What is God Doing in Thailand?

Thailand         

Population: 63 million

Capital:   Bangkok

People Groups:  101

Main Religion: Buddhism 93%

All Christians:  1.6%

"In May 2004, the first ever missionary strategy congress took place in Thailand," writes Steve Spaulding, Asia Coordinator for the Dawn Movement. The official result was a commitment by all Christians to plant a new church in each of the nation's approximately 800 districts by 2010, with a “Christian presence” in each of the 8,000 sub-districts and a “Christian witness” in each of the 80,000 villages. This “new national plan” unites Thailand's three different Protestant streams under the Thailand Evangelism Commission (TEC): the Evangelical Fellowship of Thailand, the Church of Christ of Thailand (CCT) and the Baptists Association. The congress, with the motto "Get together, go together, gain together" also marked the 175th anniversary of Christianity in Thailand. Missions and churches needed almost two centuries to plant the first 4,000 Christian churches in the nation, which now has a population of 63 million. Regional church planting projects have been developed in some Provinces, in which churches in the region cooperate to plant targeted new churches, with very encouraging results.   Steve Spaulding, DAWN, August 2004

A young man named Serksawan first received an EHC gospel booklet as a child, more than ten years ago. “I learned about Every Home for Christ a long time ago when I was in first grade,” Serksawan explained in a letter. “I read the literature that was given to our family and loved it! I wanted to ask for more literature, but my parents refused to allow it. Years have gone by and I am in 12th grade now and live with my mother. My father passed away from cancer. Shortly after his death I went through a time of searching and questioning. I began to notice the order of the universe and wondered how it came about. One day the thought came into my mind that there has to be a Creator and Lawgiver for all of this. I realize now that God was at work, drawing me to Himself. My mother was still opposed, but she saw I was determined to find the Truth. I have since become a Christian. My mother is still not a believer and I have many relatives here and none of them know the Lord. So I’m asking for some of your literature. My relatives like to read and I know that they will read anything you can send me.”   E-vangelism Update, July 2004

In a special ceremony, a Thai couple filled a bottle with rice, hair and nails and then prayed to evil spirits to protect their son as he grew up. The opposite happened: the child became chronically ill, suffering from epilepsy. Raewat, a Thai missionary, was on a long tour through the jungle and rice paddies with two assistants when they arrived in the village. They knew that they were the first Christians to ever visit the village, because the villagers were completely speechless as Raewat preached there. The villagers' life was full of evil spirits who had to be placated with endless rituals. They had never heard of a God who loved people. The missionaries also met the epileptic boy's parents. As they prayed for him, God acted immediately and healed the boy. When they saw what had happened, the parents destroyed the magic bottle and burned its contents, followed by other people from the whole village, who burned their amulets and other instruments which they had used for Buddhist and Animist worship. "Most of the villagers confessed their sins and decided to become Christians," according to the report.  Gospel for Asia, May 1995

Sunthon Rawang, a missionary from Buriram Province near the border between Thailand and Cambodia, reports how a demon-possessed girl showed her village the way to Christ. The people in the area, he says, are animist spiritists. One demon was particularly feared, because anyone who joked about it became ill. The missionary fasted and prayed before entering the village with his team to evangelise. As he stood in front of the people, preaching, the demon spoke through a girl, saying that it was very displeased that Christians had come into the area, and that they should be forbidden to preach in the village. Before anyone could do anything to stop the missionary, he commanded the demon to leave the girl. "Everyone stood there with their knees knocking," says Rawang, "but others from the village soon came and asked us to pray for them too, which we did. Within one month, nine churches were planted in the district."   The Sowers Ministry, August 1997