“Unless the Lord builds the house, its builders labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchmen stand guard in vain.” Psalms 127:1
If not God, who can change a barren land into a “heaven of Northern Thailand”? If not God, who can turn broken hearts into such a joyful dancing?
If not God, who can sustain them when the fallen world seems so overwhelming?
With the primitive impression of Northern Thailand, I had prepared for no shower and no flushing toilets. So you can tell how surprised I was when we arrived. It looks like a resort center! The teacher told us seven years ago, they had to sleep in scorpion house and eat snakes; but now the villagers all call the center “the heaven of Northern Thailand”! “They may live in the desert and sleep in the forests in safety.” (Eze 34:25) This is one of God’s promises for the center and indeed God has fulfilled.
It was hard to believe how much the children have been through when looking at their smiles because they are just so joyful. Most of them have experienced the darkest sins of human beings, yet the joy of the Lord really is their strength. “sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; poor, yet making many rich; having nothing, and yet possessing everything.”(2Co 6:10) Through human’s eyes, they may appear pitiable and poor; but through God’s eyes, they are precious and rich. Therefore, when we were up to the mountain and visited the villages, the tears in my eyes were not for poverty and primitiveness but for their lives without God. God has made me truly realize that He is the only and everything we need and how painful and heart-breaking when He saw that He is not the priority in our lives. God’s love towards us has become so real to me!
The faith and passion of the people there has stroke me. They always focus on God and the promises He’s given. We went to many new places where they plan to build new churches and centers. Some of these places are just lands with long grass. However, through the eyes of God, they saw churches full of people worshipping and all the villagers have turned to God. They praise God when they still have financial problems. They praise God even when they have no idea about the next meal for 200 children. They truly believe that God’s grace is always sufficient and His promises and love never fail.
Before the mission trip, my ears had heard of many testimonies about the center. But now my eyes have seen how God has been leading His people step by step. By reviewing how God has fulfilled each promise and looking forward the vision He has given, I feel so blessed to work with God as part of His plan at that moment. And as the last line from the center said, “Raise your holy hands and pray for the new lives of the drug addict and the salvation of the children!” We may have different lives and experiences, but the same God we believed has bound us together; and as His people we are all working together for His kingdom and glory.
星期六, 12月 24, 2005
Another reflection of the mission trip from JW
God’s work is awesome and inspiring to behold. He works in so many ways, sometimes suddenly like a clap of thunder and sometimes gradually like a seed sprouting, but always overcoming and life-transforming. The centre that He has planted in Northern Thailand is an incredible testimony of what He can do when there are workers obedient and willing.
The children we encountered were beautiful in their purity and passion. As I played with them, taught them and talk to them, God showed me how precious they were to Him and I just started to love them, from the youngest toddler to the oldest teen. I was unexpectedly humbled by their earnest and unashamed prayers, in particular on the night we arrived when they turned towards us and raised their voices to bring down the roof in prayer. Being a part of their chapel services was a privilege every morning. I cannot adequately describe the joyful delight of their praise, their heartfelt faces raised to heaven in the most sincere worship I’ve witnessed, and the overwhelming intensity of their prayer. The soaring sound of hundreds of children, their voices blending together as they cried out to their Saviour was something I will remember many years from now. I know I have much to learn before I can intercede as mightily as these prayer warriors.
When the teacher told us the sad pasts of the children, I was quietly stunned. Most had come from broken families. Many had seen their share of sexual abuse, violence and abandonment and death from drugs and AIDS. Speaking with them revealed a little of their painful histories and family tragedies. Yet this wasn’t the thing that shocked me. What shook my heart was how their hearts were still so content, how their faces shone with a joy that couldn’t be found anywhere else but the Lord. How they had truly traded in their sorrows, shame and pain for His perfect joy.
I couldn’t understand it when I thought back to my friends in Melbourne who had relatively storm-free lives, who had ten times as much in our eyes, and were yet so miserable and restless. Was it that these kids didn’t know any better here, with poverty and disease being so familiar? What did they have that gave them such bright hope despite their bleak futures and lack of opportunities? Then I put two and two together. God was their joy, their peace, their love, their hope. Peace when a sibling died from a drug overdose. Love that they couldn’t receive from their parents. Hope from the assurance that God was at work in their lives in spite of their unhappy circumstances.
