Northern Thailand Mission Trip 2006 reflection/report

Even after going for this mission trip for the past 2 years in 2004 and 2005, I still wanted very much to go back the 3rd time last year. Like what one regular Thai Mission tripper who has said before, every year’s trip is a new experience. I could not have agreed more.

About our team’s repertoire, I concur with my sister and Aunty Christianne that we should include fresh performances. Surprisingly, I was extremely excited when we got to learn new items like Shout to the Lord and The Lord on High, although they were not exactly dances. I actually prefer these 2 items to our usual style of fast-paced and action-packed dancing. My favourite was Shout to the Lord as I was very inspired and touched by the way one of the boys did his hand-signs in the video which we learn from. We really should get our hands on more of such videos from which we can learn new items. I’m looking forward to learning more of such songs this year, provided I am going.

Also, I have an idea of enhancing our repertoire even further. During the 2006 trip, I realised that the bulk of the village children’s performances were also repetitive, just like what my sister described when we kept presenting the same performances. Perhaps we can learn some of their songs and dances and add them to our repertoire. We have actually started doing so, as in 2005, my sister and I joined Xiangmei, Ahba and Ahtu in singing Tsa Tso La at Mehmon, and last year, Andrew, Rachael, my sister and I performed the same song at HoKa. Asholi also taught some of us the Akha version of I am amazed, which I am very eager to sing with the team to the Akha people this year.

Back to my experience of the 2006 trip. I choose to quote from my sister that the trip was a balance for me too. As we were nearing the end of our 1st week in Thailand, I was telling myself, “This is gonna be my best trip!” It was due to the spiritually-high experience I had in the 1st half of the trip. As we advanced into the 2nd week, I started to fall sick, first physically (probably due to unhealthy food at the food fair on the King’s birthday eve), then spiritually. During that period of time when I was so sick that I could only lie down and sleep, I felt that it was my worst trip. Despite that, looking back in time, I have learnt quite a lot from both my mountaintop and valley experiences.

For the 1st half of the trip, I did not have to be separated from the youth team, which was probably why I did not feel spiritually low at that point of time. When Jasper asked me after dinner at Arunothai that night if I would mind going over to Team B, I finally got my 1st test of the trip. Of course, I was pretty reluctant initially, just like how most of the others would feel if they were in my shoes that night. I am quite sure Andrew and Solomon would have felt the same when they had to be separated from Team A, especially from the youth team.

As I struggled with my own feelings, I told Jasper that I did not have a choice since we were on a mission field. I felt that I had to obey whatever instructions given to me. Jasper was kind enough to offer me a choice but my heart was telling me that others may choose to not be separated; I could not afford to be the one to do so because I was one of the oldest and ought to set an example. So, I thought I would be able to withstand the separation from the youth team, and thank God that Solomon was there to cheer me up whenever I felt low.

However, it was sooner than I expected when I felt it (the feeling of being separated from the youth team). The next day, Team A was to eat lunch first, followed by Team B. When Team B, Solomon and I were eating lunch after Team A had theirs, I learned something. The youth team (excluding Solomon and me) was still hanging around outside the lunch venue, waiting to leave for another place while Solomon and I had to stay at Arunothai with Team B. I remembered that Solomon and I were eating silently with the rest of Team B inside, when we heard laughter coming from outside. The adults may think, “How lively is the youth team that their laughter livens the atmosphere!” But for Solomon and me, all we felt was, “We’re missing and we’re gonna miss all the fun with the youth team.” It was then when I learned about being sensitive. I had finally tasted how Andrew and Solomon might have felt in the initial part of the trip. This worsened when I saw the pictures they took together while Solomon and I were away at Team B.

In my perspective, I still do not understand why some of the youth members had to be separated from the youth team and join the other adults. I know that Team B needed some manpower, but I remember when Solomon and I fell sick, we were out of action and yet Team B could still function as normal. Perhaps, that the youth team should not be split and Team B did not need any help from the youth team is far easier said than done, and Uncle James must have his reasons for having 2 youths in Team B and the rest in Team A, but I sincerely seek the answer(s) to these.

One last lesson that I learned from this trip was from the story of Job. I was reminded of Job when I started to fall sick, and experienced spiritual dryness, etc. I felt that I was like Job, except that he lived a righteous life and seemed like he did not deserve the afflictions at all, whereas I do not deserve a blessed life as much as he did. As things went downhill for me in most of the 2nd half of the trip, I held on to my faith in God and did my best to trust in God to bring me through the valley. I felt that it was during the lowest moments when I actually felt the need for God’s anointing of His Holy Spirit the most.

I hereby thank God for people like Jasper, my sister, Rachael and Solomon who were there to listen to me as well as others who have taught me in one way or another during the trip. I’m very glad that I was able to know Solomon, Andrew, Elaine, Emma and the adults from another church better through this trip and I look forward to this year’s trip. I pray that my Prom Night and other year-end activities will not clash with the mission trip because it will be my last trip before I take a long break (NS & university if I enter one).


those in bold were the 3 main lessons I learnt from the 2006 trip
for some pics, pls click the title of this entry