2013 Mission Day

Overview of the 2nd Annual 2013 Mission Day

Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?” And I said, “Here am I. Send me!” -Isaiah 6:8 (NIV)

Mission Day was held at St. Jacobs Mennonite Church (St. Jacobs, ON) on Saturday, June 15, 2013. There were approximately 130 attendees from various churches.

The program started with praise and worship from the Vindicated praise band.

Vindicated Band leading praise songs

Reverend Trakoon (Yoel) Masyawong from Grace Lao Mennonite Church then talked about how Mission Day came about and opened the program with a prayer. Mission Day began from Rev. Dan and Sarah's vision (4-5 years ago) of wanting to gather various cultural churches within the region together to celebrate the diversity as well as encouraging one another to proclaim the Gospel. Especially, Mission Day was aimed to encourage the members of Southeast Asia origin to go back to share the Good News with the people in their home countries such as Laos, Thailand, Vietnam, and Burma. In 2010, when Rev. Dan and Sarah became members of the Grace Lao Mennonite Church they brought their vision for Mission Day forward to the church council. By 2012, Grace Lao Mennonite Church hosted their first Mission Day. Since then they hope to keep Mission Day as an annual event that brings many different churches in this area together.

Pastor Trakoon (Yoel) Masyawong from Grace Lao Mennonite Church introducing Mission Day

To celebrate the cultural diversity of the attendees, the representatives as well as the congregation sang each verse of the hymn "How Great Thou Art" in various languages, including Hmong, Thai, Korean, Laotian and English. It was a beautiful sight to hear the singers praising God in all the various languages, which only shows that although we speak all different languages we still worship the same and only one true God.

Each singer took turn singing a verse of "How Great Thou Art" in their own language, including Hmong, Thai, Korean, and Laotian. Then the entire congregation was invited to sing the final verse in English together.

The program moved into the different cultural performances from various churches and communities. The first performance were two beautiful Hmong songs sung by a group of Hmong women (Kitchener) who were wearing a complete set of traditional Hmong clothing including head piece, jewery, colourful skirts and jackets and ankle pieces.

A group of Hmong women singing songs of encouragement for Dan and Sarah's mission work

The next performance was a traditional Eastern Thai dance by a group of young adults from the Thai Christian Church of Canada (Toronto). They were quite energetic and brave to do such a fun performance.

An Eastern Thai dance from the Thai Christian Church of Canada

The Covenant Chuch (Oakville), which is a Korean church came to join the event and brought with them a group of youth who sang a powerful yet lovely Korean song.

The Covenant Church singing a special Korean song

Grace Lao Mennonite Church (Kitchener) had their young girls perform a beautiful traditional Laotian dance called Jumpa Flower Dance in a variation of green traditional clothings, adorned with golen jewelries.

The Jumpa Flower Dance by the youth from Grace Lao Mennonite Church

Lastly, Rungnapa from the Thai Christian Church of Canada sang her own rendition of "He Leadeth Me" in both English and Thai.

Lulu or Rungnapha Arunnavesiri singing "He Leadeth Me"

After the cultural performances concluded, Mission Day moved on to the next part of the program, which was the sharing of Rev. Dan and Sarah Yang's mission work in Southeast Asia. We began with showing a slideshow of their mission work from December 2012 to May 2013, which included visiting Kenya, then various mission projects in Thailand, Laos and Vietnam. To watch the slideshow Click Here or watch below.

Rev. Dan then shared his story of how he and Sarah were called to Southeast Asia and many of the projects they had started in Southeast Asia. (The Mission Projects report will be linked into the blog shortly). He shared about his vision based on the Bible passage Ezekiel 47:1-12, where Ezekiel described in verse 8, "this water flows toward the eastern region". Their decision to go into the mission field was simply a walk of faith and trusting God to carry it through. And through faith and years of waiting we can see that His work was able to carry through!

Rev. Dan Yang sharing his vision and mission work

Dale Bauman, president of ACM Canada was invited to share and introduce ACM Canada to the congregation and explained how they have come to partner up with the ministry in Southeast Asia. ACM Canada or African Christian Missions Canada is a financial partner of African Christian Missions International (ACMI), which is a Christian organization based in Kenya. Their main missions include evangelism, child sponsorship and education. ACM Canada and ACMI partnered up with Rev. Dan and Sarah in hoping to expand their ministry into Southeast Asia. For more information about ACMI, please Click Here to check out their website.

Dale Bauman from ACM Canada

We also had a free-will offering to raise fund for the mission projects, the total from the offering was approximately $1000. During the offering Katie and Brittany Anonthysene played a lovely piano and violin duet of the song, "10,000 Reasons (Bless the Lord)" by Matt Redman.

