July 2022 Update
God is at work in the world. For every negative headline in the news, there are 100 lives being transformed somewhere around the globe. Yes, there is cultural and ecclesiastical rot from decades of liberal theology and postmodern philosophy in our churches and universities, and that cultural rot has shown its face in many ugly ways over the last few years. However, if you would join me in “lifting up the hood” and looking at what God is doing in the lives of millions of individuals in the midst of the chaos, you would see that He really does know what he is doing in the world. One of the places that God is most definitely at work in the world is here in Thailand. We have had the privilege of serving in this country for 6 years now. I saw a picture recently of one of the first summers I ever spent here. My first time stepping foot in the kingdom of Siam was when I was only 19 years old. It is amazing to me to think about the fact that when I went to visit both the Mae Fah Luang and Rajhapat Chiang Rai campuses, I was the same age as the students there. It’s also amazing to think about the fact that almost all of my adult memories have been in this country.
What is even more amazing, though, is the ways we have seen God move among the Thai people since we’ve been here. When I first moved here, I was bombarded with hopeless statistics about how slow the rate of gospel movement and church planting was among Thai people. However, those statistics never seemed to actually line up with my own experience. In fact, the longer we have been here, the faster the church seems to grow. Now, I hear stories of conversions on a monthly basis. I talk to Thai people “on the streets” who are not Christians, but who are not necessarily hostile to the gospel, even if they have not believed it yet. I see a country that is currently in a wave of awakening, even if that awakening is not at the speed we might hope for.
My experience here, as well as my own theological optimism, leads me to believe that God is currently expanding the kingdom of God in this region of the world faster than it has ever grown since the gospel was first proclaimed 2,000 years ago. Read that again. The gospel is moving faster throughout Thailand and Southeast Asia today than at any other time in human history. We are literally watching history be made here. We saw two examples of this “history making” happen just this last month. Many of you know that we partner with and support two Thai missionaries in the city of Khon Kaen. Khon Kaen is the capital city of the Isan region of Thailand and has a large university with about 50,000 students. Last week, our friends hosted a “Korean Night” with some Korean missionaries, and shared the gospel with the students who came. That night FOUR Thai students communicated that they had believed the gospel and had asked God to save them.
Only a few days later, our church here in Chiang Rai, the northernmost province of Thailand on the border of Laos and Myanmar, hosted a youth camp. During one of the nights of that camp, SIX students responded to an invitation to place their faith in Christ.
We are hearing more stories of conversions lately than we ever have in the past. Could it be that the walls of defense are finally starting to break as the gospel moves throughout Thailand. Speaking from my 7 years of experience in this country, I would say that is exactly my feeling. We praise God for the testimonies that are coming now, and look forward to hearing of thousands and tens of thousands more in the coming years.
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