Write-up and pictures for the Phuket mission trip
Write-up and pictures for the Phuket mission trip
Building ministry - the men hard at work - steadying the pillar
At the orphanage - coloring, games, etc ...
Well, I promised to put up pictures from my last mission trip in one of my Dec post, and here is the write-up and some pictures. WT did the write-up (not sure if it's a report for our pastors, or an article for the church's newsletter, anyway ...) for the group and this was what she wrote ...
"I cannot remember how my cell group, Ichthus, decided to embark on a G1 mission trip together. Our cell group, which comprises mainly very young families and working adults, has been in existence for nearly a decade – we meet weekly for bible study, have occasional makan get-togethers, and we have been on short holiday retreats together. Perhaps it was a desire to do something more spiritually challenging as a group. Whatever it was, the idea, borne during one of our late-night bible study sessions, soon took root and we found ourselves booked for an eight-day mission trip to the village of Pruteow, in Phuket in December 2006.
The trip was a first in many ways, both for the church and for us. We would be the first group from the church to visit this village. While most of the members in our group had been to mission trips before, this would be the first mission trip we undertook as parents, and certainly the first for all our children. This understandably caused much anxiety in our group, as all the children were very young (ranging from one to seven years), and the kid:adult ratio was very high (7 to 11). This last fact was not lost on Pastor KL, who pointed out rather ironically that we were embarking on a trip to reconstruct houses in the tsunami-torn region of Phuket, no less.
Fortunately for us (and the people there), the rebuilding ministry was just one of the items on our itinerary. We were to help conduct a two-day English camp at a village high school, organize an afternoon of games at an orphanage, and host a Sunday church service. For the duration of our stay, we would be housed in Pruteow; some of us sharing the homes of the villagers, and the families with children, in empty houses in the village.
Ban Pruteow (or the village Pruteow) lies about an hours’ drive from Khao Lak, which is itself about 100 km north of Phuket. Khao Lak is a resort beach, popular as a departure point for scuba trips. However, Khao Lak was also the area of Thailand hardest hit by the tsunami in 2004. In the wake of the tsunami, many villages in the area have been destroyed, and rebuilding efforts are still ongoing.
Our host for the mission trip was Pastor Wsn, a wiry, affable man. Pastor Wsn lives in Ban Pruteow and runs the Pruteow Church from a covered side-porch of his house. He has worked with numerous international volunteer groups and has helped to build more than 80 houses in the area near Khao Lak. Pastor Wsn met us at the airport when we landed, drove us to Ban Pruteow (a two hours’ drive), and was with us for all our activities throughout the trip, often doubling as driver, guide, interpreter, translator, resource person (“Pastor, could we have a fan in our house?”) and even child minder when we adults held our nightly meetings.
Our first sleepy morning in Ban Pruteow after our late night arrival, we hosted a Sunday service in Pruteow Church. Since the congregation spoke no English we, no Thai, we had prepared a skit that relied largely on hand-held signs written in Thai, and for anybody who was still clueless, Pastor Wsn provided (of his own accord) a running commentary in Thai. Our children had a song item of their own, in English, which brought smiles (and probably more giggles) all round.
The building ministry was to take place in the village of Ban Nam Khem, about twenty minutes from Ban Pruteow. The construction team on-site must have been somewhat flummoxed when Pastor Wsn drove up that morning with a team of three men, six petite ladies (some with hats and one with an umbrella, no less) and five pre-schoolers in the back of his pick-up truck. Nevertheless, our team toiled valiantly at mixing cement, carrying pillars and bricks and setting the foundations for the house. In the meantime, the children and their mothers set about reinvigorating the local economy by buying up most of the snacks and toys in the nearby shops. They also went on a prayer walk around the neighbourhood which, with washed-up fishing boats kilometers inland and torn, abandoned houses still bore grave reminders of the tsunami two years ago.
Our trip to conduct a two-day English camp at Ban Kurod School was an eye-opener. While most of the teenagers in the camp could read English, they could not speak or use it effectively. Nevertheless, they seemed to enjoy the songs we taught, and participated enthusiastically in all the games. Shy at first, most of the students had warmed to us by the second day, and we felt emboldened to present a mime about Jesus, teach a few Christian songs and distribute tracts (in Thai) at the end of our programme.
The programme at the orphanage was regrettably short, as it took place on a weekday, and hence could only start when the older orphans returned from school. There were about 23 orphans, a few of whom had lost their parents in the tsunami of 2004. Although they ranged in age from less than 1 year to 16 years, it was heartening to see the older orphans helping the younger ones during their telematch games. It was a treat to sit on a straw mat on the front lawn with them at dusk, sharing dinner and communicating as best as we could, with our hastily-learnt rudimentary Thai.
Planning, conducting and even changing the programmes with short notice, was probably the easy part of this trip. Dealing with the uncertainty of our living conditions (and how our highly urbanised children would respond to those) was probably the difficult part. But God’s grace met us exactly at our point of need: our children adapted much more easily than we expected, doing without heated showers, air conditioning, and even flush toilets with hardly any fuss. They enjoyed the local food, and made friends with the neighbouring children in the village, language barriers notwithstanding. They took their naps whenever they could, even sleeping in the school when the parents had to run the English camp. We had ten people living in a tiny house, sharing one bathroom, and yet we were somehow able to get all our children (and ourselves) washed up and ready for breakfast each morning!
I had hoped that this mission trip would open my children’s eyes to the world around them. Now, each night as we say our prayers, my children never fail to remember Pastor Wsn and his tiny village church in Ban Pruteow, the kids at the orphanage and the school we visited. They continue to sing the Thai songs they had learnt on the trip, and often ask when we can visit Pastor Wsn again. I believe that with this trip, God has planted a tiny seed of love for people in other parts of the world, in their hearts. In fact, they have asked when our cell group is going on a G2 trip!"
