Pua Mission Trip – Feb 2024
Rebecca praises God with a lovely poem as she reflects on her first trip to Kathy’s Home.
The sun rises, the sun sets.
From the city, up into the villages,
God’s grace resounds again and again.Alphabets across the board
Meet smiles…and yawns as lesson goes on…
The sun rises, the sun sets.Hands reach across the table, correcting,
Helping, guiding gently.
God’s grace resounds again and againAcross the three generations of people,
life is shared around the table
to the sunrises and the sunsets.The small church lights up with sun-weathered faces.
Voices that chorus hymns of praise make
God’s grace resounds, again and again.We say farewell as we pack into the truck,
hands waving all down the driveway.
The sun rises, the sun sets.Little strings in a large embroidery,
We weave together a patchwork of Glory.
For through the sunrises and the sunsets,
God’s grace resounds, amen and amen.
Before Pua—Preparation and Prayer
The days leading up to the Pua trip were filled with anticipation. This trip was especially special because we would be bringing the new Kathy’s Home songbooks along! Aunty Grace, Ethan and Anabel had spent many nights compiling songs and translations to form an updated booklet of songs that would accompany the students as they worship at Kathy’s Home. And so we headed off to Pua with the books in hand, prayers in mouth and excited to meet the children.
The First of Many Surprises
Our first surprise came in the form of Noel at the Bangkok airport! It was an encouraging visit—Noel has been going to Pua yearly with the team from New York, and is now preparing for full-time ministry at Kathy’s Home by doing language studies in Bangkok. Over the long weekend, she decided to surprise us by flying with us to Pua for the English camp! We would soon get to hear more about her heart for the children at Kathy’s Home and see how God has been working in her life.
Meeting the Sanglirs and the Children
On arriving in Pua, we quickly got to meet the Sanglirs and the children, and we worship together with them. The children greeted us with hellos and jesting—seeing the children’s familiarity with the regular-goers made me appreciate how precious it is to have members commit to going down regularly. Relationships take time and the consistency of regular-goers definitely gives time for friendship with the children to blossom.
Devotionals and Sharings
We started off each day of teaching with a short devotional—one on Psalm 78 and one on Deuteronomy 26. Preparing our hearts in the cool of the morning, and reading God’s word to each other was so helpful in readying us to teach in the day ahead.
Psalm 78 spoke of God’s faithfulness despite the Israelites (and our) unfaithfulness. As a team, we reflected on how easy it is for us to forget God’s past works and wonders; and how important it is to recall daily God’s goodness and saving grace. Psalm 78 also reminded us that it is good to “tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the LORD, and his might, and the wonders that he has done.” (Ps 78:4) This verse was so apt as we weaved lessons about God into the songs we taught the children.
Deuteronomy 26 reminded us that God has already made us His treasured possession, and illustrated what obedience looks like—giving God the best of what He’s given us, and stewarding it to serve those in need.
Time with the Children
A circle of faces in open-air room,
alphabets strewn across the board.
The sound of laughter fills the air,
God’s here in the little moments too.
Over the 2.5 days, we conducted lessons at Kathy’s Home. Each member took a different class to teach the children English, following up from where the previous team left off. It was my first time in Pua, and I partnered with Aunty Grace to help the eldest students with phonics, grammar and vocabulary.
As much as we were there to teach them, we learnt a lot from them as well. They saw class as a communal effort—the stronger students would help the weaker ones, patiently explaining more challenging segments of class. Even in this short time, we saw their love for and care for each other.
Outside of lessons, we had free time to chat, play games with the children and get to know them better. Some of my favourite moments with the children were just sitting in a circle on their dormitory floor, playing card game “Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza”, or werewolf in a blend of Thai and English. Though our conversation was limited because of the language barrier, playing games allowed us to connect in laughter. I was also encouraged by how the older teenagers, despite having played these games many times, were still happy to play and even teach the younger ones how to play too.
Sunday Sermon
On Sunday, Uncle Kim Song gave God’s Word from Joshua 1:1–9, specifically addressed to the graduating students. He encouraged the students to be brave and strong, and to have faith in God’s many promises. As they leave Kathy’s Home and face temptations of the world, Uncle Kim Song asked the students to be obedient to God, just as God had asked the Israelites to be obedient to Him so that He could bless and protect them in battles. Lastly, he implored the students to keep faith in Him and trust that He would lead them to the next stage of their lives despite the challenges.
“Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go.” Joshua 1:7
To the Maesanan Church We Go!
Up and down the windy roads
of sowers past, of harvests gold
To 30 people—different tongue,
but oh! to Jesus we all hold.
For the newcomers, we followed Uncle Mak to the Maesanan church for their Sunday service. It was my first time in a non-English/Chinese speaking church and I was struck by the beauty of God’s people from different nations gathering together. It really is incredible that a group of believers would come out of a village of 100 families! But how wonderful it is that God has sent people to this small place to share His good news with them! And that He’d bring people who had grown up in a different faith, to worship Himself... I walked out of that room with such joy knowing that I would see the same people in this room and worship with them forever in heaven.
Travelling Down the Windy Road—Mak’s Testimony
From rebel to restored,
God’s grace shines clear.
He’s grown from scattered seeds,
shoots, then leaves then fruit-filled trees.
During our journeys to and from the village, Uncle Mak shared about how God transformed him from a rebellious teenager into a Christian through a road accident that started him thinking about God—the answered prayers of his bold mother. God later called that same man to Nepal, together with his wife (Aunty Narola) to start Bible studies in their small place. God truly works in miraculous ways. Despite the persecution that drove their family to Thailand, Uncle Mak shared that now 50 years later—what once started as a home-based Bible study has grown into 25 churches!! I was quite awed hearing about the kind of fruit born from a small home-based Bible study. Truly the labourers are few but the harvest is plentiful!!
