Pastor Somchai Chatnuntawej supports himself by

                                                                                        teaching English and uses this as a means of

                                                                                        building relationships which provide an opportunity

                                                                                        to share Christianity.  The camp was rewarding, if

                                                                                        exhausting, seven hours a day in 100 plus degree

                                                                                        heat.  Pastor Somchai had hoped to have us visit

                                                                                        public schools on Monday May 24, but that turned

                                                                                        out to be impossible since it was the first day back after summer break.  Instead we saw some tourist sites, including the National Elephant Conservation Center.  I also had the opportunity to visit a walk-in clinic with one of our team members who had become quite ill. 

 

Tuesday was spent on the road traveling to the city of Nakhon Ratchasima (Korat for short), the second largest urban area in Thailand.  The first order of business in Korat was to take our by-now totally dehydrated ill student to the hospital where she was treated for a number of hours in the emergency room.

 

In Korat, our mission was to visit public schools, teaching

English as a second language.  The government has mandated

the teaching of English without providing the resources for

training and employing teachers, so this provides a

magnificent opportunity for Christians to provide a needed

service and thereby build bridges for future work.   Pastor

and Mrs. Yuthayong Srikuaklin of the Muang Thai Church

had done an excellent job of scheduling the group in a wide

variety of schools.  In three days we taught classes in six

schools ranging from a seven story urban school of 2800

students to a rural school with a total enrollment of 52. 

In each case we were welcomed by the school administration

and teachers and in one rural school the pastor and his wife

were invited back to do a presentation on Christianity.

 

                                        Saturday May 21 the group traveled by bus from Korat to Bangkok and then

                                        flew to Phangna, one of the areas most devastated by the Boxing Day Tsunami.

                                        Sunday we had the opportunity to worship in a new-church plant and visit the

                                        devastated region.  Near the repaired hotel in which we stayed were the remains

                                        of the Grand Viking Resort which was having its grand opening the day of the

                                        tsunami.  It was very moving to walk the beach where so many had lost their

                                        lives.  One of the victims was a Prince of Thailand.  The army boat guarding

                                        him was picked up by the wave and now sits on land far from the shore.  It is being left as a memorial.  We spent the next couple of days helping a family build a new home to replace theirs which the story destroyed.  While this labor was merely symbolic compared to the amounts being donated to the region, we do feel it was helpful to this particular family.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The final ministry opportunity was another chance to teach ESL in public school, this time in a region of Bangkok where a pastor is planting a church, once again using language as a means of building bridges and opening doors.

 

In many ways this was an ideal short-term mission experience.  It gave the group an opportunity to see three of the four regions of Thailand, to experience both urban and rural settings, to minister from their strength as native English speakers and to have a taste of relief work.  I am seriously considering offering such an opportunity to Thailand again next Mayterm.

 

 

John N. Brittain
Dean of the Chapel
Professor of Religion
Houghton College