News & stories Mission intern learns new lessons in servanthood DET UDOM, Thailand – When Cheryl Derksen returned to Thailand for a year-long mission internship in early 2004, she knew she’d be taking a deeper step into the lives of the Thai people. And that’s what she wanted. Her appetite for service had been whetted during a five- month YES team outreach there the previous year. This time she dug more seriously into Thai language study. She worked with the EMM team to set up an accounting system for the church’s micro-economic development program, and she even got her feet muddy planting rice. The 12 house churches that have grown out of EMM’s work in northeast Thailand are composed primarily of the rural rice farming Isaan people. In a moving testimony Derksen shared with the EMM board February 4, she said, “I thought I was coming to bless and serve the Thai people. But I never expected to be so blessed myself.” She explained that in 2003 when their YES team left, one of her team members felt strongly that God was asking them to wash the feet of the Isaan church leaders – literally. ȁNow if you know anything about Thai culture,” Derksen said, “you know how inappropriate and unclean feet are considered to be. For us to even suggest something like foot washing seemed foolish and culturally insensitive. We told our Thai pastor what we were sensing, and he shared this with the leadership council during one of their meetings. After his explanation, we started to wash the council members’ feet, but it was extremely awkward. These leaders are rice farmers. They hadn’t washed their feet before coming – like we’d have done to prepare for a foot washing service. And they walk dusty roads every day. 𠇋ut as we started to wash their dirty calloused feet, they started to cry. This was surprising because Thai people rarely cry. Some of them had to leave the room to gain control. And we started to cry. It was a powerful experience. We knew we had heard and obeyed God.” Two years later, when Derksen had completed her mission internship, she wanted a quiet goodbye. After the typical Isaan string tying ceremony – symbolizing the way in which friends are tied to one another in love and friendship – she was shocked to see someone bring in a chair and a tub of water. Derksen said, “I wanted to protest, but I sensed the Lord telling me, ‘Sit down and let them bless you.’ The pastor explained the biblical story about foot washing to this group, which had not been present when the YES team washed the council members’ feet. Six people, representing different aspects of church life, came and lovingly washed my feet. It was powerful and moving to feel them touching my feet. They were crossing enormous cultural barriers to serve and bless me. And I will never be the same.” Derksen is from Winkler, Manitoba, and a member of the Winkler Bergthaler Mennonite Church. Since returning from Thailand she is serving as an administrative assistant at the Harrisburg (Pa.) Discipleship Center in Pennsylvania. For information on mission internships through EMM, contact Dave Harnish at daveh@emm.org. – Jewel Showalter