ORDER OF SERVICE
Praise and Worship : Worship Team
Offertory Prayer : Elder G. Damsawmthang
Induction of Members : Secretary, TBSUC
Sermon/Report : Rev. Khaikhuphang
Praise and Worship : Worship Team
Benediction : Elder L. Ngulminthang
REPORTS
Greeting all in the name of our Saviour and Lord Jesus Christ. This morning I would like to share some insights or throw some lights on our joining missions with OMF. I am deeply thankful to both our Pastors for giving the privilege to share and report some of my experiences and times with OMF.
First let us turn to the book of Matthew 28:18-20 “And Jesus came and spoke unto them, saying, all power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.” As we have known, OMF which is the abbreviation of Overseas Mission Fellowship, is our mission’s partner, that our headquarter signed an MOU (Memorandum of Understanding) with, for one year, to jointly serve the Lord in the front of missionary works. To be specific, it is the new horizon - The East policy, to which we sign our MOU, with the condition that our church organization must send one representative. I am given the privilege and have been selected by our higher authorities, which I accepted knowing its God’s calling. And we landed Thailand on 12 th July 2018.
The process was never easy or direct as we thought. We went through steps of interviews and cross-interviews from various concerned authorities. Enquiries about our commitment, the calling from God and the reasons/or driving forces behind our interest in missionary works and related activities. As it is, mission’s works should be our highest core value as a member of the church and Christian as a whole. We came here to extend our VISA as it is about to expire. On facing some problems related to documents, we got direction from the OMF officials to cancel our current VISA as they are applying for a long-term VISA i.e. RA VISA over there. We hope to continue our works as soon as the process is completed, and request all the congregation to uphold us in your prayers.
Everything has been a maiden experience for both of us and life is full of excitement and wonders. Our main engagement as of date is language learning, but basic requirements to work and serve God in our missions. Unlike our well-known ways of teaching and learning, OMF applied one-to-one teaching method which demands a high degree of commitment and concentration, becoming a beginner or student after so many years of serving God.
One thing we have learnt from this language lesion was – if we truly and sincerely wish to serve God, COMMITMENT is the first and foremost requirement. As we have trim off all our previous statuses and positions, grassroot level learning and preparation is all that is needed.
Again, one of the most important quality we must possess in our Christian life is being content with whatever God gives us, accepting our life as it is. We are not supposed to have a complaining attitude, rather be happy as we are and enjoy and treasure the work, the responsibilities that God has entrusted upon us.
What really inspired me among many others is what they called “MEMBER CARE” – that is showing care, giving time and attention, sympathizing our co-workers, which is immensely important in our Christian life. Again, punctuality has been given much importance. The westerners respect timings and hardly missed meeting schedules and times.
Let us see Genesis 13:14-18 “And the Lord said unto Abram, after that Lot was separated from him, lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward: For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever. And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth: so, that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered. Arise, walk through the land in the length of it and in the breadth of it; for I will give it unto thee. Then Abram removed his t ent, and came and dwelt in the plan of mamre, which is in Hebron, and built there an altar unto the Lord.” Here, we see God called Abram and promised a land, this is very much related to what we see in (Matthew 28:18-20) i.e. to go and make disciplines from all nations. So, we are here to explore different places, lands beyond India but China, Thailand, Cambodia, etc. As we all know, we have struggled enough for our political land, country, administration and so on. But, maybe God is planning to give us a spiritual land, nations for us. Let us pray to ask God for the same.
In our service to God’s kingdom, we came across many trials and temptations. Without overcoming those stumbling blocks, we will never reach the Promised Land. But, committing fully all our ways and plans to God, he is always ready to give us joy amidst adversary, as he is always true to his promises.
Some moral lessons we learnt from them (“FROM THAI”) :
1. HUMILITY – A life of being humble down to earth irrespective of their statuses, degrees and possessions. We have learnt more about humility from our training courses that too from non-Christians!
2. ACCOUNTABILITY – Being accountable individually to each other in our work environment. Keeping confidential and are interested in each other’s personal problems and challenges, ready to support and lift up each other mentally, spiritually and morally. In short, fighting together various temptations and difficulties.
3. FAMILY – Family institutions occupied the centre place in their life. Prioritize their family, respect and honor their aged parents, take time for them, spend quality time and never fail to make themselves available for their parents, making them feel special in every possible ways. There can be no social evil if individual families are taken care of and grounded on God.
4. RESPECT – Respecting each other regardless of their academic achievement and social/economic status. Each and every individual are given importance and respected as they are.
5. FAITHFUL/TRUSTWORTHY/INTEGRITY – They really possess all these qualities though they are non-Christians. Had all these qualities are to be the criterion for inheriting the Kingdom of God, Thai people regardless of their religions will surely enter Heaven.
In a nutshell, “as a Christian and member of a church, our core value should be missionary works, spreading the Gospel.”
