St James' Church

There must have been more than 150 delegates at the recent Missions Consultation Roundtable, hosted by our Diocese in Bangkok. Representatives from other parts of the Anglican Communion and Mission agencies were also present to explore the possibilities of partnership. Detailed presentations were made on the work in each country. Bishops from the Province of Myanmar were also present to share their heart-rending stories of the local work and the work amongst the displaced Karens at the border.

It is remarkable to see the progress made in the Anglican work in our deaneries:  Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Indonesia, Cambodia and Nepal. It was in the 80’s when our Diocese first raised serious awareness of the need to turn our attention to the surrounding nations. To witness the concrete results and progress made since then is encouraging.

Mission work comes at a high costs and will continue to be so. It means language learning, adapting to another culture and leaving Singaporean comforts behind. Missionaries are also humans and they face the usual life and ministry challenges, compounded by the “Third World” socio-cultural conditions and cost-effectiveness expectations back home from Singaporeans used to ‘First World” results. Take Rev Mok Wai Mung for example. We were ‘compatriots’ when we first serve together in VCF in our campus days and later, became fellow parish workers, sharing the same office in SJSM. While my ministry route traversed through here, his took him and his wife, Mee Wah, on an 11- year spell in Khmer Cambodia. Or Rev Yee Ching Wah, whom I remembered as a promising but quiet Christian from KL who first joined our campus work in the mid-80’s. He later married Siew Ling, a girl from Kulai (Johor) who was also a part of our campus fellowship.

Both ended up heading significant work overseas, Mok in Phnom Penh, Cambodia and Ching Wah in Bangkok and now the Dean of Thailand. Mok has since come back and is now the Vicar of St Paul’s Church, having seen the joy of seeing local leaders raised to leadership. Ching Wah remains in Bangkok and it seems to me, so well adjusted that he and his family of 3 boys will remain there forever - if called to do so.

And only recently, we have seen our very own Lim family returning after a 4 year stint in Hanoi, which is rated by many organisations as amongst some of the hardest cities to work in cross-culturally.
While we were there, my friend Bishop Albert Vun (Sabah) had to take a morning off to recce a new potential site with new church work in Bangkok. We have also begun conversations with Rev Yee on how we may go beyond our current commitments to the work in Banchang and explore the possibility of a new church planting work in Bangkok.

Space constraints here do not permit me to share more than this. But surely, our Christian discipleship cannot exist only within the cultural milieu of Singapore. By doing so we end-up impoverish, as we will only have a limited knowledge of the ‘fellowship of sharing in His suffering’ (Phil 3:10). We would also be disobedient to the Great Commission to “make disciples of all nations”.

Even as we go through this month on Missions, and as we continue to raise the funds to rebuild this church, we need to also focus on the needs of the gospel work in other nations.
May our growth here continue to lead to greater cross-cultural blessings in the years to come.