Thailand Missions (2018) "Mission Complete?"
-Taylor Swift (New Romantics)
Over the course of 10-days I learned so much about myself, about God, and about what God wants from me. Today I would like to take the time to talk about it.
Things I learned while on missions:
1. Leaving a mark
Prior to going to Thailand, I told myself that I wanted to make a mark on Thailand before I leave. I mean which short-term missionary wouldn’t? We all want to see result from our hard work. From one person’s perspective it may seem like a good thing to do something “good.” Eric, the head of the Centre, told me a story:
There was a group of short-term missionaries who went and helped clean up the rooms of a local orphanage. After painting the orphanage, they noticed a nearby house with its walls old and dirty. So, they decided to do something “good” by repainting the walls. After they finished they showed the owner. By their surprise, he was disgusted. The owner was a professional house painter. What they meant as help, became a horror of armature paint jobs. Instead of looking to make an impact by doing something so extravagant, we should listen to the long-term missionaries, because they see the past, and they see the future after the short-term missionary leave. Their judgement is better than ours.
2. Watching over ourselvesOften, I struggle with how much energy I should invest in something. There would be days where I push my limits and following with a major crash of energy the very next day. This is very unsustainable for missions.
I always had this western idea that if you wanted something, you should work hard for it. I wanted to share my experience with God to everyone, and I wanted to share the gospel.
On the morning of Worship night, I had a mild sore throat. Looking back at it now I should have been more cautious on what I did. But instead, I tried to hit some vocal notes I didn’t have and ended up worsening my throat. My throat was hurting every time I tried to talk, and the next morning I was under the weather. For the next serval days, I felt weak. My throat hurt, my nose stuffed, my hearing muffled, and my awareness dropped.
So a take away from all this is that mission is a marathon. You’re playing for the late game. “You could have two days where you push yourself very hard, but then you would require taking a day off. This is something unsustainable.” – Darren
3. Repertoire
I thought the only criteria for missions was your love to share the gospel with everyone. But I felt the requirement were far beyond that.
• It would be a lot easier cooking our July 4th meal if I had some cooking skills
• Some communication skills so I could control the flow of a conversation.
• Leadership abilities when I need to take charge.
• Playing instruments so that I can help my teammates.
In a way, I felt like this was a way for God to tell me to better myself. I should be improving myself as an individual, so God can use me more places.Over the past 2-days I've been in contact with Alisa, as she tells me what’s going on in Chiang Rai. She sends me this update of her and Noreen.
“Lillian our missionary is in good shape. FCBC SGV married couple are okay except for car sickness and tiredness from fatigue. Yesterday we reconnected with our high school principle from previous years and figured out some expectations for possible future partnership thru English teaching. Today we visited a lot of local/tribal churches, student centers, and ministries. We got to know them and how they’re doing and prayed with and for them- their stewardship in ministry and social care is very encouraging.” -Alisa
Prayer Request
• Let’s pray for Alisa and Noreen. Pray their safety as they are working within the Golden Triangle, the area where the borders of Thailand, Laos, and Myanmar meets. There are a lot of drug trades and usage around this area.
• Pray for plentiful energy for both Alisa and Noreen. Being a part of a 10-day mission trip in Chiang Mai and now a 7-day trip to Chiang Rai.
• Pray for the FCBC SGV couple who are returning to the states soon. Pray for their good health.
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