REFLECTION OF THE ENGLISH CAMP AT BANGMOT CHURCH, THAILAND

Thailand is a beautiful country, a country that feels like home whenever I step off the plane and rush into its streets. This time, I was rushing to Prachauthit Road where the Bangmot Church is located. Bangmot Church is about 1-hour drive from the Bangkok city.

I was there to conduct English lessons for the English Camp (17 to 19 Mar 2009).

A Spirit of Power, Love and Self-Discipline
I was very excited as it was my first time working with Grace, OM worker from Korea and Pastor Pollawat, Thai Pastor of Bangmot Church. Wow! My initial thought was how to build rapport with these two overseas strangers whom I had never met. I then remembered God’s word in 2 Tim 1:7 “For God did not give us a spirit of timidity but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.” I prayed for a spirit of power, love and self-discipline before the trip so that I can be a vessel used by God.

More Invitation Flyers to the Villagers
On the first day of the camp, we had nine children aged between 6 to 14. With the small number of turnout, Pastor Pollawat decided to send out more invitation flyers to the villagers on that extremely hot afternoon. Along the way, there were many small canals. The villagers were delighted to see us. A little girl even paddled her boat across the canal to pick up the invitation flyer from Pastor Pollawat.

English Camp Programme (17 to 19 Mar 2009, 9am to 12noon)
Day One (17 Mar, Tue)
The getting-to-know ice-breaking session kick-start the camp. There were much laughter from the children. Grace taught them how to sing the song “God is so Good” in English and Thai. She also taught the children to trace their hands onto the colourful papers, cut out the traced hand patterns and had these beautiful paper hands pinned on the church notice board. Pastor Pollawat told the Bible story “The Prodigal Son”, reminding the children of God’s love for them. For English lesson, I taught them how to do self-introduction by telling others their names, families and also their favourite fruits.

Day Two (18 Mar, Wed)
The nine children were treated to an indoor soccer match. Grace introduced another new song “Making Melody”. Pastor used a picture book to draw their attention to the water pump. The pump represents our physical body where the water rushes out. This story reminded us that living water can only flow from our lives when we have God with us. Later, the children made paper hats decorated with many small and pretty balls. I taught the younger children on naming the parts of our physical body and also how to spell words like elbow and thumb. For the older kids, I helped them to form sentences related to the topic of hands.

Day Three (19 Mar, Thu)
A mini bowling tournament set the children on high spirit on the last day. In addition, the children learned another action song “Deep and Wide”. Pastor told another Bible story illustrating the need for God’s salvation. The children were then invited to the Sunday school. For the craft session, they made beautiful paper butterflies. As for the English lesson, they were taught to express their thoughts in speech on what they learned and like most about this English Camp.


The Excellent Team Members
Pastor Pollawat impressed me greatly about his vision to reach out to the communities. There are many Muslims staying there with only a few churches. He was also very helpful in providing me with advice on getting around the area with public transport which I enjoyed very much. Grace, a Korean worker with OM Thailand, reminded me of how she left her comfort zone to stay in a hot country. Her willingness to learn Thai within a short period and her musical talents amazed me alot.
Indeed, I had many great conversations as well as memorable moments working with both Pastor Pollawat and Grace. Not forgetting Esther and Woody Kim, the OM country leaders who helped to make this trip possible for me.

My Final Thought
Though there were only nine children attending the camp each day, I learned that reaching out to the communities is a process. It requires a persistent effort of sowing. I am very certain we will reap the harvest if we do not give up.

I was very encouraged to see the two campers at the Sunday school.
Let me conclude with the lyric of this song:
My life is in You Lord
My strength is in You Lord
My hope is in You Lord
In You, it’s in You

Yes, it is in YOU that all my life, strength and hope lie.