Uncle Mak shared that it has been many years of transitions from Nepal to northern Thailand for them. The Hmong people* are no longer housed in refugee camps in Thailand, but in villages. But the need for the gospel is still there. He shared how Kathy’s Home was born out of necessity, to allow Hmong children to go to public schools more easily, instead of nearby temple schools. It helped me understand that serving overseas may not be a fixed formula. Sometimes, it simply means following the Spirit’s leading to fill up gaps and meet needs (especially spiritual ones) with gospel-borne love.
Hearing about Uncle Mak and Aunty Narola’s work, both in Nepal and then amongst the Hmong put into action faithful “plodding on” to do God’s work. As I listened to how they have been keeping up Kathy’s Home for the past 30 years, I couldn't help but wonder how many seasons of challenges and moments of discouragement they must have experienced over the years. And yet! God has been so good to sustain them, to bring Noel to join them in their work, and to bring about much fruit from their work. (Fun fact: Pastor Suchat, who preaches with Uncle Mak at the villages, used to be a student at Kathy’s home!) The return of past students like Rath and Supakit to support the Sanglirs has further testified to God’s good work through many years of God-strengthened labour.
Final Performance
Our farewell gathering with the children was filled with encouragement and joy, as the children sang songs they had learnt like “Jesus, Strong and Kind” and “Jesus Loves Me”. They even put on a hilarious, innovative skit on David and Goliath—with a guitar-playing David, paper pebbles and stick-carrying troops. With hugs and sharing, we left Kathy’s Home with a mixture of sadness at leaving, and excitement at the prospect of coming back.
Rest, and Listening to Noel’s Testimony
With the conclusion of teaching, the team headed to a quiet cafe to rest and catch up with each other. There, Noel shared how God had brought her to Kathy’s Home through many seasons of change, and two periods of prayer and fasting. He had changed her plans from salaried teacher in international schools, to salaried teacher in Pua, and eventually, He moved her heart to go to Kathy’s Home as a full-time volunteer mission worker. She shared about how God had exposed and slowly broken down pride and self-sufficiency as she wrestled with His call to fully surrender every part of her life to Him. In His gentleness, He was slowly preparing her heart to receive His command to go.
And now, after receiving the Sanglirs’ invitation to work at Kathy’s Home full-time, she’s open to staying there indefinitely. What a work God has done!
In her sharing, I was particularly struck by her open hands, letting go of her plans to God and allowing Him to work on His timeline. Something she said that stuck with me was, “I don’t want to put a deadline on God’s plans”. For myself, as a hyper-planner, seeing her release of her time and plans convicted me of my own restless-planning and doing. It was a God-given nudge for me to sit in silence more, to rest and to open up more spaces for God to speak.
We were also encouraged by God’s faithfulness as Noel praised Him for continuing to confirm her calling and encouraging her through her fears and uncertainties—both at Kathy’s Home and in Bangkok. God is faithful to call, enable and send.
You can find out more about Noel’s work and how to support her through her linktree here.
After Pua—Reflections, Lessons and Conversations
We left Pua on 26 Feb with goodbyes to the children, the Sanglirs and Noel. Even as we adjust back to life in Singapore, the conversations and seeds of love planted in the children (and in us) continue to grow.
In a conversation with Aunty Bernie during the recent Mission Conference, we reflected on the miniscule role we played in building up God’s kingdom on this trip. She shared a helpful analogy: us as jigsaw puzzle pieces, coming together to build a tapestry of God’s glory. Each one plays such a small role, but is used by God in His perfect ways. In Samuel Pearce’s words: “[God] knows best our fitness for the various posts in His spiritual kingdom; and so that we are but where he would have us and doing what he bids us, we may rejoice in the common hope that he will at last say to us all, ‘Well done (Matt 25:21, 23)’.”
Prayers
Pray for Uncle Mak and Aunty Narola, that God would continue to strengthen them and encourage them in their work. Pray that they’d continue to walk closely with God.
Pray for the children, that God would soften their hearts and give them eyes to see and ears as they listen to God’s word shared at Kathy’s Home daily.
Pray for the graduating and graduated students, that they’d study well in university, that those who know Jesus would continue to walk with Him and those who do not believe would come to see Him as Lord and Saviour.
Pray for other gospel workers/partners (e.g. Pastor Supachat, Noel) that God would continue to grow them and sustain them in His work.
Pray that more Hmong would come to know and believe in Jesus as Saviour, and for more to join the work at Kathy’s Home and in the villages.
Upcoming Trips
The dates for the trips for the rest of 2024 are as follows (inclusive of travels):
1) 30 May–3 Jun
2) 29 Aug–2 Sep
3) 5–9 Dec
If you are interested in joining one of those dates, please speak to Beh (9788 6171) or Siew Kim (9752 5589). It's always advisable to make up your mind early, especially for the popular December trip.
You can visit the Facebook page of Kathy's Home for more photos and updates!
*Background of the Hmong People
The Hmong people are one of the many hill tribes in Thailand. Previously having lived in Laos, many of them faced persecution during the Communist take-over and were forced to flee down to Northern Thailand to find refuge. While they were originally held in refugee camps, the Thai government later rehoused them in villages throughout Northern Thailand. Today, many Hmong people are farmers, growing crops like rice and corn.