Located in the rural village of Phrao, 100km North of Chiang Mai is The Little Candles Methodist School (LCMS). The school was started by missionaries Daniel and Sharon Loo in 2012 under the sponsorship of the Surin Foundation Australia and was transferred to the Methodist Missions Society of Singapore in December 2020.

Together with Ms Viranpatchara Kannit and Ta Jiraporn, the current principal and vice principal of the school, the vision of the founders was to give the children of Phrao the opportunity to hear the Word of God and to experience His great love. This vision has continued to be adopted by MMS to this day. The name Little Candles depicts the light of God’s love in the hearts of each child shining in the darkness to lead others to Christ. The school started as a humble nursery in 2010 operating from a rented shop-lot. In 2012 with the support of the Smart Kids Foundation, the School was extended to be a kindergarten

At the same time, a fellowship group led by Pastor Daniel and Pastor Pattama began to worship at the kindergarten premises. It grew and was registered in 2018 as Little Candles Methodist Church under the Methodist Church Association of Thailand (MCA). It has since become known as the “heartbeat” of LCMS with the church staff running the school’s Christian program and providing pastoral care. Because of a positive experience of the Christian faith while studying at LCMS, many ex-students have returned to church even many years after graduation to find healing and refreshment for their souls.

The journey to becoming a primary school began on the first graduation of kindergarten in March 2013 when the school had to say goodbye to its students. Tears flowed as the founders realized that the early years of raising the children in giving them a good and godly education had come to an end. The children had to move on to other primary schools since Little Candles was unable to provide them with primary-level education. Ten generations of graduating children would follow, and with every passing year the burden grew but this would be the last year that we would have to endure these farewells.

In 2016, Daniel and Sharon joined MMS and discussion began for the transfer of the school's land and buildings to MMS. In agreement, the MMS would extend the school to primary level education. Driving this vision was Ret. Col. Quek who oversaw the team that would formulate the proposal which would eventually be approved at the highest levels of the organisation.

A school board led by Prof Lionel Lee was appointed by MMS to oversee the ongoing management and transition of the school from kindergarten to primary school level. A building committee led by Lip Jin Ho was appointed by MMS to oversee drafting and construction. The groundbreaking ceremony took place on 10th Nov. 2021, and following that the start of construction.

Phase 1: The multipurpose hall was completed and opened for worship on December 25th 2022, followed by the P1-3 Building which was completed in March 2023 and received its license to commence operations in May 2023. Phase 2: P4-6 building, volleyball court, roadworks and car parking were completed in March 2024. The entire original budget (2021) was SGD 1.3M with a supplementary budget of SGD 50k requested in 2023.

A separate contractor was employed to complete the landscaping of the football field, flagpole and sidewalks at SGD 25k. Furnishings for the classrooms and Multipurpose Hall were provided by individual donors amounting to SGD 80k as of February 2024.

As a result of the expansion of the Little Candles Methodist School, the light of Christ shines ever more brightly in the darkness, touching every heart in the community of Phrao with the Word of God’s love.

The Little Candles Story