Brisbane team mission to Kohng Pae

March 15, 2011

Healing a Broken Village.

Our good friends from the C3 Bayside Church in Brisbane returned to Thailand this year with a few new team mates. And they demonstrated once again that their brand of Christianity expands far beyond Sunday meetings.

Air tickets are expensive, and so is food and lodging for an 11 person team. But in Missions there is no replacement for foreign boots on the ground. It is essential for local Christians to evangelize and to build their church. But words of encouragement and wisdom from a guest usually penetrate deeper and remain longer than words from the locals. It brings the reality that God's Kingdom is everywhere, and for everyone.

In Kohng Pae, there is very little to break the annual routine. It is a poor community. The residents exist on food they grow for themselves, and the money raised from selling cabbage. The people here a from the Karen tribe. And although many Thai Karens are Christian, there exists a dramatic split between believers and non believers. In Kohng Pae the split is not just theological, but geographical as well.

The majority of the residents are animist/Buddhists. They worship tree spirits, seek the council of witch doctors, and rely on all manner of idolatry. Every good and bad event is attributed to the fickle spirits who must be won over with ceremony and offerings. And like many villages in rural Thailand, many people struggle with addictions to drugs and alcohol and the predictable domestic issues that follow.

They have been led to believe that a source of bad luck is the town's Christian residents. Because of this once anyone in the village becomes a Christian, they are forced to move to the far end of the village; downhill from the main population. This type of internal persecution has kept a great many people from receiving Jesus and has also caused splits between families.

Anchalee's uncle Umnat is an evangelist that we support; and this village is one of his main concerns. He has been coming to Kohng Pae for years. He comes to encourage the believers here, who have a church, but no pastor. He also comes to evangelize the non believers. Umnat has been very successful here. And he has brought many villagers into a relationship with Jesus. Unfortunately this has also led to more people being forced down the mountain to the Christian area.

This situation is one that requires some help from the outside. And what could be better than to have a foreign team come to the village and share equally the goodness of God and be witness that He is indeed the source of love and peace.

Our plan was simple enough. The Aussie team supplied a budget for us to provide a feast for the town, and while the preparations were taking place, the team found ways to interact with the villagers. They prayed for the sick, they entertained the kids. In the evening they shared music, dramas, and a gospel message. The next day before the meal, half of the team went to the village school and spent the morning playing with the kids. There were games and balloon animals, tremendous fun was had by all. Meanwhile back at the church, the rest of the team was sharing their testimonies. later there was even a special time of sharing for the ladies, where gifts of soap, medicine, and instant noodles, were distributed too. (this offering was a project of Gail Saint who joined the team from Queensland).

The climax of this experience was intended to be the feast where the village came together and enjoyed a meal which took a whole day to prepare. This is where the plan came off the track a little bit because of breakdown of communications. The food was laid out for all buffet style and people did come, but for some reason many took their dishes back home to their own huts to eat. So we did not get to see the community meal in the way that we expected, but we believe that overall the Mission was a great success.

This mission established a beachhead for us to begin breaking down the mistrust of Christians in the village. It is our job to be salt and light to the world. It is the Holy Spirit's job to move their hearts. Anchalee and I feel very satisfied that the team accomplished their part and we now have an opportunity to build on this work and help to improve the spiritual life of this village to one of unity and peace.

Anchalee and I would like to thank the Australian team members: David and Jill Blackmore, Pastor Linda Grieve, Melissa and Lewis Memino, Paul and Ruth Parker, Kayla Blackmore, John Shaw, John and Kris Frew, and Gail Saint from Queensland.