Holiday with a difference
By GRACE ONG
WHEN the Barker Road Methodist
Church singles ministry, Connect@brmc, was inaugurated in May
2006, one of its mission statements was "to serve the community
locally and in missions".
We were looking for a place to go on a short mission and when
Operation Mobilisation (OM) invited us to participate in its missions
programme to teach English as a Foreign Language in Myanmar, we
seized the opportunity. With the support of the Chairman of the
TRAC Board of Missions and our pastors, a team of 10 set off for
Yangon for the period of Oct 21 to 25, 2006.
The programme suited everyone in the team as we would stay in
comfortable hotels with air-conditioning, teach English according
to a prescribed syllabus and above all, we could go on an educational
holiday thereafter. Many in the team are working people with tight
schedules. Besides, many of us needed a holiday and what better
way than to combine it with a mission focus. It was a holiday
with a difference.
We taught English as a foreign language for two days and went
on an educational tour of Myanmar for the rest of the time, learning
about its culture and history. We had opportunities to interact
with the young people in Myanmar. Since our "mission"
was to teach English as a foreign language, make new friends and
share God's love with them, we were privileged to be given this
opportunity.
After a five-day stay in Yangon,
some of us travelled to some of the tourist places for our "R&R".
We were fascinated by the floating islands in Inle Lake, saw the
reminders of the British colonial past in Pyin Oo Lwin, rested
at Popa and even managed to play golf at a nearby golf course.
We thank God for providing us with time for recreation despite
the hectic schedule for this trip.
Ours was not the traditional mission trip to conduct evangelistic
rallies, visit orphanages or to conduct free medical clinics.
From the beginning this would be different. We would do what God
led us to do and we would also take a holiday together.
Ms Grace Ong (facing
camera, left) teaching English to a class of Myanmar students.
- Connect@brmc picture.
We saw how God provided for us in ways beyond our expectations.
In May 2006, a new Singapore Ambassador, Mr Robert Chua, a committed
Christian, was appointed to Myanmar. We met him and it was God's
timing for the team to arrive at Yangon in time to witness the
dedication of the donated generator at the Methodist English Church
whose services and activities can now be organised with consistent
power supply.
It was our joy and privilege to be able to lead in the worship
and fellowship with the pastor, choir and congregation. Ms Irene
Chan gave a moving testimony of how God had led her from a life
of brokenness and bitterness to a new life of boldness, of peace
and joy with fresh directions for her new-found life in Christ
Jesus.
One of my most memorable instances
during the trip was how God provided a meeting room for the team
in the hotel when we had a meeting with OM. It was impractical
for me to invite 15 people to my hotel room for an official meeting.
We prayed for God's provision and the hotel allowed us the use
of the meeting room where we heard from the OM staff about their
work.
Every evening the team members would meet for devotions and a
short briefing. We studied selections from "Wisdom to Live
By" - reflections on the book of Ecclesiastes. The team prayed
together. It was so beautiful to see how God spoke to each of
us individually as we sang during worship and the book study.
Would we recommend this trip to everyone? Most certainly! Go with
the right attitude to be used by God and you will find your mission
trip meaningful and enriching. You may not be saving souls by
the dozen as in an evangelistic rally or in a medical mission.
But God has different ways of reaching out to people and we should
be open to the way He is leading us.
Grace Ong is the Chairman of Connect@brmc, the ministry for
singles, at Barker Road Methodist Church.
QUOTE:
DIFFERENT WAYS OF REACHING OUT
'Would we recommend this trip to everyone? Most certainly! Go with the right attitude to be used by God and you will find your mission trip meaningful and enriching … God has different ways of reaching out to people and we should be open to the way He is leading us.'