2017 1st Choir Mission Trip
Sing, Choirs of Angels
Justin Cheong
Most know what sawadee ka means (it’s Thai for “hello”, for those who don’t), and that’s probably the extent of our knowledge of the Thai language. So, can you imagine the choir member’s reactions when we learned we had to sing – and memorise! – not one but three full Christmas carols in Thai? Chow lok tung lai chen jai yin dee mee pra ra cha pra soot etc. What?! It was Greek (well, Thai) to us! That was just one of the many hurdles the PLMC Choir had to surmount before embarking on its first mission trip – yes, the choir’s first mission trip in the history of PLMC.
At the beginning of 2017, God prompted W & M director Susanna and choir conductor Eng Wah to suggest that that should be the year for the choir’s first-ever mission trip. After five months of preparations with a church that was interested in having us for Christmas 2017, plans fell through, to our great disappointment, and time was running out. But when the Lord closes a door, somewhere He opens a window. Through the church missions committee, we were blessed to get in touch with PLMC missionary Boonchiaw, who put us in touch with God Is Good Church in Chonburi, Thailand. To our relief (and amusement), he ended all his responses to our questions and requests with “No problem!” – truly, this is a man who leaves everything in the hands of God.
In the remaining months – up until the day before we departed on 30 Nov 2017 – we prayed fervently and got to work on our musical entitled “Christmas, Cookies and Angels”: We wrote a script from scratch (thanks to my sister Amy); obtained and adapted anglicised Thai lyrics through choir member Irene, whose daughter runs an orphanage in Chiang Mai; got the entire musical translated into Thai with the help of Tee Lertpalanunt, a missionary with YWAM Chiang Mai; hunted high and low from Amazon and Tao Bao to Mustafa Centre for the perfect pageant costumes and accessories; and practiced, practiced, practiced.
Meanwhile, God had plans to expand our initial intent of ministering to the modestly-sized congregation at God Is Good Church: Without telling us, Boon chiaw had included us in the programme for a large rally to be held outside a shopping mall in Chonburi. We were excited yet apprehensive. Would there be a sound system? Would there be a screen to project a translation of our musical? Would we melt in the heat in our costumes? So many questions, yet only one answer from Boon chiaw: “No problem!”
You may also like
1962 Methodist Youth Fellowship Talentime
Missions
Worship & Music Ministry
In the end, God, who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all the we ask or think (Ephesians 3:20), provided: The professional sound system was of concert quality, and manned by experts; the huge LED screen behind us projecting Thai translations ensured that everyone watching understood us; and hundreds were entertained, touched and blessed by the Christmas message. The same happened in the cosy hall of God Is Good Church (where the congregation couldn’t stop weeping during our time of ministry) and at another performance we gave outside a shopping mall in Pattaya. The latter was a last-minute surprise (courtesy of No-problem Boon chiaw) and the venue had no screen to project the Thai translation. But, thanks be to God, many of the audience members were tourists who understood English and were moved all the same.
At the end of the trip, we agreed unanimously that in His time, God makes all things beautiful, and that this was the start of many more choir missions trips to come. Until our next report, phra jaw way pon – God bless you!
Choir member Serene Tan (who played the role of a wise man) says…
“I’m in awe of how the Lord turned a disappointing start into such an amazing turn of events with a partnership that was on-the-go. Nothing is impossible! My sense of how things were going to develop was that it would be Spirit-led, and that we had to flow and not be a stumbling block. Praise the Lord, the Committee was willing to go with the flow and allow our Mighty God to orchestrate this amazing trip down to the last-minute inclusion of Pattaya! Hallelujah! The Holy Spirit was present as we did our prayer walk through Chonburi Central. The presence was so strong when we were singing “Emmanuel" that I had goose bumps, and I noticed some audience members wiping away their tears. The word “favour” seems to resonate with me that the Christian Community in Chonburi has the favour of the Lord upon it. He is pleased!”
You may also like
1962 Methodist Youth Fellowship Talentime
Missions