The program ended with the congregation singing the hymn "Be Thou My Vision" and a closing prayer by Pastor Trakoon Masyawong.

Everyone was then invited to go downstairs for a traditional Thai/Laotian dinner. What was blessed about the dinner was that the various women groups (Laotian, Hmong and Korean) kindly made the dishes freely and donated to Mission Day. We were simply grateful at their generosity, kindness, and commitment as we knew that those dishes took days to prepare and the costs were not little.

The dessert table... mmmm...

Aside from the service, we were also displaying pictures from Rev. Dan and Sarah's mission work in Kenya and Southeast Asia. We also brought some handcrafted items from Thailand to raise fund for the mission projects.

Overall, Mission Day was a success thanks to all the committed volunteers and those that came to support the event. We feel blessed that we could gather people from different churches and communities together to share and celebrate our cultural diversity and encourage one another to have the burden for mission work. May God continue to fan the fire for His mission in Southeast Asia as well as the rest of the world.

We felt very encouraged by the outcome of Mission Day. It has given us the strength to continue on with our work in Southeast Asia. We believe that God is working through each one of us so that He can continue to expand His kingdom.


THANK YOU: We are blessed to have many partners who see the importance of misison work and supported us through prayers, encouragement, and financial support.

St. Jacobs Mennonite Church - For allowing us to use the building to hold the event, for supporting Mission Day for the second year in a row, as well as their generous donation towards mission work in Southeast Asia.

Grace Lao Mennonite Church - Many thanks goes to all the church members who supported us from the beginning. They have worked tirelessly in preparing (cooking, setting up the facility, the special performance) as well as cleaning up after the event.

Thai Christian Church of Canada - For participating in the event for the second year, helping with worship hymn and piano, and their financial contribution to the mission projects.

The Covenant Church - For their prayers, support and inspiration for evangelism. As well as their beautiful performance and the delicious Korean desserts!

Our Hmong friends - For their continuous support, encouragement, and generous donations towards the event, the food (especially the 60 dozens eggrolls!), and the mission work.

Vindicated Band - For being part of the event and leading praise and worship.

Dale Bauman - For supporting and attending the event.

All the attendees - Thank you for being a part of this year's Mission Day and for your financial support through offering and fundraising.

If you would like to make a financial contribution to Dan and Sarah's mission work in Southeast Asia, you can donate online at Canada Helps (African Christian Missions Canada under the category Ministry in South East Asia).

Group picture wearing Hmong and Laotian traditional dresses

Lynn Lee and Sarah Yang in Korean and Hmong traditional dresses

Photos curtesy of Buachao Vang

Back to Canada

After six months of being overseas, we have returned to Canada for a short visit. We've arrived in Canada on May 21st and will be staying here until July 6th. During our stay in Canada, we will be holding our 2nd annual Mission Day event on June 15, 2013. The time is soon approaching and we are busy with the preparation. We are very grateful at people and congregations' generosity and kindness in helping to put this event together. Praise the Lord and may His will be done!

We are also glad to see many familiar faces once again. Our friends came and visit us. We spent much time updating and sharing them our experiences in SE Asia. It will once again be hard to leave this familiar and comfortable place, but being here allowed us to rest and recharge for the upcoming work that God has planned for us in SE Asia. We hope to use this time in Canada to share with others about God's work in SE Asia and encourage one another to serve Him in His mission.

Mission Report (March - April 2013)

Blessings in the Ups and Downs

           The month of March and April has been a busy time for us as we travel back and forth between Chiang Mai and other provinces. Initially, we have begun teaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the members of the Friendship Church. However, these two months were the months of summer holidays for the students and many have gone back to their homes in other cities and provinces. There were fewer church attendees during these two months. 

            Nonetheless, we diligently continued to teach those who remained in Chiang Mai the true meaning of the Gospel message. We also had the opportunities to visit several troubled families, prayed for them and spent quality time with them. 

            There was a young couple who came to visit the church one Sunday. When they heard about the Gospel Message they decided to accept Jesus Christ as their personal Saviour. We praised the Lord for His goodness and grace! 

            On March 19, we were invited to attend the 2013 Convocation Ceremony for Bible college graduates at Payao Bible College in the province of Payao. It was a joy to watch these young graduates complete their education and see their energy as they prepare themselves to serve in God’s ministry. We were able to give encouragement to several of them whom we knew and supported through prayers and financial support. One of these graduates was Por Chua Hang. He was a student who came from Laos to study at the Bible college. Initially, Por Chua and his family came to study in Thailand with no financial support. He came by faith alone. However, through connections and prayers Por Chua was able to complete his studies with financial supports from friends and families overseas, including those in Canada. Now he is preparing to return to Laos and pastors to believers at his home church. 