We sing that all we need is God, that He is everything we need. I never truly understood this until now. When they had nothing at all, God intervened. He was simply everything to them. Take away God and they had nothing. I started to understand. I wanted to sing these words with this conviction too. Take away my family, my friends, my computer, my career, my ability to walk, hear, see. If I were left with God, would He be more than enough? Does abundant life mean possessions, social standing, job satisfaction, warm fellowship? Or does it simply mean a beautiful relationship with my Father?
The young people I met at New Life showed me what it means to be in love with Christ. What it means to count their salvation the greatest and most awe-inspiring blessing. I thank them so deeply for this and I come back desiring to know God better than I do now and to somehow impart the lessons I have learnt to the people I love. I come back praying to see my beloved church here join with our brothers and sisters in Thailand and all over the globe in shining like stars in a world of darkness and unthinkable despair.
By Jonathan Wong – Bread of Life Church Melbourne Australia –Dec’ 2005
The children we encountered were beautiful in their purity and passion. As I played with them, taught them and talk to them, God showed me how precious they were to Him and I just started to love them, from the youngest toddler to the oldest teen. I was unexpectedly humbled by their earnest and unashamed prayers, in particular on the night we arrived when they turned towards us and raised their voices to bring down the roof in prayer. Being a part of their chapel services was a privilege every morning. I cannot adequately describe the joyful delight of their praise, their heartfelt faces raised to heaven in the most sincere worship I’ve witnessed, and the overwhelming intensity of their prayer. The soaring sound of hundreds of children, their voices blending together as they cried out to their Saviour was something I will remember many years from now. I know I have much to learn before I can intercede as mightily as these prayer warriors.
When the teacher told us the sad pasts of the children, I was quietly stunned. Most had come from broken families. Many had seen their share of sexual abuse, violence and abandonment and death from drugs and AIDS. Speaking with them revealed a little of their painful histories and family tragedies. Yet this wasn’t the thing that shocked me. What shook my heart was how their hearts were still so content, how their faces shone with a joy that couldn’t be found anywhere else but the Lord. How they had truly traded in their sorrows, shame and pain for His perfect joy.
I couldn’t understand it when I thought back to my friends in Melbourne who had relatively storm-free lives, who had ten times as much in our eyes, and were yet so miserable and restless. Was it that these kids didn’t know any better here, with poverty and disease being so familiar? What did they have that gave them such bright hope despite their bleak futures and lack of opportunities? Then I put two and two together. God was their joy, their peace, their love, their hope. Peace when a sibling died from a drug overdose. Love that they couldn’t receive from their parents. Hope from the assurance that God was at work in their lives in spite of their unhappy circumstances.
We sing that all we need is God, that He is everything we need. I never truly understood this until now. When they had nothing at all, God intervened. He was simply everything to them. Take away God and they had nothing. I started to understand. I wanted to sing these words with this conviction too. Take away my family, my friends, my computer, my career, my ability to walk, hear, see. If I were left with God, would He be more than enough? Does abundant life mean possessions, social standing, job satisfaction, warm fellowship? Or does it simply mean a beautiful relationship with my Father?
The young people I met at New Life showed me what it means to be in love with Christ. What it means to count their salvation the greatest and most awe-inspiring blessing. I thank them so deeply for this and I come back desiring to know God better than I do now and to somehow impart the lessons I have learnt to the people I love. I come back praying to see my beloved church here join with our brothers and sisters in Thailand and all over the globe in shining like stars in a world of darkness and unthinkable despair.
By Jonathan Wong – Bread of Life Church Melbourne Australia –Dec’ 2005
Reports and Reflection – North Thailand Mission Trip(by J9, one of the mission trip member)
Sa wat dee kaa!!!
Well this mission trip to Thailand has been a blessing, an eye opener, an inspiration … basically, it has been one of the best experiences of my life. I had been told that on my first missions trip I would gain more than I give, but I never could have imagined all the blessings given to me through this trip.
Arriving at the New Life Drug Rehabilitation Centre, I was touched by all the children there. Though they were a bit shy at first, after a few classes with them, the strength, love and faith that the children and adults there was amazing. I was taken aback with the passion with which these children praised and prayed to God. On our first night in the centre, the whole team was totally awestruck when in the middle of the service, the few hundred children in the ‘church assembly hall’ (named the Nehemiah Hall) stood up, turned to us, and all in union, prayed for us their individual prayers and blessings.
