Conclusion
"Christmas isn't just about Santa. It's about how Jesus came". This is a line from a song that we sang a few times over our time in Thailand. It may sound obvious to you as you read it but the folk around you may not see Christmas this way and people in Thailand certainly wouldn't think that Christmas is about Jesus. So it has been an exciting, humbling, challenging and enjoyable privilege to spend three and a half weeks telling students in central Thailand how Christmas is really about Jesus.
Whilst we have been here we have used all sorts of methods for getting the true message of Christmas out from carol singing, to tracting, to an evangelistic camp on the true meaning of Christmas and other traditions and stories associated with it.
There was a foriegn exchange program operating at one of the universities we were working with so it was really exciting to be able to share the true story of Christmas with many Thai students (often for the first time) but also with Asian students from countries that are at present closed to Christian missionaries. Many took bibles and some signed up for bible studies for the rest of the time that they are in Thailand.
At the evangelistic camp we were asked to a short presentation on Christmas in New Zealand. Some of the folk in the team came up with the idea of using the song Te Harinui and how Samuel Marsden first preached the gospel at the bay of islands on Christmas day in 1814. This gave us the opportunity to reinforce what Christmas was really all about and went down very well with the Thai students. It also introduced them to the Haka (which they were all fascinated by and insisted that we perform repeatedly and also teach them how to do it).
We also took the time to visit a Bhuddist temple. This was an uncomfortable and disturbing experience for us and rightly so. For some on the team it was the first time they had seen people bowing down and offering sacrifices to stone statues. It was hard to stand and watch people who have been decieved by a lie put their faith in a piece of rock. We spent some time praying for the people that we had seen and reflecting on how Paul was grieved by the idolatry he saw in Athens in Acts 17 and how this spurred him on in his evangelism.
I was greatly humbled by the evangelistic focus that Thailand has around Christmas. Christian unions, Churches and other groups were all engaged in evangelistic activity. As I reflect upon how I have spent the Christmas period in previous years I realised how we can all too easily get too focused on the celebrating and enjoying of Christmas and not use it for the evangelistic opportunity that it is. I have much to learn from the Thai Christians in this area.
The students and staff of Thai Christian students were encouraged by our serving alongside them and I think we learnt much from them. They are very keen for us to return next year and ask that more people come!
In conclusion I would like to thank you for myself and on behalf of the rest of the team for your support and prayers for us during our time in Thailand. God through His grace and your prayers sustained us through difficult times, sickness, opposition as well as fun, and the excitement of seeing people hear about Jesus for the first time.
Whilst we have been here we have used all sorts of methods for getting the true message of Christmas out from carol singing, to tracting, to an evangelistic camp on the true meaning of Christmas and other traditions and stories associated with it.
There was a foriegn exchange program operating at one of the universities we were working with so it was really exciting to be able to share the true story of Christmas with many Thai students (often for the first time) but also with Asian students from countries that are at present closed to Christian missionaries. Many took bibles and some signed up for bible studies for the rest of the time that they are in Thailand.
At the evangelistic camp we were asked to a short presentation on Christmas in New Zealand. Some of the folk in the team came up with the idea of using the song Te Harinui and how Samuel Marsden first preached the gospel at the bay of islands on Christmas day in 1814. This gave us the opportunity to reinforce what Christmas was really all about and went down very well with the Thai students. It also introduced them to the Haka (which they were all fascinated by and insisted that we perform repeatedly and also teach them how to do it).
We also took the time to visit a Bhuddist temple. This was an uncomfortable and disturbing experience for us and rightly so. For some on the team it was the first time they had seen people bowing down and offering sacrifices to stone statues. It was hard to stand and watch people who have been decieved by a lie put their faith in a piece of rock. We spent some time praying for the people that we had seen and reflecting on how Paul was grieved by the idolatry he saw in Athens in Acts 17 and how this spurred him on in his evangelism.
I was greatly humbled by the evangelistic focus that Thailand has around Christmas. Christian unions, Churches and other groups were all engaged in evangelistic activity. As I reflect upon how I have spent the Christmas period in previous years I realised how we can all too easily get too focused on the celebrating and enjoying of Christmas and not use it for the evangelistic opportunity that it is. I have much to learn from the Thai Christians in this area.
The students and staff of Thai Christian students were encouraged by our serving alongside them and I think we learnt much from them. They are very keen for us to return next year and ask that more people come!
In conclusion I would like to thank you for myself and on behalf of the rest of the team for your support and prayers for us during our time in Thailand. God through His grace and your prayers sustained us through difficult times, sickness, opposition as well as fun, and the excitement of seeing people hear about Jesus for the first time.
posted by James Allaway at 4:15 AM
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