MBMSI riding new wave in Thailand

Shortly after a deadly tsunami killed nearly 300,000 people in Asia and turned millions of lives upside down Dec. 26, 2004, Mennonite Brethren Mission and Service International (MBMSI) began the Operation Rebuilding Lives (ORL) relief effort in Thailand.

A year later, MBMSI workers find themselves riding a new wave in Thailand, one of hope and spiritual openness.

“The tsunami brought incredible physical devastation,” says Randy Friesen, general director of MBMSI, “but it also exposed the hopelessness of people that predated that tsunami, and it opened a door for us to respond and communicate the gospel in a holistic way.”

The Operation Rebuilding Lives team rebuilds homes in Thailand.

Although the formal ORL effort to build homes has ended, the effort to rebuild hope continues and MBMSI looks forward to planting a church in the tsunami-devastated area.

The two phases of the formal response effort ran from Jan. 16, 2005 to Aug. 13, 2005. Nine teams, totalling some 205 people, worked to build 25 homes.

Months after the tsunami, many people in Thailand were so traumatized they wore inner tubes even while inland. Rumours of earthquakes and waves sent panicked survivors running for high ground. Missionary Ricky Sanchez says that offering spiritual hope is critical to bringing wholeness after such trauma. Many organizations attend to physical needs such as housing but the people are still committing suicide, he says. “The true answer is the Lord, and the Lord can come and change a heart.”

Vision for church plant

A year after the tsunami, 25 new churches have been established in the Phangnga province. Many are culturally-appropriate house churches; a few groups are building facilities. Sanchez counts 31 new believers directly impacted by ORL. MBMSI’s vision for a church plant is taking shape.

Among the first buildings constructed by ORL volunteers were a home for a Thai pastor and a community centre. The Thai pastor, Preecha, had been working closely with Team 2000 in Chonburi. He is originally from the Phuket area and had a desire to see a church planted there. He accompanied the ORL volunteers and used his gifts as an evangelist and counsellor to begin to bring emotional and spiritual healing.

MBMSI has agreed to return to the island to partner with Preecha and Thai believers to provide a long-term presence in the area. The long-term team, led by Rob and Judy Griffioen from Abbotsford, is taking shape. Greg and Becky Ouellette, also of Abbotsford, have committed to the team and several others have applied. MBMSI expects to build and send the group using a model similar to the one used for Team 2000 currently in Thailand and the 2005 Delhi Project in New Delhi, India.

When asked to speculate where this new wave might take them, Sanchez points to a larger spiritual movement in Thailand. “To this point, it’s blown me away how fast God has moved,” he says.

Country receptive

Friesen says, “It seems that Thailand as a whole is receptive to the gospel, not just in the tsunami area. It’s a moment of opportunity for Thailand. We want to be part of that.”

Russell and Elizabeth Schmidt, missionaries in northern Thailand, report that God has broken through what seemed to them “overwhelming spiritual barriers” in Mae Phrao village. After more than 10 years of evangelism and outreach there, a small group of Christians developed into a church.

This fall, a building team of MB church members from South Dakota, North Dakota and Oklahoma helped construct a church building and even harvested rice in between to help a Khmu pastor.

The Schmidts say, “Praise God with us for the amazing things he has done and is doing through the lives and in the hearts of his people!”

—Myra Holmes and Global Bridge