Sing to the Lord
Rebecca shares what God has shown her during her one month internship in Bangkok, and marvels at the work He’s doing in Bangkok, the church there and her life.
It has been around two months since I’ve left Bangkok in end May, and I’m deeply thankful to God and the church for giving me this month to spend observing and learning from cross-cultural ministry workers in Bangkok. While I’m definitely still processing the whirlwind of the month that has happened, I’ve written down some of the things that God has shown me during this time, and how I’ve seen Him working in Bangkok, the church there and in my life :)
What a week in my internship looked like
1.Thai language class (~4 times a week)
I’ve really loved learning the Thai language. God blessed me with two excellent Thai teachers who helped me pick up the language faster through conversational practice. Seeing how even this little bit of Thai was helpful in getting around the city and making friends also encouraged me in language learning.
My Thai teachers!
God has given the teachers a good rapport with the Bangkok City Baptist Church (BCBC) team and myself, and there have been opportunities to share the gospel with them! I’ve been very encouraged by the BCBC team’s intentionality, please pray that God would have mercy and that the seeds planted will be watered and bear fruit in His time.
2. Readings and team meetings
The two books that struck me the most were: No Shortcuts to Success and A Christian’s Pocket Guide to Buddhism. I saw the things that they spoke of applied in the weeks I had there—in team meetings, in my conversations with Thai Buddhists, my own wrestling with decision-making and in the church body.
Reading A Christian’s Pocket Guide to Buddhism was the first time I did an in-depth reading on Buddhism, and it was so relevant, not just to Thai culture, but also to Buddhism in Singapore. (Interestingly, this book was God’s answer to my prayer for more equipping in sharing the gospel with Buddhists!) It was my first time realising that Buddhists don't believe in a creator, and that there are specific moral codes (e.g. Sila, Eightfold way) that shape the way they live; it's not merely a culture. Better understanding the religion helped me understand the perspectives that my Buddhist friends come from and definitely gave me many handholds for gospel conversations. (You can read more of my takeaways here.)
No Shortcuts to Success pointed out areas like endurance and patience that I need to grow in in my walk with God, and was an apt reminder that the time I will spend in university is important in God’s eyes too. It also helped me to see patterns in the ministry in Acts (where interestingly, my reading plan was taking me through Acts at this time too!)—which again pointed me to how important solid equipping in God’s Word, and cultural integration is for people doing cross-cultural ministry.
I saw a lot of this theory put into action at team meetings. Seeing the work that goes behind church planting—from vision-making, to logistics to cycles of feedback-giving—has left me with a deeper appreciation of the work that goes behind each Sunday service and a taste of what ministry partnership could look like :)
3. Refugee Ministry: Calvary Baptist Church Pakistani Refugee Ministry (once a week) and LifeRaft International Immigration Detention Centre Ministry (once a week)
The exposure to this ministry opened a window to refugees’ struggles of finance and instability—it is a difficult position for anyone to be in. But I also heard many stories of God’s sustaining grace—one Christian family shared that this period of waiting gave them more intentional time to spend with God in His word, and it was so aweing to see their trust in God as He is faithful to them.
Calvary Baptist Church’s emphasis on relationship-building also struck me; each food-visit to a family is longer than an hour and always includes praying for them. This decade-old ministry showed me how much time was needed—to earn trust to speak into the refugees’ lives, and in praying for fruit (both spiritually and physically). It was convicting—relational ministry is long-term.
A big challenge in this ministry is finding a balance between speaking truth in love, caring for physical needs, and being aware of resource-limitations. But God has also shown Himself to be sovereign in how He has provided the people (like Ms Asha) best suited to the ministry at the right time, and in the perseverance of the ministry team. God takes care of His people and works through difficult situations to bring unbelievers to Himself.
Thai ministry staff, Ms Asha.
Helping out with a health screening.
Please pray for perseverance and wisdom for the ministry staff here, and that God would use the team to both share the gospel and walk along the refugees through their challenges.
4. Befriending Thai students on campus
Amy (she oversaw my schedule and was my main ministry partner) and I went down to the nearby university campus and tried to make friends with the students. We got in contact with a number of students, and I ended up meeting up semi-regularly with one girl, *C!
I’m really thankful for our friendship—*C was super hospitable, and we had a lot of fun exploring Bangkok together and getting to know each other over meals and car rides. Trust and friendship in Thailand takes a while to build, and having a language barrier was definitely challenging, so it was really God’s blessing that we also had some short spiritual conversations and that I got to share the gospel with her :”).
Because language-fluency is truly needed to have deeper spiritual conversations, please pray that God would bring more Christians alongside *C to share the gospel with her, and also that He would sustain our friendship.
Going down to campus also made me realise how well-positioned university students are to reach out to and love non-Christian students. I was definitely challenged by seeing the ministry workers’ campus work. Even when they originally didn’t speak the language, and came from a different culture and different country, they would still go down to the campuses weekly to try to share the gospel with students. As a student who speaks the same language as non-Christian students in Singapore, will access the campus everyday, and will be in the same life stage as other students, it made me think of how much more boldly I should try to share the gospel.
