Ruth Center was formed from YWAM Thailand’s outreach among the elderly living in the slum communities. We met Noi, the leader of this center, a dimunitive but wonderful Thai lady who loves the elderly and has been working among them for about a decade already. She shared with us how the center started, and how three of the staff would visit the elderly in the slum communities daily, and how the elderly were given craftwork to do so that they could earn some money. While she was briefing us some of the guys were helping Steve repair some tools to be used during the construction work.
Noi and Steve: the key guys at Ruth CenterXavier and Kenneth tears down old rotted ply walls
We walked to the home of the elderly. The tasks were to remove the rotted floorboards and replace them with concrete composite ones; replace the rotted plywood walls with better wall material; and make a pavement just outside their door. We found we could only start the demolishing and removal work but could not complete the floor or the walls. Thankfully they would stay elsewhere with friends. We hope to finish the tasks the next day so they could live there.
We had our lectio divine at 7.15am at the bar. It has become our hallowed place. Far enough from the view of prying hotel guests to give us the privacy we needed. This morning the phrase “the God of Jacob protect you” stayed with me. And indeed during the course of work there were four incidents but no accidents, thank God, but mere abrasions or getting wet with swampy slum water. The Lord was there to protect us from harm.
Steve was the key guy who ran the construction program which usually does a project a month. Without him we could literally do nothing. But with him the building project became possible.
Zach the leader of the Mission trip uses an electric sawAlvin & Simon removes the old ply floor
This was a tiring day. We urbanites were not used to carrying heavy stuff, stooping down to remove rotted plywood and nails, and using construction tools. However some of us were pretty skilled, and what they lacked in experience, they overcame with enthusiasm and an eagerness to learn.
Out with the old, in with the new
At the end of the day we downed our tools, packed up for the day, and left before the rain fell and the Bangkok notorious traffic hampered us as we neared Sukhomvit.
All we wanted was to get clean and to search for our dinner. We all ended up in Terminal 21.
We used the farthest corner of the bar. The staff gave us permission to use it on this the Lord’s Day for a brief devotion. We spent time quieting down our hearts and turning towards God by meditating on Psalms 92:13-15. I particularly liked verse 14: “They will bear fruit in old age; they are ever full of sap and gr”. There is no ageism in the Bible. It is so positive about ageing. Praise the Lord. Full of sap; and green too, in your sixties, seventies and eighties!
Tiffany and Jenny on the BTS trainGetting off the ferry to ride pillon on the motorbike
After that we set off to a local floating market called Bangnamphung. We took a train to Udom Suk and there we met Baby my sister in law who guided us on a “tour”. It took a cab, a ferry and riding pillion on a motorbike to get to the local market. It would have been impossible without her!
The weather was humid and hot and the “floating market” which opens only on weekends was filled with local people selling their wares and locals buying stuff and just enjoying a day out. We ate interesting cooked foods, desserts, and cut fruits along the way. A few of us bought a S$2.60 T-shirts, kitchen ware, and locally grown garlic. Everything was inexpensive compared to Singapore. The colours, the sounds and the smells and movements all around combine with the humidity to make this an intoxicating and fun four hours.
Miraculously we prayed and the Lord was gracious to provide the twelve of us with a convenient transport on the way back. We were praising God.
In the afternoon, Zach, who is the person in charge of this Mission trip, and myself, met up with Noi the lady in charge of the Ruth Center. We had a good useful discussion of the project for this week. We were to build a concrete sidewalk, replace a section of rotted wood siding of a grandfather’s house, and replace a section of rotted wood flooring with waterproof floor material. The grandfather had a stroke and his left side is paralysed, and the breadwinner, his wife earns 150 baht a day helping out in a school canteen. The Ruth Center is helping this family, and we volunteers from the church are helping out with manpower and materials. May God bless the work of our hands.
Tomorrow we leave the hotel by 7.30 am to try to avoid the traffic jam of Sukhumvit. This means breakfast at 6am. Who cares if Germany plays a World Cup match with Mexico? I had better sleep early tonight.
Today I left home at about 9am and reached Rembrandt Hotel in Bangkok at about 4.30pm. This was a whole day given to travelling by car, plane and train, and quite a bit of walking with luggage in tow.
We were here to do some building work among the poor for Ruth Center in Bangkok. Last year we had a camp cum missions trip and had worked with them. This year we wanted to come help them with a small team of men who believe that donating their leave, money and strength and skills are one way of serving in the missions field.
Thai food: delicious and inexpensive
Tonight we went for a team dinner but where we went did not have big enough tables and seating for eleven persons. So we split up and enjoyed our Thai traditional dishes in a restaurant called INTER near the Siam Station of BTS.
So what is it like to preach to the deaf congregation?
This year, I made myself available to preach in the other congregations’ services. So I was given a date to preach in the deaf church. I would have a sign language interpreter. So I got the sermon on prayer ready and sent it to her so she could familiarise herself with the vocabulary. Actually, Mui Kheng was so good it was not necessary.
