logo3
Registered as a Not for Profit Charity 837299262RR0001 with Canada Revenue Agency
. . . . empowering Thai Pastors and Thai Churches!
May2018_html_m760261b2
NEWSLETTER - SUMMER 2019
In Matthew 9:37-38 Jesus says that, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.” At Vision Thailand, it gives us great pleasure to join with each one of you, our prayer and financial partners and agree wholeheartedly with Jesus' words. We would also like to add that as the Lord provides His resources, human and financial, the hearts and minds of the Thai people are open and searching for the truth of their existence. We believe that the plan of salvation through Jesus Christ is the truth, and are working hard to share it. From October 2018 to May 2019, we had the privilege of baptizing 88 new believers into the kingdom of God. As resources permit, we see a great potential for many more transformed lives, and working on a vision to establish 100 churches in the next seven years. We are already well over half in about ten years of our existence as a mission.
This past year has seen its challenges and growth in the life of our ministries. The task is great and the Church in Thailand is small - less than 2% are Christians. And yet, because of your faithfulness, we were able to accomplish our goal of starting nine new Church Plants this fiscal year and plans are under way for more. See below for details of the churches. Our goal is actually ten church plants, but we have time.
A NEW MISSION CENTER!
We are also grateful to the Lord for providing us with a new Mission Center in Bangkok that's being renovated with a plan for a November 2019 dedication service. The Center will house the offices for Vision Thailand, a church, Church Planting School and Leadership Development, dorms for the students and even a couple of rooms for visiting missions personnel.
We are looking forward to moving this Fall!
New Mission Center

Below, we try to provide a vignette or two of a vibrant and growing mission in Thailand.

pic2
pic3
Woven in Love Church (above)
Woven in Love Church in Lopburi province is led by the Pastoral couple Boonruean and Sudarat Imthong. God has truly blessed this couple with servant hearts and a vision to reach their community for Christ. Pastor Boonruean is a skilled farmer and teaches farming techniques to others as well, which brings many to the church.
This church started with a few believers in their home. Still is. Gradually, people in the community heard of this church group and the name of Jesus for the first time in their lives. The Holy Spirit is convicting them and a number of them (15 these past ten months) have accepted Jesus as their personal Saviour through baptism. As mentioned, the place of worship is their rented home for now, but they won't be able to meet there much longer. Their goal is to buy some land to build a church to support the growing church.



pic4
Pastor Satien & Saarah Rortkaew (above)
Satien is 77 years old, and he is a church planter. He started his new church planting mission when he was 75 years old. In the two plus years, God has already prepared a businessman to donate a piece of land to build a place of worship, and raised up a host of others to provide the funds needed to build it. In the short time, he reached many in the community around the church, including two families across the street, one a Shaman (witch doctor) and baptised them in the name of Jesus. Satien, all of 4.9, a Jockey in his earlier life, says that he wasted his life away in questionable pursuits, and has much catching up to do with God, and has asked God for another 40 years to share the gospel of Jesus Christ. He gives a knowing smile as he says that. For more encouraging testimonies, please visit visionthailand.org.

Vision Thailand is Growing!
Last year, our Board prayerfully planned and asked God for ten new church plants. We are well on our way to accomplish that goal with nine already up and running. We are in the midst of accomplishing the joint ministry goal of ten with Vision Thailand Canada leadership by the end of this year - Lord willing!

Churches planted in 2019:
1. Woven in Love Church - Buachum Pastor Boonruen Imthong, Lopburi Province
2. Vision Thailand Ratchaburi Believers Group - Mr.Sayun Ngarmsud, Kanchanaburi Province
3. House of Peace Church - Mrs.Natcha Petnork, Kanchanaburi Province
4. Sun ton due Believers Group - Mrs.Sutharos Pawnchompu, Chiangmai Province
5.Pong hang Village Believers Group - Mr.Kittisak Pawnchompu, Chiangmai Province
6. Sub takian Village Believers Group - Pastor Boonruen Imthong, Lopburi Province
7. Thap Khlo Evangelism Center - Pastor Paitoon Seniwong Na, Pichit Province
8. Gethsemane Pang nga Believers Group - Pastor Weeranuch Sae, Pang Nga Province
9. Gethsemane Koh Kaew Believers Group - Pastor Weeranuch Sae, Phuket Province

Vision Thailand Ministries Priorities

We continue to work within our four priorities:
  • CHURCH PLANTING
  • TRAINING AND LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT
  • EVANGELISM AND OUTREACH
  • CHRISTIAN COMPASSION MINISTRIES.
As all of the Vision Thailand Board members are either pastors or leaders in our churches or lay people with secular jobs, we are kept busy visiting our mostly young churches and their pastoral leadership to pray with, support and encourage them. We have over 50 church groups in several provinces from North to South and East to West. Fellowship and face time is very much valued and appreciated in Thai culture over a meal. Of course, there are many phone and Skype calls all the time. Five of our Board members also double as Bible Teachers in our Church Planting School with two Centers and 21 students presently (Bangkok and Chiang Mai). Of course, monthly reporting to our Canadian Board of ministry progress and financial accounting takes some of our time as well.
Church work is not easy in our predominantly Buddhist culture. As the church is gaining momentum, we are seeing greater resistance and push-back from certain sectors of our religious and secular authorities, but this is not our work. The church belongs to Jesus and he promised us that "the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it." So, we march forward in prayer, in humility, in partnership with like-minded mission partners like yourself whose desire is to see the Gospel shared in all nations. We may never meet all of you this side of eternity, but our hearts send their gratitude for your prayer and financial partnership.
pic5
Prayer Requests
Please pray for all of our pastor families. They are under many pressures working in predominantly non-Christian communities and so we ask you to:
  • Pray that our pastor families are kept safe (physically and spiritually).
  • Pray that our pastor families will be bold in sharing the gospel.
  • Pray for continued open doors for the gospel to make its way across our country.
  • Pray that we keep our vision sharp and not deviate from it.
  • Pray for the 88 new baptized believers to stay strong in their faith as family and communal pressures are intense.
Yours in Christ,

Daniel Khamsaen, Chairperson
Vision Thailand Ministries Board
A Word from our Chairman

On behalf of everyone at Vision Thailand Ministries, THANK YOU for your partnership in sharing the Gospel!

On behalf of the Board of Directors of Vision Thailand Canada, I want to thank you for joining us in serving Thailand in the name of Christ! Thank you for supporting the mission in the following ways:
  • directly through our website at visionthailand.ca,
  • send a cheque payable to: Vision Thailand Canada, 1 Keefer Road, St.Catharines, Ontario, L2M 6K4,
  • you can commit to an ongoing monthly contribution through your financial institution, and even designate to one of the following ministries:
Church Planter Training, Supporting a Pastor's family, Prison Ministries, Orphan's Promise (ministry to abandoned children in the slum area),Thai Bibles and Gospel Booklets, Fish Ponds, Pig Project, Chicken Project, Mushroom project or to the general budget to be used as needed.
-For more detailed information, please visit visionthailand.org. or email vidyanarimalla@gmail.com

Vidya Narimalla, Chairman, Vision Thailand Canada
Vision Thailand Canada, 1 Keefer Road, St.Catharines, Ontario, L2M 6K4
MailPoet