Family ‘Thai’ two passions together

Andrew and Roanna are members of Feilding Baptist church and went to Chiang Mai as an Interserve OnTrack placement.

The problem – how to combine an interest in cross-cultural mission with pastoral leadership training at Carey Baptist College? The perfect answer – a three month internship at an international church in Thailand!

Over the summer months, Andrew and Roanna Baldwin and their two boys Noah (3 ½) and Miles (1 ½), headed to Chiang Mai, Thailand, to spend three months serving at the Chiang Mai Community Church. Andrew had just completed his second year of the pastoral leadership (PL) programme at Carey Baptist College and, as part of the PL programme, needed to spend 12 weeks over the summer working in a church. The Baldwins decided to undertake this work in an international church, allowing them to combine the pastoral experience with an interest in cross-cultural mission and a desire to explore what role overseas mission might play in their future.

Their placement church, Chiang Mai Community Church (CMCC), is one of a number of international churches in Chiang Mai that cater for the needs of the large English speaking community. Over his time at the church Andrew was involved in a wide range of activities from preaching to hospital visiting to redeveloping the church’s website to running a church picnic and welcoming newcomers.

“One thing that impressed us about CMCC was its ability to both care for those within the church and build a sense of community, and at that same time maintain a focus on reaching out to those outside of the church, “ says Andrew. Christmas was a particularly busy time. A memorable moment was singing Christmas carols down one of the busiest streets in Chiang Mai, notorious for its night life. “It was great to be able to bring the message and hope of Christmas to some of the dark places of this city,” says Andrew.

One of the highlights of their time in Chiang Mai was meeting people from all over the world involved in also sorts of different mission work.

“It was great to meet people involved in activities as diverse as developing written alphabets for oral languages, visiting foreign prisoners, school teaching, counselling missionaries, evangelising tourists, relief and development, and theological education. It was also a real privilege to meet with people who had been in Thailand for 30, 40 or even 50 years. These people had amazing stories of God’s faithfulness to them over the years. It certainly challenged us to think about what it means to make a long-term commitment,” says Roanna.

The Baldwins returned from Thailand with a renewed commitment to continue to pursue what role they might be able to play in God’s global mission – whether that is going themselves or encouraging and supporting others. “We have seen once again that God takes very ordinary people and does extraordinary things when people are willing to obey his call to go to some of the hard places of the world.”