No-one can forget Australia’s generous response to the tsunami-affected nations when the massive wave struck on Boxing Day 2004.

While we hear of the ongoing work to rebuild damaged communities, very few speak of the work that was never started or completed due to the lack of publicity, funds and labour. Still fewer address the fear and emptiness prevalent in these communities long before the tsunami struck.

	Just over a year after the Boxing Day tsunami, the Thailand Mission Team from Wesley Mission helped a local church shift tonnes of shrubbery and concrete. The team also shared the love of Christ in three major university campuses in southern Thailand.

To address this, in January 2006, 33 young people (including three young children) from Wesley Mission committed their summer to bringing the hope of Christ in word and deed to Thailand — a year on since the tsunami hit the western shores of southern Thailand.

The project was called the Thailand Mission Trip (TMT). It began with four weeks of ministry across three major university campuses in southern Thailand. The TMT built friendships with the Thai students and shared the great news of Christ, who loves, saves and guarantees everlasting life to those who call upon his name.

This message was like rain to a desert for many Thai students, whose beliefs bound them to eternally striving by their own means for security in their future and afterlife, without attaining any certainty, and never experiencing the joy of being loved by their Creator.

Through the efforts of TMT, Jesus touched the hearts of 48 Thai students who received him as their lord and saviour. These students continue to grow in their faith in Christ as they are taught the Bible and the foundations of Christian life by devoted missionary staff of Campus Student Linc (a pseudonym for the worldwide Campus Crusade for Christ organisation in Thailand).

The team then went on to Koh Kho Khao Island, a site ravaged by the tsunami. There they set to work assisting the local church to clear land and rubble and lay down a basketball court that was also to be the church’s car park and activities area.

Through shifting tonnes of shrubbery, rock, soil, concrete and nine-foot long logs with their bare hands, the TMT radiated their faith in love and deed to the Thai people, offering a gesture of hope and new life.

The effort was too big for the team to accomplish in just one week, but the foundations are laid, symbolically suggesting that there is still so much work left to do — both physically as well as in the hearts of the people.

As the TMT served, the emblem of Wesley Mission was aptly etched on their right sleeves, as they humbly represented the church, Australia and the Lord Jesus Christ in spirit, word and deed.

Veejin Dumlao was part of the Thailand Missions Team, Wesley International Congregation, Wesley Mission.