The Fruit of Mission

A Letter from Myoungho Yang and Jiyeon Yoo, serving in Thailand

Spring 2024

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Dear fellow co-workers in God’s mission,

I greet you with the words the risen Lord said to his disciples, “Peace be with you” (John 20:19).

We enjoyed the cool weather for a short time during the season called “the cold season.” It was more like fall rather than winter. On short notice, summer has arrived. The Thai government announced that summer had begun in the middle of February and would be the hottest summer ever. It is around 104° (40°C) now, and it seems it will be over 113°(45°C) in a couple of weeks. Everyone is waiting for the rain because it has not rained for almost four months. Another difficult thing in this season is that we have to wear masks for outdoor activities because of the worsening air pollution. This is another reason everyone is waiting for rain.

Getting ready for the trip to the church

At McGilvary School of Theology, where we are serving, the second semester just ended on March 22 after final exams. We now have summer break until the middle of June. This past semester we continued to visit churches every Sunday with students. The longest trip took about six hours one way. The students were so tired that they fell asleep in the car. It was a long trip.

The church we visited has an interesting history. During dinner, I was told a story about the Presbyterian missionary Daniel McGilvary, a pioneer in the mission of the northern part of Thailand. Daniel McGilvary shared the gospel by traveling from Chiang Mai to many places in the northern part of Thailand riding on an elephant. It was in the 19^th century, so the elephant must have been good transportation at that time. When he arrived in a new town, he stayed there for a certain period preaching the gospel and building a church. He built many churches in this way in many places. There was a carpenter who traveled with him and worked with him to build churches. He was not a Christian. After he traveled to many places with Daniel McGilvary, he became a Christian too. Later he decided to settle in one town after he built a church with Daniel McGilvary. This was the church we visited with students.

Bananas from the old tree

I was surprised when I heard what the Dean of McGilvary School of Theology said after she finished telling this story. She said, “The carpenter was my grandfather.” On the way to the church, we visited other churches that Daniel McGilvary had also built. While some churches are big and other churches are small, we can see the fruit of McGilvary’s mission and the new fruit that is still being born through those churches.

There was a banana tree in our backyard. It was planted by someone who had lived here. We didn’t plant it. One day we saw lots of bananas on the tree. We harvested them and shared them with our neighbors. They were delicious. Not long ago, two new baby trees were born when the old tree ended its life. They are a new generation. Since these two trees were stuck side by side, one couldn’t grow enough because they were competing. I separated them and moved one tree far away from the other tree. I water them often. Of course, I cannot make them grow by watering them, since it is God who grows them.

The new banana tree

When I look at these baby banana trees, I often think of the work of missionaries like Daniel McGilvary who came to Thailand a long time ago. Although we did not get the chance to meet any of these early missionaries, we can see the beautiful fruits of their mission. They devoted their lives to sharing the gospel in Thailand and their ministry continues to bear fruit. The gospel has been handed down to each following generation until today. In the same way that we were delighted to see the bananas on the tree we didn’t plant, we are delighted as we see the fruits of the gospel that the early missionaries planted. In the same way that we expect new bananas to grow when we look at the little banana trees, we also expect new generations of Christians as we see Thai Christians today. We are grateful that we can join God’s mission as we are building the next generations of Christians like those little banana trees in my backyard.

We also thank you for walking together with us in this ministry. Thailand is one of the countries with the largest Buddhist populations. Christians make up less than 1% of the population. I pray that the word in Acts becomes real in Thailand, “And the word of God continued to increase, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem…” (Acts 6:7). We ask you to continue to pray for the expansion of the kingdom of God in Thailand and in the world as you walk together with us.

We hope that the Grace and Power of our Lord Jesus Christ who died for us and rose again be revealed in every area of your life!

Myoungho and Jiyeon from Chiang Mai