Asian Pacific Rim Theological Training Team

Thank you so much for your generosity to this team and the Thai people God calls us to train to share the gospel. Your prayers and sacrificial giving provide scholarships to church planting interns, enabling them to train with experienced church planters and work alongside them to begin and grow new churches.

Meet our new intern. Panii studies at the Baptist Seminary and serves with our Northern Thailand Team, continuing the work begun by last year’s intern doing outreach in a county without a church. Because of your gifts, she will serve through May 2025.

“Twenty years ago, I was living on a mountain with my four siblings far from the city, where most people, including my father, were addicted to drugs. My mother often went without food, so her five children could eat. When I was six, my father sent my sister and me to board at a school about 60 miles away.

“During the 18-hour walk home at the end of each semester, I struggled with questions of fairness. Why don’t we have a house or car or money life others? Why do some people have power while others do not? As I got older, these questions led to others about the meaning of life, and I began to think about life after death.

“While my parents practiced animism and later Catholicism, I was introduced to Jesus in the Christian dormitory where I lived. I was baptized but struggled to follow the Bible because I did not understand what it truly meant to follow Jesus. One day, after experiencing a great injustice, I told God I no longer wanted to live. Despite my despair, Jesus responded with images of my family members: ‘Are you sure you want to leave this world? Look at these people; they haven’t received salvation yet.’ I felt a deep sense of selfishness, realizing my family did not know Jesus.

“I realized that I had encountered God. I began sharing Christ with my parents and oldest sister. Eventually, I had the opportunity to share Jesus with my younger brother, who became a believer. I want others to experience God the same way I did, so they find salvation and hope.”

We count on your partnership in prayer:

• Praise the Lord, Panii continues the mentoring ministry begun by Deer, last year’s intern.
• Pray for clarity and wisdom for Panii as she disciples three new believers.
• Pray for boldness for Panii and other believers as they share the gospel with the lost.

Thank you for joining us in addressing the world’s greatest problem: lostness. Your gifts and prayers for our team enable us to train those throughout the Asian Pacific Rim to share the good news. You are a co-laborer with us in the gospel, and we value your partnership!

Thank you for sacrificially giving and faithfully interceding for Asia Pacific Rim peoples. Many church planters in this region work in remote villages with little or no financial support. Your gifts provide holistic ministry training, including education and assistance with planting sustainable vegetable gardens, developing pig farms, and training them in humanitarian projects to build relationships and share the gospel with unreached peoples.

God has done tremendous things in the last year through your generosity.

• Your gifts purchased and distributed 2000 mosquito traps in six villages, targeting mosquitoes carrying dengue fever and malaria and significantly impacting the health of residents. We presented the gospel while distributing the traps to local villagers.
• You provided five churches with blankets, jackets, and hats during the Christmas season.
• Your giving purchased and distributed 1000 backpacks with school supplies to children.
• You purchased supplies so our team could build two pig pens and five vegetable FAITH gardens for rural pastors. These improve their income, provide food for their families, and begin relationships with unreached peoples. Three of these now have house churches.
• Your gifts trained pastors and church members in harvest techniques and seed storage to maintain continuous crop growth in their gardens.
• You paid school tuition fees for a pastor’s daughter who has autism.*
• You donated 10 desks and chairs to a primary school here for autistic children.

The gospel is going to the unreached, and you are a vital partner in this work. Thank you so much for your gifts that enable us to serve the unreached people of Southeast Asia!

Please join us in prayer.

• Praise God for each of these opportunities and the ways God worked in them.
• In 2024, we plan to train 20 new church members in FAITH gardening skills and set up two gardens in a community. Pray these gardens are bridges to reach the lost and communicate Christ.
• We are working to help a school for autistic children purchase a computer system that trains kids with autism to better control their behavior through neural feedback. Pray this endeavor honors God and provides opportunities to share the gospel with faculty and parents.

We are immensely grateful for your generosity! Your prayers and gifts address the world’s greatest problem: lostness. Thank you for partnering with us in this ministry.

*All schools in this country charge tuition—public and private, from primary through secondary.

