Report from BHW Thailand Partnership Facilitator Following Visit in June

Key Person: John and Nok

On this occasion I met both John and Nok at the Pathum Thani Church in the north of Bangkok. We talked for the morning then had lunch nearby. They are doing very well and are happy to be splitting their time between Bangkok and their new main living area in Suphan Buri, about 100km (1.5 hours) north west of the capital.

Recent Events

Activities

The most obvious change in John and Nok’s circumstances is that they moved from living at their Bangkok church to a village in Suphan Buri, about 100km north of Bangkok, last October. They have been visiting the community for the last three to four years and spending an increasing amount of time there, so it made sense to move there more permanently.

They have rented a house there (quite cheaply as it was believed to be affected by spirits) and are still involved in pastoring the Pathum Thani Church in Bangkok where they visit regularly to teach.

They plan to remain in Suphan Buri for another two years before moving on to whatever and wherever God has planned for them. 

Suphan Buri

John and Nok both said that they find the area interesting and different from other places they have worked in Thailand. Despite it being a strongly Buddhist region they had received great testimony from the area with miracles and wonders accompanying their church planters.

Nok initially had reservations about physically moving there, wanting to wait until their daughter Nana had finished her university studies, until Nana told her that she would be fine and that they should go now. John and Nok moved to the area with the intention of deepening the relationships that they had already formed and with the vision of the entire village coming to know Christ.

There are about 150 families who live in the village and while there was initially a preponderance of elderly people there is now a wide mix of youth as well as men and women. John has started a men’s group and serves as an example to the men of the village. They also have plans to start a young people’s group, which they think is especially important for the young men.

Both have been training local leaders and spending time discipling them. They have clearly expressed the goal of leaving in two years so that everyone can plan for this.

There are 10 couples in the village who are available to visit families and thus far 119 families have heard about Jesus.

Food is regularly donated by the Pathum Thani church members to provide for meals at community meetings as well as for the poor and sick in the village.

They have also been leading an outreach into a local prison where they and church members prepared food and spoke to 2,400 prisoners. This was well received and they hope to be able to extend this when finances allow.

John and Nok have also been invited to help train church planters to work in a neighbouring country. In practice this means arranging a venue somewhere close inside the Thai border as it is imprudent to do this kind of training in that country. At the moment they have sent four experienced church planters to assist a local pastor and to help build local support.   

Family

On a more personal note, their daughter Nana plans to work in media and has one year remaining in her degree. She is currently doing a summer internship in television and has been working with a missionary to make a video production as well.

Personal Stories

A local woman’s father died and she didn’t want to have the usual community funeral with numerous monks and various blessings. As the family is Christian, she invited John to speak instead. He attended, sang songs and preached about everlasting life. The emphasis was that Christianity is not a ‘foreign religion’, and the event allowed people to see “that the Spirit of God is here, among us and they can see that it is different”. The event showed Christianity in a Thai cultural context and that it is possible to do a new thing, that people can worship in their homes, that ordinary people “can touch God, can know God”. 

A local farmer in the village who became a Christian was raising ducks, of which approximately 40% would die. After hearing the Passover story he prayed over this farm and instead of thousands, only a few of the ducks died. He made a red flag which he planted at the front of his farm to show that he was protected by the blood of Christ.

A neighbour asked Nok why she didn’t make offerings to the spirit of the land on which their house was built (nearly all Thai houses have a ‘spirit house’ built on the property where offerings are made to that spirit in the belief that it will help to stop it from causing trouble). In light of Nok’s reply that she worshipped the highest God and that no disaster has befallen them, the local opinion is that they “must have a very strong god”. 

Partnership's Influence within the Community

Clearly John and Nok are very engaged in their communities, now more than ever. They are maintaining their relationship with their home church who continue to support them and their work as they are able, and are growing new and deeper relationships in their new home community as well.

They have been instrumental in reconciling some disparate sections of the community through their example and good leadership.

Current Issues and Challenges

Aside from the usual challenges of evangelism in a strongly Buddhist nation, John and Nok also face continuing criticism from some sections of the Christian community for their work in contextualising the gospel.

They have adjusted very well to life in the village and their willingness to meet people where they are seems to have reduced a lot of the issues that could have come from the move.

Plans for the Future

John and Nok are continuing their input and involvement in church planting and focusing their immediate personal efforts on the community in which they are currently living with visits back to Bangkok for preaching.

Prayer and Praise Points

Praise

1) God always keeps his promises. The wonders that have been demonstrated have led to people seeing and believing
2) John and Nok have been supported in many ways, from the Pratum Thani church providing supplies to people coming to help with activities
3) John has been in good health and while he takes medicine daily he only needs to visit the doctor every four months

Prayer

1) To see Thai former Buddhists able to pass on the Gospel in their own culture
2) For people in the village to have wisdom and God’s leading in the way that they manage problems and issues so that they can be an example to others
3) For people in the Church to be able to work together with a common purpose and to have a Kingdom view

Comments

It is great to see how well John and Nok have made the transition from Bangkok to Suphan Buri and to hear of their engagement in so many areas of their new community.

Aside from what they are achieving for the Kingdom they are also a huge blessing to the village in which they are currently living, and I am impressed with how they have brought their church in Pratum Thani along on the journey.

I recommend that the current budget be continued.