China Trip

China Mission Trip

Back from Southeast Asia…
In February, Pastor Dan Meyer, Chip Heady and Tom Mallon, both Christ Church elders, spent 8 days with several of Christ church missionaries in Hong Kong and Thailand.
Their first two days were spent at the China Graduate School of Theology (CGST) in Hong Kong. Dan had been asked to give this year’s Joshua S. Mann Lectures on Pastoria and his topic was “Leaders Like Jesus.” Dan is only the second American to join the school for this annual series. He spoke to over 200 graduate students. Additionally, they met with Wilson Chow, the past president of CGST and Carver Yu, the new president and many students and administrators of the school.

While in Hong Kong, they also met with David Wang of Asian Outreach (AO). Mr. Wang recently stepped down as president of AO after 45 years with the organization. David was recently featured as one of 17 individuals honored by the government for AO’s role in the earthquake relief two years ago. He met the president and the vice president of China at a dinner in Beijing. It was a remarkable moment in the life of the house church.

Then it was on to Thailand and visit with Wycliffe Bible Translators. Wycliffe works with the linguistics departments of three universities in Bangkok -- Payap University, a Christian university in Chiang Mai, Mahidol and Thammasat Universities providing masters degrees to translators from South East Asia and further abroad.

While in Thailand, they visited a refugee camp named Mae Lah with Christ Church missionary Don Leonard. The camp holds close to 200,000 Karen refugees from Burma.

A final stop was with International Justice Ministries (IJM) in Chiang Mai. Their host, Quentin Ruiz, spent several hours educating them on the goals of IJM Thailand. The office consists of about 12 people, mostly attorneys and caseworkers focused on citizenship law. After 6 years of operating in the country, their research said the best way to minimize trafficking and human slavery is to work with the minority people to help them become citizens or permanent resident aliens.

Some final thoughts from the Asia trip: Chip was impressed with the high caliber missionaries that we support, Tom was moved by the indomitable spirit of those serving and Dan was very impressed and was reminded of the importance of leadership development in missions in general.

Hong Kong
The first stop on their journey will be Hong Kong where Dan has been invited to give a series of lectures on leadership at the China Graduate School of Theology. CGST provides theological training for many of the leaders who go on to staff the Bible colleges, seminaries and churches of China. While in Hong Kong, the Christ Church team will also connect with the new President of Asian Outreach, our long-time partner in resourcing the church in China.

Mae Lah Refugee Camp
The group will also visit a refugee camp along Thailand's border with Burma. Mae Lah is the largest of seven camps that house over 140,000 people who have fled from the Myanmar military forces who burn villages and commit atrocities to the people who live there. The refugees are survivors of land mines, war crimes, and slavery and are often separated from their families. The Karen people live in bamboo huts on scant rations. Missionaries at the camps share the gospel, plant churches, translate Bibles, and provide spiritual support for the Karen people.

Chiang Mai's Wycliffe Bible Translators
Mother Tongue translators from restricted lands in East Asia come to Chiang Mai to be trained to translate the Gospel into their native language, which is one of 7,000 different languages total. These future leaders then return to their homeland and continue their translation work. Of the 7,000 languages, one-third have the New Testament translated while one-third is under development. Last year alone 109 new language translations were started. Wycliffe has a goal of finishing this final third by the year 2025.

Please pray for Dan, Tom, and Chip as they travel to regions of the world that offer potential dangers, but need to hear the word of God. We pray that through future leaders, through the eyes of a refugee child, and through a Bible in a native tongue, God's word will be spoken and heard.