Surat Thani is the “city of good people.” We have lived here since February and have fallen in love with these amazingly friendly and honest people. As we cooperate with God, we seek to lead them to see that their good life can get even better.
The first step of Christ’s method of reaching others is to “mingle with people as one desiring their good.”1 How can that be done practically? The methods are as varied as the number of persons occupying this planet. I often tell people that we do not have to reinvent the wheel and start from scratch when it comes to meeting others. We do not have to create our own centers of influence (as wonderful as they are) to begin mingling with people for Christ. We can be salt and light by joining civic groups and clubs already organized and operating.
Since coming to Surat Thani, we have tried to do that in various ways. One example is to mingle with and bless people here through volunteer English teaching at a public library in the heart of our local exercise park. Together with some members of our local SDA Caregroup, we have had an English Song and Bible program for children every last Sabbath of the month. Parents whose children have joined the activities have responded favorably, asking if we could do it more often, which we are planning to do.
During another recent Sabbath our congregation joined another SDA church group to provide religious services for a Christian orphanage in a nearby district. The children and the orphanage staff were happy to have us join them and share the gospel in words, songs and action, and requested that we come back soon.
Another exciting way that I have found to mingle with the locals is by joining a local paramotor2 club. I have dreamed of flying since childhood. When a local mechanic invited me to meet club members, I gladly accepted. The president of the club explained that the annual membership fee to join was only $33, and that the training and equipment for use while training were all free, so I immediately signed up. I am not only learning an exciting new skill, but also building friendships with people from many different walks of life, including wealthy business people and plantation owners, hospital administrators and police officers, soldiers and elected officials, and more. These people have literally taken me under their wing and taught me to fly paramotors.
At the same time, everyone knows that I am an SDA Christian missionary. That has sparked a lot of curiosity and growing spiritual interest in some, expressed in one-on-one conversations and even more publicly in our club’s online chatroom. It is an all-around exciting ministry opportunity.
Thank you for your continued support and mission-critical prayers for us in our new outreach to these dear friends in Southern Thailand.
1 The Ministry of Healing, by Ellen G. White, p. 143
2 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Powered_paragliding