I found this out because at the last moment (on Saturday) I felt I needed to change the sermon and quickly sent her the new script. However she did not receive it but it did not affect her interpretation at all. She was that good.
The deaf worship is unlike what anyone would imagine. Its not silent worship. Its almost an energetic dance with hand actions and loud drum rhythms. It awakens you. It shakes you up. You are amazed and puzzled: if they cannot hear why such loud drumbeats. I found out they can feel the vibrations and rhythm. Hmmm.
I preached about how Jesus cast out evil spirits from a man in the synagogue and how he came to heal and deliver people under attack from evil spirits. After the message, I read out a list of illnesses and ailments that I believed the Lord wanted to touch and heal. Many came out to the front for prayer. They were so open and hungry.
We took our time to patiently pray for each one, working with translators. I had requested Rev Mary and Ginny to be present to pray for the sick and they were gracious and eager to minister to the sick with faith and compassion. We formed three prayer teams, each of us with a sign language interpreter, and it took us 45 minutes to pray for everyone.
At the end of it we felt satisfied and glad to be used of the Lord to bless the deaf congregation. Even if all were not healed and some felt only some percentage of progress, we pray the healing work will continue in their bodies, and that at least they had felt somebody cared, and God cared for them.
The preaching symposium was held on 8,9 March 2018 in celebration of Trinity Theological College’s 70th anniversary. It was one of many other events to be held.
Panel to answer questions n the second day
I saw the publicity information, the titles and speakers at the symposium, and it perked my interest. Topics included: What is Preaching? The Bible and Preaching, Theology of Preaching, Preaching and Liturgy, Preaching as Pastoral Care, Preaching in a Pluralistic Society, and Preaching and Church Growth. The workshops included: Preaching on NT Genre, Preaching on OT Genre, Preaching a word from the Lord, Preaching by Listening to the World, Preaching as Evangelism, and Interest Groups: 1) Preaching to Children 2) Preaching to Youth.
As it turned out more than 400 signed up including the Mandarin version. The English-speaking version was held in the chapel while the Mandarin-speaking version in the multi-purpose hall. I hope the organisers see the work of the Holy Spirit in drawing his servants to this conference. There is a real hunger among pastors to be more effective and faithful in their preaching ministry.
I have always been interested in the craft of preaching and for many decades have read one book a year on average, and even more in some years. So I would consider this symposium as an equivalent to my annual reading.
Anglican Bishop Rennis Ponniah giving his talk
What I liked about it:
The topics were relevant and interesting. They were comprehensive but I came away wishing they had added something about “Preaching and Prayer” and look at the role of silence, solitude and prayer in the formation of the preacher, in sermon preparation, and in gaining insights on Spirit-guided applications. Perhaps another one on, “Preaching to Today’s Audience”.
The panel discussion that answered the questions from the floor were helpful and enlightening. One person asked about the way the preachers in the panel have seen themselves changed in the way they preached today compared to when they first started out. Another great question was about what sea change in the audience that the preachers have observed over their decades of preaching? One answer stood out: today’s church member is consumer-oriented unlike the members from the older generation, who were loyal to their traditions and churches.
The sessions were back to back from morning to late evening, with “no rest for the wicked”. I had to skip a few sessions as I felt over-saturated with information. I also found the session after lunch particularly difficult to pay attention to.
I met my friend Rev Vincent Hoon, an Anglican priest from The Church of True Light
On the whole I was glad with what I gleaned. I would have preferred a wider and comprehensive treatment of the topics. A few of the lecturers picked a key passage as a basis for the support of their talk. This narrowed the number and breadth of the truths they can draw from the limited text. If they had a topical approach, more insights and balance could have been shared about the subject as “all scripture” can be utilised to shed light upon the subject instead of one key passage. For instance the talk on “Preaching as Pastoral Care” used the text in Isaiah 40 where comfort was emphasised and what was communicated was a truncated form of pastoral care: comfort, consolation, support and tenderness. However, real pastoral care included reproof and rebuke, and even church discipline. What is the role of preaching in communicating and implementing discipline? That would have been a helpful facet to learn about! This was missed out because an expository approach was employed and it was based largely on one passage. Good thing this could be clarified and explained during the panel question and answer. It was the same for the lecture on “Preaching in a Pluralistic Society’ which was based mainly on an exposition of Acts 17:16-24. Perhaps the organisers wanted such an approach as a form of demonstration of how good exposition should support whatever case you make about those subjects, so I do not wish to dwell too much on this issue.
I was impressed that they invited Rev Dr Naomi Dowdy, a well known Pentecostal preacher, former senior pastor of megachurch Trinity Christian Centre, and Chancellor of a theological college, to sit in the panel and share her wisdom. Another woman who made an impression on me was Rev Dr Maggie Low. Her lecture on “The Bible and Preaching” was basic understanding for preachers but her delivery led me to conclude she is one of the best women preachers in the city! She was articulate, passionate and connected well with the audience.
On the whole, I enjoyed it and wished they would organise more of these, more frequently. I applaud the organising committee and say a big thank you to Trinity Theological College for organising this.
