Mike and Connie Ory
Mike and Connie Ory Baptist Builders Mission Trip to Thailand, May 2009
How God came into the picture and the difference He made.
In January 2009, I began to pray for God to use me to do his will. I was not specific; I just asked that he use my hands as his hands.
First, as I read through the daily paper, I noticed an article about the Mother Lode School of Ministry, which started the following day. Mike called and there was still room in the class for us. God called us to that school and we went and are still attending.
An opportunity for Disaster Relief training came in February. The training prepared me for Clean Up and Mud Out missions. With the fire storms in Southern California last year, I wanted to be prepared to help in the Central Sierras if a disaster should occur. Little did I know that this training would wind up taking me way halfway around the world.
On April 13th, I received an email from SCBC requesting volunteers for a rebuilding/construction project in Thailand! I didn’t have any skills or training in construction, but my husband Mike is an IBEW electrician and has had some experience in nearly every category of construction. However, Mike hadn’t taken the Disaster training course, so I assumed we wouldn’t be selected. Besides, we had decided to visit Israel in February and our savings had been set aside. I did send SCBC an email though to express our interest. Next I received an email from SBC specifically asking for welders. Mike had been a certified welder many years ago, so I responded, again emphasizing I didn’t have any skills in construction, nor funding for the trip. And I kept on praying. SCBC immediately invited us both to go. They were paying for the entire trip, complete with airfare. How could we say no? This was obviously something God wanted us to do and we weren’t about to ignore God’s prompting.
We departed from SFO on May 15th with our team. We were assigned to work on construction of a building on Koh Phayam, a remote island inhabited by Sea Gypsies named Mokens. A group of students from Chang Mai University joined us on the island, and worked construction and as interpreters. Mike and I and another couple worked as the Welding Team. We were the last team to finish up the rebuilding on Koh Phayam.
God showed us the beauty of the Moken tribe. Their lifestyle is unhurried, and the values of our American culture toward success and money didn’t seem to exist. The Mokens take life day by day and enjoy the things they have; a beautiful island, their families, and the abundant sources of food from the ocean and their gardens. God showed us, through the Mokens, the need to refocus on HIM, putting HIM first and enjoying all the gifts he gives us.
To summarize, we are:
Amazed: God using his team to minister to the Moken Tribe through His Word and through our actions.
Awed: we can’t imagine God using first timers like some of us to reach out to people.
Grateful: God made us see and experience His greatness & love for the Moken people, people who had been defined as “unreachable”. The catastrophic events of the Tsunami, although it took many lives, saved many others in their acceptance of Christ as their savior. Only God can do that!
Our lives have been so profoundly touched that we want to start new careers (yes, at our age!) as missionaries. The ability to show “Faith in Action” has had a far reaching impact on these people and this is a path we have chosen to continue.