Why not?

Many have made comments about us going to the mission field "at your age". Our response is "why not"?

When we were looking and praying about what God would have us do, OMF heard that we were available and asked us to consider the role of hosting their missionary holiday home in Thailand. The five years prior to our coming here I was full time Associate Pastor at Warwick, and prior to that we managed Kingswood Camp & Conference Centre for 18 years. In our ministry here we are combining the skills learnt during those times to care for people from a variety of nations.

Our ministry is to provide missionaries from a variety of countries with a place where they can be "Refreshed, Renewed and Revived" and we adopted Mark 6:33 as our mission statement "Come with me to a quiet place and get some rest". Living cross-culturally is not easy and people need a place to unwind. So far people have come to us from 17 countries throughout Asia where they work with a number of different agencies and fill a variety of roles.

Hosting the mission home involves learning Thai culture and language which we continue to do. We have Thai staff (who don't speak any English) to work with and relate to, guests of many nationalities to provide for and converse with. We arrange the bookings, menus, staff work programs and some of the transport arrangements for guests. We make regular trips to town shopping for supplies and aim to establish good relationships with people we meet from the local area. This is one of the reasons we have needed to learn Thai. Each Sunday we provide a worship service for guests so that they might be encouraged in their life and ministry and we are available for pastoral care at any time.

During our first term Heather renovated the library, we arranged the building of a children's play area, renovated a number of rooms and organised the replacement of one of the accommodation houses. We are now halfway through our second term and have continued to renovate the buildings. Last year we arranged a complete rebuild of the kitchen / dining room to provide for the continuation of this ministry in the long term and the changes have been very much appreciated. Having been involved in this ministry now for six years we have heard many stories and met many people, and there is no doubt as to the value of this ministry in keeping people on the field. Many folks come to us weary and stressed from cultural, ministry and family pressures. To see them arrive in this state and then, at the end of their time with us, leave refreshed and ready to return to their ministry with renewed energies, is very encouraging. We also hear of the numbers of people becoming Christians and churches being planted.

In many countries in Asia people are crying out for those with skills, qualifications and experience in all sorts of areas to come and help them and those who do come are frequently being used to take the Gospel to people with little or no opportunity to hear it, and often with no prior knowledge of Christ. Currently there are simply not enough missionaries to meet the need. Life here continues to be challenging, culturally fascinating (and stressful at times), but also exciting to see God at work and being involved in what He is doing.