The kids enjoying a ride on Pastor’s motor
The trip was a first in many ways, both for the church and for us. We would be the first group from the church to visit this village. While most of the members in our group had been to mission trips before, this would be the first mission trip we undertook as parents, and certainly the first for all our children. This understandably caused much anxiety in our group, as all the children were very young (ranging from one to seven years), and the kid:adult ratio was very high (7 to 11). This last fact was not lost on Pastor KL, who pointed out rather ironically that we were embarking on a trip to reconstruct houses in the tsunami-torn region of Phuket, no less.
Fortunately for us (and the people there), the rebuilding ministry was just one of the items on our itinerary. We were to help conduct a two-day English camp at a village high school, organize an afternoon of games at an orphanage, and host a Sunday church service. For the duration of our stay, we would be housed in Pruteow; some of us sharing the homes of the villagers, and the families with children, in empty houses in the village.
Ban Pruteow (or the village Pruteow) lies about an hours’ drive from Khao Lak, which is itself about 100 km north of Phuket. Khao Lak is a resort beach, popular as a departure point for scuba trips. However, Khao Lak was also the area of Thailand hardest hit by the tsunami in 2004. In the wake of the tsunami, many villages in the area have been destroyed, and rebuilding efforts are still ongoing.
Our host for the mission trip was Pastor Wsn, a wiry, affable man. Pastor Wsn lives in Ban Pruteow and runs the Pruteow Church from a covered side-porch of his house. He has worked with numerous international volunteer groups and has helped to build more than 80 houses in the area near Khao Lak. Pastor Wsn met us at the airport when we landed, drove us to Ban Pruteow (a two hours’ drive), and was with us for all our activities throughout the trip, often doubling as driver, guide, interpreter, translator, resource person (“Pastor, could we have a fan in our house?”) and even child minder when we adults held our nightly meetings.
Our first sleepy morning in Ban Pruteow after our late night arrival, we hosted a Sunday service in Pruteow Church. Since the congregation spoke no English we, no Thai, we had prepared a skit that relied largely on hand-held signs written in Thai, and for anybody who was still clueless, Pastor Wsn provided (of his own accord) a running commentary in Thai. Our children had a song item of their own, in English, which brought smiles (and probably more giggles) all round.
The building ministry was to take place in the village of Ban Nam Khem, about twenty minutes from Ban Pruteow. The construction team on-site must have been somewhat flummoxed when Pastor Wsn drove up that morning with a team of three men, six petite ladies (some with hats and one with an umbrella, no less) and five pre-schoolers in the back of his pick-up truck. Nevertheless, our team toiled valiantly at mixing cement, carrying pillars and bricks and setting the foundations for the house. In the meantime, the children and their mothers set about reinvigorating the local economy by buying up most of the snacks and toys in the nearby shops. They also went on a prayer walk around the neighbourhood which, with washed-up fishing boats kilometers inland and torn, abandoned houses still bore grave reminders of the tsunami two years ago.
Our trip to conduct a two-day English camp at Ban Kurod School was an eye-opener. While most of the teenagers in the camp could read English, they could not speak or use it effectively. Nevertheless, they seemed to enjoy the songs we taught, and participated enthusiastically in all the games. Shy at first, most of the students had warmed to us by the second day, and we felt emboldened to present a mime about Jesus, teach a few Christian songs and distribute tracts (in Thai) at the end of our programme.
The programme at the orphanage was regrettably short, as it took place on a weekday, and hence could only start when the older orphans returned from school. There were about 23 orphans, a few of whom had lost their parents in the tsunami of 2004. Although they ranged in age from less than 1 year to 16 years, it was heartening to see the older orphans helping the younger ones during their telematch games. It was a treat to sit on a straw mat on the front lawn with them at dusk, sharing dinner and communicating as best as we could, with our hastily-learnt rudimentary Thai.
Planning, conducting and even changing the programmes with short notice, was probably the easy part of this trip. Dealing with the uncertainty of our living conditions (and how our highly urbanised children would respond to those) was probably the difficult part. But God’s grace met us exactly at our point of need: our children adapted much more easily than we expected, doing without heated showers, air conditioning, and even flush toilets with hardly any fuss. They enjoyed the local food, and made friends with the neighbouring children in the village, language barriers notwithstanding. They took their naps whenever they could, even sleeping in the school when the parents had to run the English camp. We had ten people living in a tiny house, sharing one bathroom, and yet we were somehow able to get all our children (and ourselves) washed up and ready for breakfast each morning!
I had hoped that this mission trip would open my children’s eyes to the world around them. Now, each night as we say our prayers, my children never fail to remember Pastor Wsn and his tiny village church in Ban Pruteow, the kids at the orphanage and the school we visited. They continue to sing the Thai songs they had learnt on the trip, and often ask when we can visit Pastor Wsn again. I believe that with this trip, God has planted a tiny seed of love for people in other parts of the world, in their hearts. In fact, they have asked when our cell group is going on a G2 trip!"
The kids enjoying a ride on Pastor’s motorThe kids performing during the church service - I have decided to follow Jesus
Some of k
ids from the orphanage were at the service with us
The church congregation - the service is at the side-porch outside Pastor's house
Rare chance to sit behind the pick-up (Left)
My 2 godsons and their mummy (right)
Building ministry - the men hard at work - steadying the pillar
Mixing the cement
Stirring the cement mixture
Pouring the cement - hey, the lady can play her part too!
The work continues … 
At the orphanage - coloring, games, etc ...
Students at the school ministry
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