Waking up each morning before sunrise, our thoughts and hearts were turned to God through the Christian songs which were blasted through the camp as a wake up call, and in the early morning chapel. At 5 am in the morning we could hear the sounds of the children in the hall practicing music, and truly worshipping God without any hindrance or distraction. In the morning service, we followed the children who led us in songs, and their accompanying actions. I found it extraordinary, that just being in this place, and looking to the children as leaders, we were able to forget all our self-consciousness, and happily dance to songs, whereas back in Australia, we may have stopped and thought: “Am I embarrassing myself?”
Throughout the week, during classes and in the Thai school, I was moved by how loving and respectful these children were. They were thankful for everything that they had. They didn’t have many ‘treats,’ or toys or anything… but they found happiness in chasing around crickets, using a spider as a yoyo, and most of all, they were just so thankful for being in the centre itself. Wherever you went, whenever you saw them, the children would always be smiling. The best was when we were able to sit down in smaller groups and actually get to know them personally. It was then that we were able to find out all the atrocities that these children have been through. They’d been through war, family break downs, death, and abuse; but still, they were happy, and thanked and loved God unconditionally. Even more touching, was how for many, their greatest endeavour was to go out, and share the gospel with everyone they could, as their hearts told them “I have been given this amazing gift of Jesus, and now I want to give to others too.”
Visiting the villages up in the mountains, and seeing all the work being done there, we were all struck by the amount of faith that the people, who planted churches far up in these mountains had. They did not have the ‘funds’ or any materials at all, but they trusted in God for everything, and God provided. Through them, God is doing mighty works, and touching lives, where before there seemed little hope and happiness. It was truly amazing to witness all of this, and to see how God is raising up these children, to mighty men and women of God, who are going to go out there and impact the world in an awesome way.
Jeannine Loh
Well this mission trip to Thailand has been a blessing, an eye opener, an inspiration … basically, it has been one of the best experiences of my life. I had been told that on my first missions trip I would gain more than I give, but I never could have imagined all the blessings given to me through this trip.
Arriving at the New Life Drug Rehabilitation Centre, I was touched by all the children there. Though they were a bit shy at first, after a few classes with them, the strength, love and faith that the children and adults there was amazing. I was taken aback with the passion with which these children praised and prayed to God. On our first night in the centre, the whole team was totally awestruck when in the middle of the service, the few hundred children in the ‘church assembly hall’ (named the Nehemiah Hall) stood up, turned to us, and all in union, prayed for us their individual prayers and blessings.
Waking up each morning before sunrise, our thoughts and hearts were turned to God through the Christian songs which were blasted through the camp as a wake up call, and in the early morning chapel. At 5 am in the morning we could hear the sounds of the children in the hall practicing music, and truly worshipping God without any hindrance or distraction. In the morning service, we followed the children who led us in songs, and their accompanying actions. I found it extraordinary, that just being in this place, and looking to the children as leaders, we were able to forget all our self-consciousness, and happily dance to songs, whereas back in Australia, we may have stopped and thought: “Am I embarrassing myself?”
Throughout the week, during classes and in the Thai school, I was moved by how loving and respectful these children were. They were thankful for everything that they had. They didn’t have many ‘treats,’ or toys or anything… but they found happiness in chasing around crickets, using a spider as a yoyo, and most of all, they were just so thankful for being in the centre itself. Wherever you went, whenever you saw them, the children would always be smiling. The best was when we were able to sit down in smaller groups and actually get to know them personally. It was then that we were able to find out all the atrocities that these children have been through. They’d been through war, family break downs, death, and abuse; but still, they were happy, and thanked and loved God unconditionally. Even more touching, was how for many, their greatest endeavour was to go out, and share the gospel with everyone they could, as their hearts told them “I have been given this amazing gift of Jesus, and now I want to give to others too.”
Visiting the villages up in the mountains, and seeing all the work being done there, we were all struck by the amount of faith that the people, who planted churches far up in these mountains had. They did not have the ‘funds’ or any materials at all, but they trusted in God for everything, and God provided. Through them, God is doing mighty works, and touching lives, where before there seemed little hope and happiness. It was truly amazing to witness all of this, and to see how God is raising up these children, to mighty men and women of God, who are going to go out there and impact the world in an awesome way.
Jeannine Loh
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