PARTNERSHIPS in MISSIONS

Chue Yuin Cheong, Missions Chairman of Charis Methodist Church

Our partnership with MMS has gone back a long way back to the 1990s. We are blessed to have been able to witness the growth of Sanphranet Methodist Church in Chiang Mai in our years of partnership. Our regular mission trips there not only helped us to discover and appreciate the diverse gifts and talents of our mission trippers, they also uncovered precious lessons for different individuals. Some of our adult members have very fond memories of our twice-a-year trips to Sanphranet to help with the Sunday School, English camps, and Christmas outreach. These adult members were then youth, and they connected very well with the youth of Sanphranet Church. Even with the language barrier (as almost all of them could not speak Thai), their interactions brought forth spontaneous joy and laughter as they communicated through gestures and a smattering of Thai and English. The love of God transcends all language barriers indeed.

Our regular mission trippers had the privilege of seeing, with each trip they made, the children of Sanphranet Methodist Church Sunday School grow physically and spiritually. Photographs taken over many trips showed the children develop gradually into youth. We thank God for keeping watch over their faith in their growing years. A special bond was also forged over time with one key Thai youth leader, and to have a few of our by-then young adults fly over to attend her wedding is testament to the wonderful friendship that blossomed out of the many years of partnership.

Charis counts it a great privilege indeed to be able to participate in the Great Commission and be a blessing to others through our partnership with MMS.

God has blessed Charis with a special outcome through our partnership with MMS. We are heartened to see one of our regular mission trippers heeded the call of God to serve Him in Thailand and Nepal. The seed was sown through the mission trips to Thailand while she was a teenager. Today, she is still faithfully serving God as an MMS missionary.

We believe our current partnership with Little Candles Methodist Church in Phrao, Chiang Mai will also bring forth fruit. Despite COVID-19 restrictions, God’s work is undeterred. In fact, it has paved the way for online English lessons for Thai students. This started during their lockdown period, lessons are still on-going and our teachers are encouraged by the students’ enthusiasm. We pray that God will allow more church members to discover they can be involved in missions in different ways.

In addition to our partnership with MMS, Charis also partners with other mission organisations such as Cru and Overseas Missionary Fellowship (OMF) International. This gives our church a broad spectrum of outreach to focus on, as the missionaries are involved in different areas such as medical ministry, mercy relief, and leadership training for country leaders in African states. Charis’ support has also been long-standing as two of our church members have served as missionaries with these organisations for more than 30 years. In addition to prayer and financial support, we also visit our missionaries to give practical support in their ministry where possible.

Charis counts it a great privilege indeed to be able to participate in the Great Commission and be a blessing to others through our partnership with MMS and other mission agencies. These partnerships have opened our eyes to God’s amazing work in many parts of the world.

There is a growing interest among the young and old in our congregation in our new partnership with Little Candles Methodist Church in Phrao, Chiang Mai, Thailand.

PARTNERSHIPS in MISSIONS