We have been back from our summer project in Thailand for exactly one month now. The experience is still fresh in our minds and we think often of the friends we made and the lives we impacted.

It’s difficult to describe a 7-week trip in a single blog post, but overall we loved our time in Hat Yai and Bangkok. For the few days of the trip, we spent time getting to know each other as a team and preparing students for what was to come. We arrived in Hat Yai, Thailand on November 17th and received a few days of orientation from the local Thailand staff. The following Tuesday, we began the work that we came for by meeting students at Prince of Songkhla University and sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ with them.

Most people in Thailand are culturally Buddhist. Much of their identity is tied to Buddhist principles – making it extremely difficult for someone to decide to follow Christ instead. One of the lasting images I have of Thailand is the amount of idols and images of the King scattered throughout every road, building, and hilltop. (Katie wrote a blog on idols based on a devotional I gave to our team one morning – check it out on her personal blog: Cast Down Your Idols.)

Though they are culturally or actually Buddhist, a vast majority of Thai people were interested to hear about exactly who Jesus is and what we as Christians believe. Most students I met had never heard the gospel before. To start conversation, we would often ask what they thought the meaning of Christmas was. Common answers included “The Christian new year”, “A day of gift-giving”, or “Santa Claus birthday”. Less than five students I met knew that it was the celebration of the birth of Christ. However, during the trip, our team of 18 had more than 1,000 spiritual conversations with the Thais. More than 40 individuals said that they wanted to know Jesus and learn more about following Him.

There are countless stories from this trip to share – both by us and the rest of our team. The team put together a newsletter that you can download in PDF here: Thailand Newsletter . Below is a photo recap from the trip for those that might be interested. A special thanks goes to those that supported us specifically for this trip, as it was not part of our original plan when coming to New Zealand :) . If you’d like to hear more about the trip, please let us know and we can set up a Skype appointment.