Hapenning in Chonburi Thailad

“God Bless you” is a common Telephone greeting and ending among Christians here in Thailand.  The Lord has called us to bring the Good News and Blessing of the Lord Jesus Christ to the People of Thailand. Before we had a chance to do anything, we have already received the Lord’s blessings through our brothers and sisters here in Thailand.

                We chose to come to Thailand only two days after our Training and commissioning because we want to attend a Camp Revival with all the United Methodist Churches here in Thailand.  The annual Camp Revival this year was in one of the Military Camps in Chonburi, close to the former US Naval Base Utaphau.  Participants came from all of the Thai United Methodist Churches in the country (eleven churches and worshiping points).   Dr. Somsak Chusong was the preacher for the event.  Our first experience with Christians here was a little different from what we were used to in the US, yet it was a very up lifting event for us.

                “Akha” is a hill tribe from the Northern Part of Thailand.  Most of the time the Akha will make their living by farming and gathering from about the mountainside in Northern Thailand.  Some Akha are very close to the Myanmar and Chinese border, but circumstances have moved them away from family to Pathaya.  Pathaya is a tourist city about an hour and a half South East of Bangkok. The contrast between the simple and peaceful life of the Akha to the faster and aggressive lives of the city of Pathaya is unimaginable.  It is estimated that between three to five hundred Akha now make their living in the city.  Most of them sell their crafts they make from the village on the streets of Pathaya.   Some have a little tray about one foot by two feet hanging by a string around their neck.  The tray, which is rested on their waist, is the place the crafts are displayed for tourist who walk by.  There have been many incidences in which the Akha have been detained by the city police and/or fined for the wages they earn in a day because they conducted trade illegally while trying to make a living.

Praise the Lord, The Methodist Church in Chonburi has recently (less than a month) rented a two story condo in the city of Pathaya.  This place serves the Akha as a place of worship in their own language, away from their homes and churches of the North.  Mang and I have had the opportunity to see the condo before the church decided to rent it.  I had some reservations at first because I did not know how many Akha there really were in the city but once the room was rented and a young Akha pastor, who recently graduated from a local Bible College, was willing to serve, my thoughts changed. From there, the community jumped into action.  The official opening day is supposed to be first Sunday in December. There was an unofficial gathering to worship at the place on the Sunday of November (7^th), Mang and I were invited to attend and I preached the first unofficial sermon in Thai which was translated into Akha.

When we got to the place, I was thinking now what? It looks like we are going to have three or four of us. But when the time came around (10:30am), people started to show up.  At the start of the worship service there were thirty two gathered to worship in this little room of about nine feet by sixteen feet.  There were no chairs in the room so everyone just sat on the floor. There was nothing fancy or formal at all in the room, but the worship was very uplifting and moving.  The reservation I used to have in my mind now changed to believe and trust that God will really use this place and this young man to serve His children here in this city.