Dear family and friends,
The past four months felt like a year.
- Hosted 11 Singaporeans across six trips to Chiang Mai.
- Ran workshops at a local worship conference.
- Returned to Singapore to be commissioned as missionaries and attend church camp.
- Put down the deposit on a piece of land for recreō after five weeks of non-stop meetings.
- Multiple meetings with the NYMC pastors, SKMC missions people, and MMS regional director to explore a
- potential partnership between both churches.
- Attended and served at NYMC’s retreat.
- Visited and prayed over 26 households at an Akha mountain village in Chiang Rai, while exploring potential local activities for recreō.
- Joined a 3d2n sensory workshop with a potential programs partner in Chiang Dao.
- Continuing to serve in the worship team and attend Thai language lessons at the same time.
Wow! What a mouthful that was.
Through it all, one of the greatest gifts that we’ve received and enjoyed is our community both in Singapore and in Thailand. Perhaps it is because we now have the privilege of having two communities, or maybe it is because we moved between places and people, or perhaps it is because we’ve just been through two camps/retreats—whatever it is, the goodness and beauty of the familial ties we share with one another in Christ have been at the forefront of our minds and hearts.
”Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity!
It is like the precious oil on the head, running down on the beard, on the beard of Aaron, running down on the collar of his robes!
It is like the dew of Hermon, which falls on the mountains of Zion!
For there the Lord has commanded the blessing, life forevermore.
—Psalm 133
Serving with our Brothers from SKMC
In April 2026, two of our close friends, Ps Nat and Kai, came to spend time with us and served together for close to two weeks.
One of the key events we all participated in was the People of Praise (POP) worship conference held over three days. Ps Nat preached and Kai taught a few sessions on band dynamics and worship leading, whereas both of us helped with translation, supporting the sessions, and led our worship team from NYMC to participate in a battle of bands on the final night.
It was the first time that the worship team at NYMC came together to practise more intentionally and improve their skills. While we placed last overall, we were encouraged by the team’s efforts in nailing down certain parts or learning the harmony. We pray that the experience will only be the beginning of a pursuit towards worship excellence.
Wth the help of Kai, we also managed to gather our worship team to share experiences and learnings from the conference. Ps Nat also preached during the Sunday Service at NYMC. We thank God for their heart for the church here and their willingness and eagerness to support the ministry.
Through their sharing in the ministry here, we caught a tangible glimpse of how we are co-labourers in the Gospel of Christ here in the field.
Reuniting with our Community in Singapore
In May 2026, we went back to Singapore for our commissioning service as missionaries and to join our home church (SKMC) camp held in Batam, Indonesia.
While in Singapore, we also had the opportunity to catch up with family and friends, participate in the filming of a video for the Methodist Missions Society (MMS), host one of our Thai friends (who also joined our church camp), attend Jan’s cousin’s wedding, and clear our house a final time.
We’ll let the photos do the sharing! (Slide to view more)
Amidst the hectic schedule, we found comfort simply in being with and around the people we’ve missed so much. The familiarity of relationships that have been nurtured over the years, especially through our growing years, is difficult to replace in a new and cross-cultural setting. We really treasure being able to laugh over little things without having to explain much and empathise with one another’s struggles because of our shared context.
Progress on the Land Purchase for recreō
Not long after we returned to Chiang Mai, the pastors we are partnering with called us with good news: a piece of land that they had been eyeing for recreō and the new church plant was available at a very competitive rate!
So began five weeks of various meetings with the landowner, local government officials, and other long-time supporters of the Methodist work in Chiang Mai. It was during this period that our role as peacemakers really sunk in. We are thankful that at the end of the day, God did His work in our hearts and minds, and everyone felt at peace that, if this is God’s will, it will be accomplished in His perfect timing.
We managed to secure this piece of land at 10 million THB, which is 5 million THB less than the neighboring plot we were considering previously. The deposit to secure it was 5% (500,000 THB), and we have one year to pay off the remaining amount. We are now working to raise the funds for this, as well as the building and operations costs going forward (more details on how you can be a part of this at the end of this post).