            During our time at the Payao Bible College, we were also able to encourage the current students, especially those who have burdens for God’s ministry, but lack sponsors and financial supports. We challenged them to continue to keep their passion to minister aflame and encouraged them to continue to build their leadership characters for God’s future ministry. We prayed for them and brainstormed for ways to find sponsorships for their education.

            Particularly, we met and spoke to Ger Xiong, a first year Bible college student at that time. Ger also struggled with finding financial support for his education. Specifically, he had no money to continue his second year studies. In fact, he did not even have enough money to return home to visit his parents during the summer holidays. Hence, we offered him to stay with us at our rental home in Chiang Mai and through connections found a summer job for him so that he could earn enough income to return home. 

This was also a good opportunity for us to spend time with Ger and train him in God’s ministry. During his stay in Chiang Mai, Ger often traveled with us to various places. We used this opportunity to teach and train him about the mission work. We are hoping the time he spent with us will help prepare him to serve the Lord in the future. We also thank the Lord that God is faithful and has answered our prayers! We have found sponsors for Ger and now he will be able to return to school to continue his second year in June!

           During the month of March, a friend came to visit us in Chiang Mai. He encouraged us to plant a new multicultural church in the city Chiang Mai. We are very interested in his suggestion and continue to pray for the Lord’s guidance. If it is the Lord’s will, we would like to start a new church in the month of July. 

Also during this time, my father’s health condition continued to deteriorate. It brought much sadness to us as we realized that he no longer had much time left on this earth. We frequently traveled to Kampaengphet province to be with him and to pray for him. We were grateful that our family was able to come together during this time to spend our last moment with our father, whom passed away on April 21, 2013. The funeral was held from April 21 to April 24.

We were quite grieved by his passing, but we also thanked the Lord knowing that he has gone to be with the Lord in heaven. During our father’s funeral, many of our non-believer relatives and friends attended. We were able to use this precious opportunity to witness and share about God’s grace and love with them. Thank the Lord that many have shown interest in the Good News! 

From April 26 – 28^th, we were invited to be the main speakers for a revival conference for Hmong-Laotians in Nong Khai, a province that lies between the Laotian and Thai border. The conference was crowded with many eager attendees from across the border. There were approximately 150 attendees. These people were desperately thirsty for the Word of God. Even after a day’s worth of teaching they would linger around our room waiting to hear more about God’s word. Many of them face spiritual bondage and could not find a way to be set free since they were still under the dominion of the darkness. 

We used this opportunity to teach them about being set freed and prayed for their freedom through Jesus Christ. Towards the end of the conference many gave their lives to Christ and accepted Him as their personal Saviour. We thank the Lord for His grace that was able to set many people free.

These two months were quite eventful for us, full of both happy and sad news. However, we continue to thank the Lord that He has always been good to us through good and bad times. We see that God’s work is innumerable, His burdens are great and at times we feel that we are unable to accomplish or address all the needs that we see here in Thailand and Southeast Asia. 

Please pray for us so that we can prioritize our work efficiently. We are excited for the upcoming month as we prepare to go back to Canada. One of our biggest events is the Mission Day, which will be held on June 15, 2013 at St. Jacobs Mennonite Church. During this event we will be sharing many our mission works as well as encouraging our neighbouring churches to join in the work of God in Southeast Asia. Thank you for your support and please continue to pray for us!

Sincerely,

Rev. Dan and Sarah Yang

Save the Date: Mission Day June 15, 2013

SAVE THE DATE GUYS! Saturday, June 15, 2013! If you are in the area, please come join us for the 3rd Annual Mission Day at St. Jacobs Mennonite Church! Enjoy special cultural performances from various churches, hear mission report from Reverend Dan Yang and enjoy delicious food! This is a free event and everyone is welcome! 

This is the event that we hold every year to fellowship with our partner churches and to encourage one another to go forth and spread the Gospel.

The Friendship Church

Our mission work begins here at the Friendship Church, Chiang Mai. For the past few years, I have been visiting this church during my several return trips to Thailand. During these visitations I have come to know the church members and many of their needs. This young church comprised mostly of youth and young adults who moved from their mountainous hometown into the city to in search for jobs and education. Most of the members are Hmong people, which is one of many hilltribes found in the mountainous regions of Thailand. 

The church was a small new church that lacks leadership and guidance. After speaking the many of the church members, the church asked if I would be willing  to come teach and train them. Hence, I thought this was a great opportunity for me to start my vision of leadership training in Southeast Asia. It seemed that God has finally opening a door for my mission.  

Once we arrived in Thailand, we began our ministry with the Friendship Church. We began teaching them our curriculum. Before going straight into leadership training, we wanted to build a solid foundation of the Gospel Message. Hence, our current teachings focuses on the Gospel Message.  

