Southwestern students experience missionary life in Thailand

A group of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary students worked alongside International Mission Board (IMB) team leaders in Thailand during the seminary’s spring reading days, getting a taste of what missions work is like overseas, led by their professor who was once a missionary to the country.

The March 15-23 trip was sort of a homecoming for seminary team leader Michael Copeland, associate director of the World Missions Center, who lived with his wife in Thailand for six years. Copeland, who also serves as dean of students, said his goal for students on the trip was to give them not only a ministry experience, but to also expose them to what living life as a missionary is like.

Students helped in a clinic ministry, inviting villagers to a mobile clinic for a health check. Chris Sieberhagen, an MDiv in international church planting student in the seminary’s 2+2 program, which allows students to complete two years of courses on campus and then two years of courses while serving in the mission field, explained that villagers would go through different stations and be seen by a doctor. When arriving at the last station, he said, they would be greeted by a Thai believer “and hear the Gospel in their own language and from the mouths of their own people.”

Isaiah Rata, a dual enrollment student who hopes to start the seminary’s intercultural studies 5-year program in the fall, said one elderly couple came to the clinic and was separated to go to different doctors before speaking independently with the Thai believers.

“Both of them came to know the Lord without knowledge of the other’s actions,” Rata said. “They were reunited and only then learned of each other’s actions, which was a very encouraging thing to hear about the effect that the groups present had on the people in Thailand.”

The missions team of Southwesterners provides assistance at a medical clinic where the Gospel is shared with patients.

Haylee Grace*, an MDiv student of international church planting in the 2+2 program, said she watched a missionary share the Gospel completely in Thai with a man the students invited to the clinic.

The IMB missionary “was so confident and gentle, and even rephrased certain ideas to help him understand more fully,” she said. While the missionary had only been there about a year, Grace added, she was so advanced in the language that she could effectively share the Gospel in Thai.

“I am so inspired by this, because I want to learn language well when I become a missionary,” Grace said. “It encouraged me to want to work hard so that I can more quickly get to what matters.”

Penny Sumner*, a Master of Arts in biblical counseling student, said the clinic “makes it less daunting for Thai Buddhists in the village to interact with the local church, and it provides a way for the church to care not only for physical needs, but for spiritual needs. Everyone who comes through the clinic hears the Gospel, and they are welcomed to come to the local Thai church.”

More than 15 people came to know Christ over the team’s three days with the mobile clinic, she added.

The Southwestern team also went into the city each night “and shared the Gospel with anyone who would listen,” Sieberhagen said. Those who couldn’t speak English were given a Gospel tract in their language. Team members handed out approximately 150 tracts and directly shared with more than 20 people who spoke English, he said.

Amanda Williams, a Master of Arts in biblical counseling student, said she especially enjoyed “being able to talk to artists at the night markets. Through conversations about their work and subjects they painted, it led easily into spiritual conversations. I was encouraged to see God use my interest in art for His purposes and I am praying that these planted seeds will take root and grow in their lives!”

Dean of Students Michael Copeland led the mission trip to work alongside IMB missionaries and Thai believers.

Williams added that she gained a greater perspective on how to utilize all of one’s life for the Kingdom.

“It can be tempting to set aside things we do out of ‘duty’ and then have the things that we view as our ‘own,’ such as passions, hobbies, things we find funny,” she said. “But where do His purposes start and my desires end? I think of John 15 where we see that through abiding in Him, our desires are transformed and granted for His glory. I think it’s important for all of us to think through this: What are the things on earth that we love, and how can we dive even deeper into them for the sake of our neighbor so that they would know their Creator?”

Sumner said the trip made her realize “how incredibly important it is to be able to share the Gospel in someone’s heart language, and I am excited to be able to learn the language wherever I end up! This trip helped me to solidify my desire to pursue long-term missions and not just midterm. We had a wonderful team!”

Sieberhagen said the experience renewed his passion for international missions.

“When you are in seminary and constantly have your head in the books, it is easy to lose sight of the end goal and get caught up in all the assignments,” he said. “This trip reminded me of how much I love overseas missions and why I decided to come to Southwestern and join the 2+2 program in the first place.”

He added that he realized how important his studies at Southwestern are after speaking with a missionary who had to preach almost every week.

“He explained that he was the only theologically trained individual in the town he lived in, which is often the case for missionaries in that part of the world,” Sieberhagen said. “Therefore, all the local believers looked to him to teach and preach. He said he was essentially their go-to theologian. I thought to myself that if I were ever in a position like that in the future, I would need to be well-educated so that I do not accidently lead anyone astray or teach bad theology. This made me realize that all my classes at Southwestern – even the ones that have nothing to do with missions – are important and are shaping me into a man who can be used by God.”

*Names changed to protect future mission work.