Updates on NYMC: Ministry Planning, Worship Team, and Annual Retreat
At the same time, we continued to work closely with the pastors at NYMC in their ministry plans for the year ahead (and beyond). Over several conversations, we understood their long-term vision for the church and community better, and are currently working with them to align their financial and ministry goals with this vision for the next five years.
We have also begun a cell group with the worship team. We realised that, while many of them were competent in their respective roles in a church service, they didn’t fully understand the idea of worship as a broader part of their lives. There were also few opportunities outside of the regular church events for them to share deeply about their spiritual lives. We pray that this cell group will become a platform for them to do so, and grow deeper in their walk with God alongside each other.
At the end of July, we also joined NYMC’s annual retreat, which they hadn’t been able to organise since before Covid happened. It was a joyous time of fellowship and fun together! We were also happy to have a couple of Singaporean tentmakers from Chiang Rai, as well as someone from SKMC (more on him later), join us for this retreat.
The participants also attended a workshop exploring their spiritual giftings, which was extremely insightful. Our prayer is that more members will step up to serve in church according to the gifts and talents that God has entrusted to them.
Exploring Potential Program and Venue Partners for recreō
In the midst of all of the above, we’re particularly grateful that we still had the capacity to continue working on recreō, which is our primary work here in Chiang Mai.
recreō contemplative hike
At the end of July, we had the opportunity to host multiple guests from Singapore, who were more than happy to help us test out a contemplative hike activity that we’ve been planning for a while. And we’re glad that the overall feedback for this activity was very positive 🙂 We will share more details about this in the near future, but in the meantime, here is a quick reflection from one of the participants:
“What I found really helpful were the several “pit stops” every now and then to contemplate and look around our surroundings. Each guiding question helped to orientate and realign my wandering mind to focus on God and open my ears ever so slightly to His still small voice […] everything came falling into place the moment we got to the waterfall.”
In August and September, we visited two places that we’re exploring as potential venues to run recreō’s retreats: Chiang Rai and Chiang Dao.
recreō in Chiang Rai
For context: we recently brought on board a potential partner who will be developing retreat programs with us, and will likely become our Programs Lead. Jasmine is a local Thai whose home village is in the mountainous regions of Chiang Rai, and currently works with an organisation doing frontline humanitarian work.
More importantly, she is a long-time friend of ours who we met at a church in Chiang Mai eight years ago, and who continues to dedicate her life to growing the Christian community in a new church plant.
So in August, we took a trip to her village to get to know the locals and how we might be able to partner with them in developing programs for recreō while empowering the community. We ended up visiting and praying over all 26 homes in the village, which was very special. We also brought back some ideas with us, and are now in the midst of developing them together with Jasmine.
recreō in Chiang Dao
In September, we spent three days and two nights in Chiang Dao participating in a sensory workshop run by a potential program partner. It was a very intriguing experience, and we learned a lot about the natural resources that we could gather, use, and make into various organic products.
More importantly, the process taught us an important lesson about patience and slow work. We’ll reveal more details about this workshop in the near future, but suffice to say we definitely enjoyed it and are keen to bring it to recreō participants soon!
Hosting, Language Lessons, and Relationships
September marks the 10th month since we moved to Chiang Mai. One of the biggest lessons we’ve learned is that, as missionaries, we are called to bridge the gaps that are present wherever we are. We aspire to be the “peacemakers” that Jesus mentioned in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:9), introducing and maintaining harmony between cultures, languages, ideas, and so on.
Hosting
Part of this includes hosting people from Singapore (and other countries) and giving them a glimpse of what missions and ministry look like in Thailand. Some nuances are hard to grasp simply by dropping into a country as a tourist, and so whenever we have guests, we bring them to our local gatherings and organise meals with our friends.
