Leaders from the Southern Asia-Pacific Division (SSD) expressed heartfelt gratitude for the partnership with the South Pacific Division (SPD) during the Division Executive Committee (DEC) year-end meetings held this week in Thailand.
Thailand Adventist Mission education director Jarun Damrongkiattiyot thanked the SPD for choosing Thailand as the destination for the meetings. He said the mission activities that the DEC members participated in, including visits to local Adventist churches, an orphanage and the Chiang Mai Adventist Academy, had brought much happiness.
“Your coming makes our church alive,” he said. “When we take you to the school, the students are very happy, the teaching staff are very happy. So again, I would like to say thank you to everyone for coming to our country and supporting different activities.”
Southeastern Asia Union Mission president Pastor Somchai Chuenjit said they are thrilled and grateful for the partnership. “It’s really part of God’s work to share resources with one another and we are just grateful that some of the SPD leaders have come to visit our territory and they’ve taken up a challenge to help us with the training centre in the western part of Thailand,” he said.
The project, supported by funding from the SPD and Australian Union Conference, will be a centre of influence for training young men and women to teach basic theology and evangelism along with English. The AUC is also helping with sponsorship of students from Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam so they can attend Asia-Pacific International University, an Adventist tertiary institution.
Pastor Chuenjit said hosting the SPD meetings in their region was special. “I feel very honoured to be invited to attend the SPD year-end meetings here in Thailand and to meet up with the leaders here for the Lord’s cause.”
For the visiting DEC members, the experience provided opportunities to learn about the SSD, the challenges the church is facing, while being inspired by the attitude and faith of the locals.
SPD ministry and strategy associate director Dr Nick Kross said, “Coming to Thailand has given us exposure to the leadership of the Thai Adventist church and also an exposure to the culture, the challenges, and just the opportunities that exist for our church to work and network with the local leadership, so that I think has been the highlight for me.”
Terry Kessaris, a DEC member from Western Australia, appreciated the opportunity to visit the ADRA Keep Girls Safe project, which cares for girls at risk of being trafficked. “That was a massive education for me,” she said. “I was really touched, not only by the girls’ circumstances but also by the love, care and safety provided for them. This type of work is a specialist work of a high order. May God continue to equip, guide and richly bless this project as it blesses the most vulnerable.”
North New South Wales Conferences health director Erin Keegan emphasised the value of cross-cultural engagement: “The cross-cultural immersion experience is one that you can’t get virtually. The mission activities have been a real highlight.”
Trans Pacific Union Mission general secretary Jane Gibson-Opetaia was inspired by the hospitality and faith of the people. “People were waiting for us [at the Pha Pu Jom village],” she said. “They gave us the warmest reception—as we have experienced everywhere else. We’ve really been inspired by the pastor who travels to one of the churches more than 62 kilometres—so faithful. We sang and prayed over the area where they’d potentially like to build a church. I just want to give thanks for how they practically live out their faith and hospitality.”
