“How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those 
who bring good news, who proclaim peace, 
who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation,
who say to Zion, Your God reigns!”
Isaiah 52:7

Despite the H1N1 flu scare and Elder Eugene’s knee injury, the group of 15 of us from Bethel Presbyterian Church made it to Baan-Orn for a short-term mission trip in June 2009. For most of us, this was our first mission trip. More than one-third of the mission team were older adults in their 50s and 60s. And so, there were nostalgic refrains from the older ones on how Baan-Orn reminded them of their childhood days.

Indeed, Baan-Orn was probably like the Singapore kampong back in the 1960’s or 1950’s. The Ban-On villagers live very simply. Home is a wooden hut on stilts, with thatched roof and often with just a single, multi-purpose room that serves as living, dinning and sleeping area for the whole family. Each family has a toilet with manual flush (this means you scoop water from a pail to flush down the toilet), which is far better than the bucket sewage system in the Singapore kampong. We have the luxury of using as much water as we wish in our baths (amazingly, we have showers!) and dish-washing (at a stand-pipe). The water, cool and clean, comes free from the mountains!

About 90 families or 400 persons live in Baan-Orn, mainly Karen tribal people. Young men of the village are mostly away, working in the cities. The remaining residents in the village are mainly women and children. The low cash yield of crops planted results in difficulty of the villagers to sustain livelihood. Most of them could not afford medical care in the local hospital. Some are so poor that they do not even have enough food to eat.

The spiritual needs in Baan-Orn are very great. A small minority of the villagers are Christians – about 20%. There is an important need to encourage and teach the Karen Christians, and to support and equip them to share the Gospel of Christ with non-Christians.

Among the Karen Christians, understanding of God’s word is limited. They have great hunger to learn and improve their standard and to learn to evangelise the non-Christians. Among the non-Christians, there is increasing openness to receive Christians and to hear the Gospel.

The Karen Christians warm our hearts with their hospitality, their joy and their fervour for God. Some of us are as old as the local villagers visited and we are encouraged by the active life led by the elderly villagers.

The 15 of us in the Singapore team, together with the local church leaders, packed into two trucks for a 1.5-hour ride over windy, narrow mountain roads to visit two new Christian families in a valley. These are the only Christians in the valley and have faced persecution from their fellow villagers who are non-Christians.

Pastor Somchai praying for new Christian family in the valley.

For the three Christian families whom we visited within Baan-Orn itself, we gave personal testimonies to encourage and show support to them. One of the Christians visited was a man who was paralysed by a fall from a tree but recovered some ability to walk after becoming a Christian. Praise God! We also visited a Christian lady who was recovering from a stroke. The third Christian visited was a lady with her left foot amputated after a motorcycle accident but remained joyful and leading an active life with a prosthetic limb. We felt blessed by the joy and strength of the Karen Christians!

The Singapore team has been very well received by both Christians and non-Christians in Baan-Orn. The Baan-Orn church leaders are grateful to God for the Singapore team who strives to help in meeting their spiritual and other needs. They have affirmed the need for the Singapore team to continue with activities on the Medical Clinic, Church Leaders’ Training, and Youth and Children Programs. They have also requested to have more house visitations and to embark on visitations to the five church branches.

The Singapore team held two night classes to teach the local church leaders “Basic Christian Living” (for new Christian follow-up). Attendance rose from 30 on the first night to 50 on the second night.

Opportunities to share the Gospel abounded in the Medical Clinic which saw a total of 151 patients, up from 110 in the March mission trip. While Eugene (doctor in the Singapore team) attended to the patients, the local church leaders prayed tirelessly for each of the 151 patients. They also shared the Gospel with at least 80 non-Christians. Some of the common ailments (eg high blood pressure) require long-term medical care. This means the Singapore team has to make regular three to six monthly follow-ups.

Singapore team providing medical care to locals.

Spiritual outreach to the local children was carried out in the school. We did a simple kit for the bible story telling on “The Good Shepherd”, and followed with a “magic show” on the Gospel of Christ. In response to the question, “Do you believe in God?”, we were cheered to see more than half of the school children raising their hands. Christian songs in English were taught to the children who enjoyed the catchy tunes and lively dance steps. Our hearts lifted when we heard the children crying out “Mae! Mae!” and waving the sheep’s head that they made during art and craft.

As the local youths were away at a school camp, we managed to have conversational English class with them only on one night. The youths have their vacation in March, April and May. Much more could be done then for the local youths.

Conversational English lesson for local youths.

A Spiritual Journey for the Singapore Team

The mission trip helped to promote the spiritual growth and development of individual team members. A short devotion (at the beginning and end of each day) allowed team members to share thoughts and insights about God’s work in Baan-Orn. By working alongside the local Christians, the Singapore team was inspired by their strong faith and fervour in serving our Lord Jesus and sharing the Gospel. A half-day spiritual retreat for the Singapore team at the end of the mission trip in Baan-Orn provided the time and quietness of heart to reflect on experiences in Baan-Orn and to be challenged to a greater involvement in God’s work. Sunday service at the Baan-Orn church brought Singaporeans and locals together to worship our Lord and God as one.

All glory to God for Bethel Presbyterian Church’s ministry in Baan-Orn!

Team Singapore.

“The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.
Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore,
to send out workers into his harvest field …..”
Luke 10 : 2