Thank you so much for your generosity to this ministry and the Southeast Asian church leaders God calls us to equip and train. Your prayers and sacrificial giving take theological training to those who need it most, sharpening their leadership skills and deepening their understanding of God’s Word. Equipping these local leaders enables them to shepherd their congregations more effectively, fulfilling the mission to establish healthy, biblical churches across this region.

Akha Graduates Ready to Reach Serve. Praise God for the 27 Diploma of Pastoral Ministry and Diploma of Church Leadership graduates from the Akha people group of Northern Thailand. The Akha people have been studying the 10 diploma program courses since before COVID. They were faithful online students during the pandemic, and the Lord has blessed their diligence and perseverance. Join us in praying for new graduates as they work for the kingdom of God.

Wa Graduation Coming Soon. We are excited to announce that students from the Wa people of Northern Thailand will complete the Diploma program shortly, and graduation will be in November 2023. These students also plan to translate the diploma curriculum into the Wa language, so additional students can begin studying soon.

Join Us in Prayer:

• Pray for the Akha graduates to be faithful in using the course materials to train the next generation of church leaders.
• Please pray for these Akha graduates as they plant churches and pastor them according to the Word of God.
• Pray for the 15 Wa students to persevere through the completion of their courses.
• Pray for the Lord to identify four Wa students we can train as teachers for the next generation of students among the Wa people.
• Ask the Lord to call at least two Wa students to become church planters.
• Please pray for the students to complete the Wa translation promptly.

Thank you for your generosity and prayers. Your sacrificial gifts and intercession are truly transforming lives as we partner together to solve the world’s greatest problem, lostness.

Thank you so much for your generosity to this ministry and the Thai people God calls us to train to share the gospel. Your prayers and sacrificial giving provide scholarships to church planting interns, enabling them to train with experienced church planters and work side-by-side with them to start and grow new church plants.

Meet Your Thailand Church Planting Intern. Deer is a seminary student at the Baptist Seminary, currently serving with our Northern Thailand Team. She is working in a province with a local church to develop their children’s ministry and leading the church to outreach to a nearby county without a church. Because of your gifts, she will serve with our team until May 2024.

Deer’s Testimony. I was not born into a Christian family, and many of my family still do not know Christ. My family life was filled with many family conflicts and lacked any compassion. I grew up amid family troubles and difficulties. My grandparents, who lived with us, do not believe in Christ but worship spirits and became upset when I went to church. My dad was never interested in his family, addicted and drunk most of the time. These family conflicts led me to question whether life was worth living. When I could no longer tolerate my family situation, I became a very rebellious child.

As a young teen, I went to live in a Christian dormitory and began hearing the Bible every morning and evening. I enjoyed learning about God but was afraid to talk to my friends or family and often stayed in my room. Thankfully, the other kids and staff at the dormitory encouraged me and taught me how to pray. I had so much peace as I began to learn more about the Lord and read the Bible.

During school breaks, I went home to help my mother with work. A pastor came to our house in the evening and shared with us. He encouraged us from Joshua 1:9: “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” I cried and felt as if someone was holding me. I saw and experienced the love of Christ because of this pastor’s encouragement, and on that day, I decided to believe in God and be baptized.

My life changed when I became a believer. Because of Jesus Christ, I have become a child of God who always smiles. I have peace and am no longer angry or a bully to others. Soon, I began attending church and became a worship leader, servant, and leader in the dormitory.

More importantly, God transformed my family from one without care or compassion to one full of love. The gospel changed my dad, and he is no longer an addict. He now serves the church as a counselor, advisor, and mentor. These are things that God did in my life. I no longer view my life as worthless, but I see blessings from God throughout my life.

Matthew 9:37-38 is my theme verse: “Then he said to his disciples, ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.’”

Join Us in Prayer:

• Pray for boldness for Deer when sharing the gospel in the county where there is no church and only one known believer.
• Pray for faithfulness in working and sharing the gospel with the children in and near the church.
• Pray for Deer’s mentor to have wisdom and discernment in coaching and training her.

Thank you for your generosity and prayers. Your sacrificial gifts and intercession are truly transforming lives as we partner together to solve the world’s greatest problem, lostness.