Kim and Mary, who have served in Thailand for 25 years, took a Serve Asia team to Thailand in December 2025 for Christmas outreach. Here are their reflections on how the Lord worked through their mission trip!
Kim & Mary
“What is Christmas about?”
“Christmas is the foreigner’s New Year.”
“No, whose birthday is it?”
“It’s Santa’s birthday!”
“It’s Jesus’ birthday!”
We had the opportunity to share the true story of Christmas in four schools, a university, two church outreach services, and a community outreach to children in South Thailand.
The Serve Asia mission team started meeting online in September for training. We were excited to finally meet in person in December in Bangkok for one day of orientation, followed by one day in Central Thailand visiting the OMF Thai language school and a missionary family. Then we flew to South Thailand for 10 days helping in Christmas outreaches with Lee-Anne Hill and the other South Thailand OMF missionaries, who did a great job of organising the programme.
As well as serving we had a lot of laughs and learned a lot especially through listening to missionaries and Thai Christians sharing about their joys and challenges.
Praise God for a successful trip! And thanks to all of you who prayed for our time in Thailand!
Lucas
Going on the short-term trip to Thailand was an incredible experience. I learned so much and got to meet so many amazing people. One highlight was the university Christmas outreach. I had some good conversations with people my age and had a good chat with a student who wasn’t a Christian but said he felt very warmly welcomed in the Christian environment. I learned that letting the love and compassion Jesus has given us overflow through our actions is a key component to sharing the Gospel.
Jesse
During my short-term mission in Thailand, I really had my eyes opened to a different world of Christian ministry. Through lived testimonies of the long-term missionaries, as well as the members of our team, I saw how vastly different people can be drawn together for a common purpose in the kingdom of God. I particularly liked hearing the stories of the team in how they came to this chapter of life. Learning the developments that they went through which compelled them to serve God in a vastly different field was very inspiring.
Jemima
As well as the many benefits of supporting and assisting Christians and missionaries across the world, going on a mission trip can deeply strengthen your personal spiritual awareness. In South Thailand, my biggest lesson was learning how God’s presence and love is everywhere. The lyrics “even when I don’t see it, you’re working, you never stop, you never stop working” from the song “Way Maker” by Sinach swirled around my head as I noticed God’s presence in areas and places I had never seen or noticed before. OMF helped me deepen my understanding of how our Thai Christian whānau worship and experience God’s presence.
Sammy
The most significant experiences of the trip for me were meeting missionaries and hearing their testimonies, the Thai Christians’ testimonies, attending two different church services, sharing my testimony, talking to people about Buddhism and realising that so many people have never heard the Gospel, and seeing both Bangkok and Nakhon Si Thammarat. The most difficult part of the trip was the language barrier when trying to communicate with the local people.
Inoke
Initially, this trip wasn’t my plan, but I felt led by God to get involved. He encouraged me to stretch my faith in a new environment and culture, to immerse myself in prayer and the Word, and to always be ready to share the Gospel. I wasn’t used to praying in English, as I go to a Fijian church in Auckland, but praying with the team during the trip significantly built up my confidence to do so. Most of us couldn’t speak Thai, so it was great to cross this language barrier by sharing the gospel through drama.
