A weekend of thinking mission...

What is mission?  What does the Bible say about mission?  Is mission the same as evangelism?  Is mission still necessary? Why does God call us to mission? What part can we play in God's mission?

Question time!

We've spent an amazing weekend wrestling with those questions (and more!) with 50 young people from the Karen Baptist Convention. Held at the Siloam Bible School, the Mission Seminar is the latest development in a growing movement among Karen young people with a passion for mission.  We are delighted to be able to encourage and support these young leaders, with the help of a mission innovation grant from BMS.

Passionate worship...

Following on from a successful mission trip in May 2012 (you can read more about that here), the Karen Youth department are now planning to send a mission team to Cambodia in 2014. We are looking for 12 young people to go for 2-3 weeks to work alongside local churches and ministries.

Wrestling with some practical issues...

Apart from the 'big questions' of mission, last week's seminar also looked at some practical issues - does mission only involve those who 'go'?  Do we have do go abroad to be involved in mission? How can we communicate cross-culturally? What can we learn from church growth in places like China, India and South Korea? And we also heard some of the young people's honest concerns: 'What if our message is rejected?'  'Can we really do this?'  'I'm scared - what do I do?' And, for me, a special moment: 'Why hasn't our church been involved in mission before now?'

In the morning bible study, Joe, one of Karen leaders driving this new initiative, encouraged us all to be 'Glocal Christians' - people who are engaged in our local context, but also aware of what's happening around the world.

Learning how to be a 'Glocal Christian'

We finished the seminar with a survey of the 'unfinished task' facing us - 7,000 unreached people groups, with perhaps 29% of the world's population, who have almost no chance of hearing the gospel in a way they can understand and respond to. Some of those people groups are right here in Thailand.  And, interestingly, the 5 countries with the highest numbers of unreached peoples are all within a short plane journey from Thailand!

After an exciting weekend learning more about God's mission, the next step for the Karen Youth is Cambodia 2014.  And then?

Future missionaries?

A journey of faith

One of the joys of being involved in long term mission is the privilege of walking alongside some amazing Christians over a number of years - and seeing what God does in and through them.  Back in 2006, I was working closely with a youth leader called Somchai.  He was then the Youth Secretary for the Karen Baptist Convention (KBC). 
 

Somchai with his youngest daughter in July 2006

After his term with the KBC expired in 2007, Somchai faced a difficult choice.  He could have stayed in Chiang Mai and worked for an NGO.  This would have offered him a good wage, opportunities to travel internationally, and the ability to send his two children to an excellent Christian school.

But Somchai felt that God was calling him in a different direction - back home.  Somchai comes from Tha Song Khwae, a remote village in Mae La Noi, 4 hours drive from Chiang Mai.  There was a small church plant in his village, but the neighbourhood was mostly Buddhist and animist, and things were not easy for the Christians there.  There was no pastor – and no money to pay a salary either. 

Tha Song Khwae Christians in 2009

Somchai decided to take a step of faith and return to Tha Song Khwae, taking up the challenge of pastoring the church plant, encouraging the believers and reaching out to the local community.  With his wife, Da, he has been farming rice and raising animals to support his family.


There have been disappointments and setbacks over the years, but people have been coming to faith in Jesus as the little community of Christians has grown in maturity and confidence.  And last Sunday, that church plant was officially dedicated as a full church in the Karen Baptist Convention.  It was an emotional moment, and a powerful testimony to God’s faithfulness – and to the commitment and dedication of Pastor Somchai and his family.

Tha Song Khwae Church - the newest church in the KBC

Tha Song Khwae church leaders being commissioned

During the dedication ceremony, the leaders and members of the new church were challenged that, as God’s chosen people, they have a high calling – to model God’s kingdom on earth, and to share Christ’s gospel with their neighbours.  Please pray for them as they set out on a new stage of their journey together.
  

Da, Manna, Gift and Somchai at the service on Sunday

And please continue to pray for Somchai, for his wife Da, and for their two children, Manna and Gift.

Karen Baptist Assembly on Thai TV

This year's KBC (Karen Baptist Convention) Assembly was held in the Musikee district.  Almost 5,000 people attended the four day meeting - and among those 5,000 were some Channel 7 reporters.  In the days following the Assembly, Channel 7 showed two 5 minute reports from the Assembly on prime-time national TV.

While the focus of the Channel 7 reporting was on the presence of the President of the National Anti-Corruption Commission, it was fun to see Karen singing and traditional dances on TV! Here is a link to one of the reports - although the report is all in Thai, the background pictures are interesting.

Lost in translation?

I noticed this sign on a gate outside a local government building.  But what does it mean?  The English is awkward: "I learned all kinds of drivers?"

Actally, the Thai notice translates as: "No learner drivers of any kind are allowed in here!"  Something of a translation fail, then.  This is quite a common occurence  - and some translation mistakes are more amusing than others.  One of  my favourites is a sign at Suwarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok, announcing that the priority immigration lane is reserved for, among others, 'pregnant men.' 

It's easy to laugh at such signs.  But reflecting further, it's also clear that spectacular communications failures aren't limited to public notices. In the barbers last month, we were discussing the various New Year festivals celebrated in Thailand - Chinese, Karen, Thai, Western.  Then the Thai barber said to me, 'I really like your (Western) New Year celebration - but it's got a different name, hasn't it?  Oh yes - Christmas!'