In August, a young adult from SKMC (his name is ZK) spent a month living with and following us around. He got to participate in a variety of ministries that we’re a part of, such as sharing in the worship team cell, giving a short encouragement on Mother’s Day during church service, and joining us on our trip to Chiang Rai. He also had the opportunity to follow an OMF missionary in her ministry in the mountains up north for a few days.
Here’s a short reflection from him (we’ll be sharing other bits of it on our Instagram—@jayndeee):
“Now that I’m back home reflecting on the month I spent in Chiang Mai, I’m grateful to God for revealing Himself to me in multiple ways and giving me peace and clarity in my next steps. As I first went with lots of doubts and fears running around my mind not knowing what is to come next, I thank God for bringing peace and assurances throughout the month and I’m confident in saying that I can definitely handle the uncertainties much better as I learn to surrender my life to His sovereign will.”
Language learning
Throughout this period, we’ve continued our weekly language lessons, only taking a short break when we were in Singapore. While the lessons have been enjoyable, because of the sheer volume of ministry and recreō work we have, it has honestly been very challenging to revise and do homework in between classes.
As time went by, I (Daniel) have felt increasingly more fatigued going into classes, to the extent that our teacher typically opens each lesson by asking me how tired I’m feeling (in Thai, of course). It is not the best state to be learning a new language in, but I thank God that he has sustained us so far. But if I were to start over, I would definitely set aside the first year exclusively for language learning, as it is by far the most important step in assimilating into the local culture.
Relationships
The importance of building relationships in Thai culture continues to weigh on our minds and hearts.
In Singapore, we are used to using reasoning or profit (in every sense of the word) to convince people of the necessity of doing something.
In Thai culture, however, this doesn’t always work out. According to our friends, Thais value autonomy and being able to do whatever their heart tells them to do, when they want to do it.
This means that our typical approach to ministry might not work quite as well here. The way to discipleship is through relationships—connecting heart-to-heart. And the way to building relationships? That takes lots of time and effort, which is not what efficiency-driven Singaporeans like ourselves want to hear.
So we’ve committed to the slow, unproductive work of building relationships, both in ministry and the workplace.
Last month, we brought the worship team out to have a meal together (shabu, the local favorite). We spend time sitting with church members after service to simply talk about life. We teach them musical instruments one-to-one, literally standing beside them as they play during a church service.
It is slow. It can get tiring. But as we sow seeds and water them, we believe God will make the growth happen in their lives.
Next Steps for recreō
Last month, we launched recreō’s website: https://recreoretreats.com/
We also started telling the story of recreō on Instagram:
The next big leap of faith for us is to raise funds to build recreō. And we are looking for like-minded people who want to care for the world’s soul to join us.
We’re building a movement of renewal through programs, places, and communities that help people rediscover how to live deeply connected to God.
We begin with programs. In 2027, we will launch our signature and bespoke retreat programs while laying the foundations for a permanent retreat space in Chiang Mai, Thailand.
Along the way, we will build a community of people who believe that meaningful renewal is possible—and necessary—in the midst of our hurried and distracted world.
Would you join us in this mission?
Through your generous support, you can help create a space—and a movement—that invites people to slow down, reconnect with God, and carry that renewal back into their everyday lives.
In total, we are looking to raise $850,000 SGD for:
- purchasing the land,
- designing and constructing the buildings, and
- operating costs for the first two years.
Thus far, we’re thankful to have $150,000 SGD committed, which brings us ~18% towards our goal.
Here are three ways you can partner with us:
Thanks Again for Joining Us on This Journey
I’m not sure that we say this enough, but we’re so thankful for each and every one of you who read this newsletter, pray for us, and morally and financially support us. The thought that you, our brother/sister-in-Christ, is thinking of us and cheering us on is what keeps us going each day.
So instead of our usual conclusion, we’d like to ask you: how can we pray for you?
Drop us a text 🙂
Partners in Christ,
แดน & แจน
Dan & Jan