Worshipping at the Friendship Church

We are starting to teach the Gospel Message

The church is comprised mostly of Hmong students who are studying in colleges and universities. There are also young working couples. 

These young girls are wearing the traditional Hmong dresses.

A young couple just accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as their personal saviour.

Fellowship during lunch time after worship

More Update and Stories To Come

I have just recently created this blog with the help of my daughter. There are many more stories and updates in the past that I have yet to post on this blog. I am hoping that I can gradually add more stories and pictures of our many experiences in Thailand. Please stay tune! 

In the mean time you can check out some of the pictures at our Facebook page by adding me as a friend (Dan Yang). 

Jan-Feb 2013 Report

I have attached my written monthly report/update for the months of January and February 2013. Please continue to keep us in your prayers as we begin to layout our projects.  

Here is the written version in case it is hard to read from the attached file:

I thank the Lord who has led my wife and I to His ministry in Kenya, Africa during November 30, 2012 – December 23, 2012 and returned back to Chiang Mai, Thailand. Originally, we planned to   stay in Kenya until January 15, 2013, but because my father’s leukemia condition worsened we had to return to Thailand immediately on December 23, 2012. We were worried about my father so much that we have spent much time in prayer for him while we stayed in Kenya.

I was overwhelmed with worries for my father as I have been apart from him for a long while. We had consulted with Bishop Henry Mulandi and Dale Bauman, and they allowed us to go to Thailand to visit my father before the scheduled time. We spent much time in prayer while on the plane heading back to Thailand. When we landed, we were held up at the Bangkok Immigration for almost three hours for not having the yellow fever vaccination before entering the kingdom of Thailand. Aside from this incident, we arrived in Thailand safely.

I would like to give thanks to the Lord because He is faithful and He had answered our prayers. When we arrived at our hometown we went to visit my father. I saw with my own eyes that he was healed by the grace of God! His condition had improved significantly. We have confidence that the Lord is merciful and His healing came upon him according to our prayers.

Shortly after, we left for Chiang Mai. During the first week of January 2013, we stayed with Sarah’s brother’s family, who owns a restaurant in Chiang Mai. We spent over a week searching for a suitable house to rent. Fortunately, we found a new half-furnished house that has a kind owner.  Normally, the owner would rent the house for foreigners at about $500 per month, but because we are also Thai citizens, he reduced the rent to $300 per month for us. We thanked the Lord who always reveals His everlasting love to us.

We see that His provision to us is always great. Even though our supporters were not ready to support us during the month of January the Lord was there to provide. We thought that we would be starving and could not survive during January; however, we were able to get by with the grace of God.

Moreover, by His grace and His plan the Lord has led us to explore His field in Laos. We had an opportunity to go to Vien Tiane and the surrounding areas. There, we saw exactly what the Lord Jesus has said, “The harvest is plentiful, but the labourers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers into his harvest” (Mat. 9:37).

I had an opportunity to visit a group of Lao Hmong university students who gathered together at an elder’s house for a Bible study. The house was used as an underground church. In addition, at the outskirt of the city, I also visited a church with a large congregation whose members are hungry and thirsty for the Word of God.

Moreover, there are 14 young people from Laos and Vietnam who came to Chiang Mai seeking to have Bible studies and leadership trainings so that they can go back to be church leaders at their local churches in Laos. I volunteered to be one of their teachers at the Bible Institution.

In the future, I am planning to follow these young people back to their rural villages and start church planting. I also would like to support them and provide mentorship and leadership training so that we can expand the kingdom of God.

On February 7, 2013 God has sent three explorers from Canada, Mathew Sou, Milo Stauffer and Nathan Lichti to come visit us in Chiang Mai. Together, we travelled to Phayao Bible College to seek some Laotian Bible students who have vision to build a church in Vian Tiane. Unfortunately, we found none. We had a focused prayer for a chosen student who God will send to be a student at this Bible college. I also plan to mentor this chosen student to be an evangelist or church planter in Laos. I am thankful that the Lord is gradually opening doors for South East Asian gospel ministry.

Now I am planning to start the church ministry at the Friendship Church, Chiang Mai. There are about 30-50 young people who attend the church, but they have not been coming regularly. Most of them are young people who are studying at universities; there are also some young couples. I will follow up with them through visitations and will challenge them to become permanent church members. Then I will start discipleship and leadership training at the church. I am also planning a dormitory project in Chiang Mai where I will invite some university students to reside at the dormitory. This will provide an opportunity for me to spend more time with them and train them to be Jesus’ disciples and church leaders in the coming future.

Please pray for us, the Friendship Church, the dormitory project in Chiang Mai and the South East Asian ministries in Laos and Vietnam. We need more financial support for these projects. We see that God is working in our lives, the Friendship Church and South East Asia Ministries.

Sincerely,

Rev. Dan Yang

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