by Liz Hogarth

Missionaries and supporters who attend January’s CMS Summer School at Katoomba will get the chance to meet Marion Gabbott, 63 – wife of the rector of Christ Church, Bangkok, Stephen Gabbott – and hear about a ministry that extends from supporting refugees and reaching out to prisoners in a Bangkok jail, to convincing expatriates of the importance and relevance of the Bible.
The past six years have been eventful ones for the Gabbotts, who are due to end their stint in Bangkok in early 2004. “It’s been very hard, very tiring, very frustrating, but very exciting because it has given us a whole new lease of ministry life right at the end of our time as ministers,” says Stephen, 64, previously the minister at St John’s, Maroubra. “So as I think where I might be had I not gone to Bangkok, I think I would have just been a grumpy old man in Maroubra.”
The couple work closely with the Bishop of Singapore, John Chew, who will accompany Marion to Summer School. They are partly funded by CMS and partly by the church in Bangkok.
Christ Church serves around 350 English-speaking people, with 30 different nationalities represented. The only English-speaking Anglican congregation, it has a key role in reaching out to the estimated 500,000 expatriates who live in Bangkok.
Expatriates settle in Thailand for a variety of reasons, but what many do not bargain for is the danger. Stephen has buried at least four tourists who died within 24 hours of arriving in the city and has taken funeral services for about half a dozen murder victims.
The couple also find the transience of many of their parishioners a challenge. “People come and go, often staying only six months at a time,” says Marion. “You can’t do the sorts of things that you did in Australia because you don’t have people to establish stable groups or courses or meetings of any sort.”
Despite these obstacles the Gabbotts and their ministry partners Gerald and Dorothy Khoo, who work with the Thai-language congregation, have made some headway in making Christ Church synonymous with sound Bible teaching. “In many mainstream churches overseas there has been a gradual decline in interest in the Bible,” Stephen says. “Therefore, if you do have a Bible-centred ministry you have an opportunity to really surprise people about the importance and relevance of the Bible.”
The church also has a strong ministry to the displaced Karen people living as refugees in camps on the northwest border of Thailand. Christ Church supports Christians within the largest Karen refugee camp, Mae La, and assists its three Anglican churches, nursery schools and orphanage.
The Gabbotts are due to return to Australia next autumn. They are both ‘products of the Diocese of Sydney’ as they term it, and have served in parishes in Ryde, Kiama and Maroubra. However, a permanent return home to Sydney is unlikely. The Bishop of Singapore, who has responsibility for Anglican interests in Singapore, Thailand, Nepal, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam and Indonesia, has indicated that he would welcome the couple continuing to work within the structures of the Diocese.
“If our health remains good we are very open to another ministry position,” says Stephen. “And we hope to continue our association with CMS.”
It will prove hard to fill their shoes, but fortunately there are a number of men, all from Australia, interested in taking up the position at Christ Church so, perhaps, another ‘product of the Diocese’ will be leaving for Thailand fairly soon.