THAILAND

My goal for this post: Convey the important aspects of this trip in a concise and interesting manner.

We'll see if that happens.

This post is going to be a little different. Normally, I post a bunch of pictures and explain them. But this time, I'm posting a video that I made about the trip, and then I'll talk a little about the specifics. Also, for this post, I'm only doing the first country we visited. I will cover the second half of the journey at a later date.

(I realize the video takes up a lot of room. Click on it to go to YouTube and watch it there. Or settle for having my face cover half the frame.)


The song in the background comes from one of the morning worship times and is sung by the delegates from India.

Why was I in Thailand?
I don't know if I've shared this before, but part of my job is to act as an ECC advocate. I promote all of OMS in the Communications Department, but I work closely with ECC in particular on web stories, email marketing and fun stuff like that. (If you're wondering what ECC stands for, check out this post or go here.) From April 2-9, ECC held the Asia Regional Coordinator's Seminar in Bangkok, Thailand. Basically, the ECC national coordinator's from 11 countries gathered together to discuss strategy, learn about new procedures and encourage one another in the shared goal of planting multiplying churches. The theme for the seminar was "Coaching for a Greater Harvest."

What did I do?
I was part of a two-woman journalism team. My primary responsibility was to interview the participants and gather stories about the work of OMS and ECC around the world. My secondary responsibility was to document the event through pictures and video. I worked with my boss, Susan Loobie, and together we conducted over 20 interviews and heard some truly amazing stories about what God is doing in Asia.

Where can I read these stories?
We will be writing the stories from this event for the next few months. Some may end up in Outreach magazine, while others may be on the website. Others will probably be posted to Facebook or other venues. I will link to them on here when I can, and I may just post the story for you.

Did you see much of Thailand?
Not really. We had a little bit of free time before the seminar began, but used most of the time to adjust to the new time zone. We were able to slip away a couple mornings to do a bit of shopping and to get a Thai massage, but did not do any sightseeing. That's one thing I really need to do if I ever go back. What I did see of the country was quite nice, and I'm told that once you're outside of Bangkok, the scenery is quite beautiful. (Not that Bangkok wasn't nice, but cities don't change much from country to country.)

How was the weather?
Hot. And humid. Our conference room was air-conditioned, as was our room at night, but the short walk between the two left us drenched in sweat. Had we stayed another week, we could have participated in the water festival, which would have been lovely.

How was the food?
Very rice-like. We had rice with almost every meal, but we really didn't eat anything too weird. Some of the curry was quite spicy, so I steered away from that. But our cooks did an excellent job of changing things up, and we actually had ribs and potatoes one night. I was quite pleased with the variety.

What did God teach you in Thailand?
We talk a lot about the global church and how we are all connected as the Body of Christ. But to actually see it in action was truly awesome. All of these church leaders were united in a common purpose, and they are already seeing incredible results of church multiplication. Traditionally, Asian cultures have been hesitant about this approach to church planting. It is quite different from what they have done before. But it makes so much sense, and it really does work, and to hear about all the people coming to Christ is so amazing. I'm not really a joiner, but after listening to so many stories of God's faithfulness, I was proud to be part of a truly global Church. It certainly brings perspective to life in America.

Will you go back to Thailand?
I hope so. OMS has no official work in Thailand, but it's a central spot for many of our national partners, so that may be an option. I am absolutely ready to visit the countries represented at the seminar to see how God is using what they learned for His glory.

So, did I meet my goal? I have no idea. I will be sending out an update in paper form soon, and that will hopefully clear up any questions you have. But you can always ask me on here or on Facebook or email or by phone or whatever. It really was a good experience, and I did actually get to visit one of the countries...

But that is a topic for another day.

(By the way, if you followed all of the links I posted, you're awesome. I realize I went a little nuts.)