Missions, Outreach

New Vineyard Methodist School block dedication

A new school building housing additional classrooms and a multipurpose hall located within the Vineyard Methodist School (VMS), Thailand, was dedicated by our Bishop Dr Chong Chin Chung on 13 March 2017.

Present at the dedication were members of the VMS Board and representatives from the Methodist Missions Society (MMS).

It was a wonderful atmosphere of celebration as students, staff, and supporters alike joined in the dedication service. At the entrance to the new school auditorium, a memorial plaque dedicated to the late Rev Dr Clarence Lim, the pioneer Executive Director of MMS, was erected.

Mr Suchad Chiaranussati, Chairman of the Muangthai Mettakij Foundation (MMF), was at the event to welcome the guests from Thailand and Singapore as well as the children and their parents.

Also present that morning was Mr Preecha Chuechart, Director of the Ministry of Education, Chiangmai School District Two. He congratulated the school and staff for achieving quality results in the 2015/16 O-Net examination, where VMS scored higher than the national average in all subjects.

Mrs Mayuri Yoktree who chairs Evaluation and Development (Province of Chiangmai) said: “The school has an excellent academic standard and an efficient pedagogical method that places emphasis on clarity. This makes VMS a leading learning institution. Parents who send their children to VMS can be assured that their children will not only receive a quality education, but more importantly, be nurtured into individuals of integrity and good character.”

This view was similarly echoed by Mrs Pannee Sahasawien, President of the Association of Private Schools, and the Rev Dr Buakab Ronghanan, President of the Evangelical Fellowship of Thailand, Northern Thailand.

Highlights of the service included the rousing performances put up by the younger children who showcased their musical skills (pic below), while the older ones performed a traditional Thai dance. An interesting feature was that local craftsmen were also invited to display and sell their wares during the event (second pic on right).

Dr Lionel Lee, Chairperson of the VMS School Board, summed it up nicely when he said: “The education of our children is a God-given mandate and a privilege of VMS. The Bible said, bring up a child in the way he ought to walk, when he is old he will not depart from it.”

It is thus a sacred duty and privilege of VMS Principal Mrs Sungwan Yeo and her team, to play a significant part in the lives of the children entrusted to them at VMS. To date, VMS has a total enrolment of 445 children.

May God continue to guide them in their work.

The Rev Dianna Khoo –

is Area Director for Vietnam, Cambodia, and Thailand with the Methodist Missions Society. She is an Elder attached to Barker Road Methodist Church and Mission Superintendent for Thailand.

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