Thanking God for the faithfulness of Cru and other campus ministry workers in Bangkok, please pray that He would help them persevere in ministry with boldness and compassion; and that He’d grow more Thai Christian students in their faith to be salt and light.
5. Being involved in church life
This was really a lot of just meeting people through the week and getting to know them, finding out what’s happening in each other’s lives and praying together. The BCBC members were so warm and intentional in folding newcomers into the church, and it was a privilege to hear and glimpse how God’s been growing their church! This was definitely the highlight of my internship :”)
BCBC’s demographic and church dynamic is expectedly different from Singapore (the church is smaller and people come and go through the busy city faster), and it was cool to see a slightly different part of God’s global church! I was challenged by the church members’ faithfulness in their different vocations and life stages—it gave me a glimpse of the different shapes that ministry can take, and continued to subvert my expectation that ministry has to fit a certain box. I also got a taste of what ministry partnership can look like in conversations between different members, particularly between full-time ministry staff and other members, and it was exciting to be a part of this even in a short time!
The church is still young, so please pray that God would continue to grow the church—both in maturity of faith and in numbers. Please pray that God would continue to provide for the church, and use it to reach out to the lost in the city. Pray also for the staff team, for perseverance, and that God would grant the church more gospel partnerships with others in the city :)
6. Meeting up with GBC’s ministry partners
I also had the joy of meeting up with the Changs, Uncle Mak and Aunty Narola, as well as Noel (a new Pua ministry-worker-in-training) there! It was super encouraging to see how both the Changs and Sanglirs have stayed in Thailand for so many years, persevering at the work God has given them. God has led them through different seasons of ministry and hearing about His provision for them and the ministry is always amazing!
Time with Noel was a huge blessing as well. It was really God’s gift that we got to meet regularly over the 5 weeks, praying together and encouraging each other in our individual walks with God. I’m always encouraged by her love for God, and it’s been super exciting to see how God has been shaping this dear sister for His glory.
Meeting the Changs, Noel and the Sanglirs.
Other thanksgivings, thoughts and takeaways
I think the most important thing this internship left me with was learning how to truly depend on God. Being away from home and entering into a foreign environment was definitely emotionally difficult at times, but I’m so thankful that God used moments of being overwhelmed to teach me what it means to cry out to Him. And teach me that when I cry out to Him, He is faithful to listen and comforts with His presence. Through the church (both BCBC and GBC friends), sermons and answered prayers, God was so faithful to remind me time and time again that He is good and watches over me.
Another blessing was tasting the awesomeness of God’s huge global family. It was so wonderful to hear testimonies of how God saved His people into His church and to see the church growing! Hearing stories of how God has brought people in BCBC to the church were also His ways of reminding me of His mysterious wisdom, amidst my own wrestling. Amazingly, the majority of the BCBC team didn’t expect to be in Thailand, and yet it was so cool to see how God in His ways orchestrated them to be in this place at this time, and used them to provide for other members there.
A big way that God provided and shaped me during the internship was also through the people at BCBC. Even though I was only there for such a short period of time, I’m thankful for the church that enveloped me and cared by listening and praying for me as I made decisions. It leaves me with a deep sense of conviction that home is wherever God’s church is. The kind of hospitality the church showed also challenged me in my own relationships back home, and made me think of how I can better show God’s love to outsiders and newcomers here.
Lastly, God used that time to kickstart a journey of entrusting plans to Him. University decision-making has been unexpectedly challenging, but God has used that wrestling to reveal the ways that I trust in my own plans, instead of in Him. He showed me how I often underestimate His capabilities to work out His will even when pathways seem murky. And He taught me that faith looks like taking one step at a time, even when I can’t see the full kilometre ahead. While this is something I’m definitely still learning to do (and probably will for the rest of my life), I’m thankful that God began this process during this internship, and used that time to correct my posture towards my degree and plans. God gave me a glimpse of how He is continuing to grow both mine and my parents’ faith in Him during this internship, and I’m praying that He will continue to do so in the years ahead.
While I do not know for certain where God will lead me to go (or stay) in the next 10, 15 or 20 years, I’m thankful for the time on this trip to see God working in a different part of the world, and be challenged by His global church.
A big big thank you to GBC for praying and supporting me to go on this internship. Please pray that God will continue to make it clear how and where He wants me to serve Him (and that I will follow); and continue to pray with me for Thailand and the lost there.
Oh sing to the LORD a new song;
sing to the LORD, all the earth!
Sing to the LORD, bless his name;
tell of his salvation from day to day.
Declare his glory among the nations,
his marvellous works among all the peoples!
For great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised;
he is to be feared above all gods.
For all the gods of the peoples are worthless idols,
but the LORD made the heavens.
Splendour and majesty are before him;
strength and beauty are in his sanctuary.
Psalm 96:1-6