How did our communication fail so badly?  Nearly 185 years after the first Protestant missionaries arrived in Thailand, the gospel has been preached far and wide throughout this country.  We have proclaimed the message of Christmas - "Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. (Luke 2:11)"  But how did the barber hear, "Christmas is the West's cultural expression of the universally celebrated New Year festival?"   Indeed, why is Christmas marked in Bangkok with snowmen on hotel roofs?  How's that for an example of being 'Lost in Translation?'

Snowmen in 30 degree Bangkok - Christmas?

"I learned all kinds of drivers?"  It seems relatively clear in comparison...!

A time of mourning

I wrote last week about Siloam Bible School's graduation service, which took place on Sunday (3rd March).  It was a great day - as expected, a day full of celebration and where the whole community came together to praise God for the achievements of the 14 young graduates.

Within hours of the graduation service ending, however, we received some tragic news.  David, a member of the local church here, had been involved in a serious motorbike accident.  He died later that evening.  David was 49 years old, a familiar figure around the area, and leaves behind a wife and two young children.  Over the past three days, we have again seen the Karen community coming together - not for celebration this time, but to mourn the loss of a friend, and to support his wife and children.

David's funeral was hosted by our local church. Christian Karen funerals typically take place over three or four days, which allows time for relatives and friends who live some distance away to arrive. I attended worship services on Monday and Tuesday evening, where we prayed for David's family, and gave thanks for his life.

As is traditional, the coffin was placed at the front of the church, with flowers and bright flashing fairy lights arranged around it.  The opening hymn on Tuesday evening was the Karen translation of 'In the sweet by and by'.  Continuing the strong Karen musical tradition, the preacher sang parts of three different songs during his sermon - including 'Home where I belong' in English. It was a simple, but powerful service.

After the service, the whole congregation shared a meal together.  On Wednesday morning,  there was another worship service and opportunity for anyone to speak if they wished.  Then, following another meal, a procession accompanied David's coffin from the church up the hill to the Christian graveyard, where the funeral concluded with a short ceremony.

Please pray for David's wife and children - aged 10 and 12 years old - as they adjust today to the reality of the loss they have suffered.

Graduation Day is coming...

We are just 4 days away from the most important day of the Siloam Bible School year: Graduation Day.  This Sunday, 3rd March, 14 students will complete their formal training at the Karen Baptist Convention's school, and move into full-time ministry.

The 2012 Graduating Class

This whole weekend will be a busy one - over 300 guests are expected, many of whom will be sleeping in the Bible School buildings.  Classrooms and the library are being transformed into makeshift bedrooms.  The kitchen is gearing up to produce food for almost 10 times more people than usual. 

For the graduating students, this weekend is the culmination of four years of hard work.  They have spent the past year in a placement in a local church, returning back to Siloam just 2 weeks ago.  It also marks the beginning of a new phase of their ministry: most will now go into pastorates, full-time youth work, women's ministry, or into roles with NGOs and parachurch organisations.

2012 Graduates receiving flowers and gifts

But this Sunday will also be a time to celebrate - to have fun and enjoy the feeling of having succesfully completed the course.  And in Thailand, and especially for the Karen, that means more than just a group of individuals celebrating - it involves the extended family and friends of every graduate.  This experience will be truly shared - indeed, it really represents the wider community gathering to celebrate and affirm the achievement of all expressed through the graduation of these 14 young people.

Congratulations to the graduate - but also to the whole family too!

This is a community facing huge changes and challenges in the years ahead. Please pray that those commissioned into ministry of various forms this weekend would be used by God to meet those challenges. Please pray that the impact of what happens on Sunday here at Siloam Bible School would be felt for years to come across the Karen Baptist Convention - and beyond.

What's your history worth?

The first Karen Christians in Thailand heard about Jesus in the winter of 1881.  A group of travelling Burmese Karen evangelists came to a village in Lampang Province, just south of Chiang Mai, and spent four months sharing the gospel and encouraging new Christians.  During that time, three entire villages came to faith in Christ. The picture above shows the memorial stone set up on the site where those first conversations (and conversions) took place.

As is sadly true of many memorials, this one is not in good shape.  The surrounding area is overgrown, the fences are broken down, the signs are falling to pieces, and the memorial stone itself could use a good clean.

This weekend, however, fifty young Karen Christians, inspired by the vision of an emerging local leader, are about to change all that.

Poster inviting young people to join in the restoration weekend

Coming from all corners of the Thailand Karen Baptist Convention, which now has over 25,000 members in 160 churches, the young people are converging on the memorial stone for a weekend of restoration and rebuilding.  Over these two days, the focus will be on cleaning, clearing, cutting and repairing.

But there is a bigger vision behind it all.  The vision of returning to the dynamic, bold, unashamedly missionary faith of those first Karen evangelists from Burma through whom God planted the Karen churches in Thailand.  The vision of restoring not just memories of a golden past, but faith in God to provide possibilities for a golden future.  Please pray for the young people involved this weekend - that as they honour their forefathers in the faith, they might be inspired by their example.