Since a couple of months we’re working in the Baan Faang district . This district has a few Christians, but the majority of the more then 50,000 people are still bound by Buddhism and Animism. God has opened a wonderful door in a small village in the South West of the district. In this village there are 3 women who are Christian. We go and teach them every week! There knowledge of the Bible is very limited, (more…)

For six years I lived among the Thai, and now since 3 years I am living among the Isaan. Isaan is a region of Thailand, the northeast, but it is much more than that. The Isaan have an identity that can clearly be distinguised from the Thai.
Of course, the first question is: Should you write about Thai and Isaan as two different ethnic groups? Or are the Isaan a subgroup of the Thai? The Isaan themselves are clearly talking about it as two groups. They are talking about the Thai (so not the Central-Thai) language and the Isaan language. And you can hear things like: “My mother will not allow me to marry a Thai.” (more…)

A while ago I did research on how Protestant churches in Thailand grow. I wrote about this in Conversion Growth of Protestant Churches in Thailand (printed version, online version). In the coming weeks I am going to give a summary of some of my findings.

1. Buddhists are less likely to become Christians than adherents of traditional religions. Everywhere in the world, adherents of traditional religions are becoming Christians in greater numbers than adherents of world religions. The same is seen in Thailand. Christianity grows very fast among the tribes (8% a year), and only moderately fast among the ethnic Thai (4% a year).

2. There is no difference in openness for the Gospel between (more…)

There has been a time that I wanted nothing else but pack my suitcases and hop on a plane back to the Netherlands. That was when we were still living in Bangkok. I hated everything there, from the oppressive weather to the narrow (more…)

A team member asked me: what are the most common mistakes starting church planters make? It wasn’t totally clear to me why he considered me a particularly good source for information of that sort. However, here is my recipe to fail as a missionary church planter:

1. Start ministry in an area where you know nobody, where your friends don’t know anybody, and where there is no opening for the Gospel that you know of. Then you can start with absolutely nothing, and do ministry exactly the way you like. It is also nicely slowly paced, so you won’t be too busy.
2. Make sure your friends are mainly in your home country. Because of Skype, your weblog, and Twitter there is no need at all to know your neighbours. (more…)

After you learn reading and writing in Module 4 there’s another module to wrap up all you’ve learned so far. Module 5 is all about having conversations on different subjects. It’s quite a range of subjects: Meeting people at the market, booking a hotel room, applying for a library card, ordering gas, renting a house etc. (more…)

Waaniet is a joyful man who lives in a small village just outside our little bit bigger village. His wife is a Christian and I think he is as well. I study the chronological bible study with him. He understands lost of things in is own simple way.

Last week we talked about the snake who told Eva to eat the fruit. After the lesson he explained to me that that was the problem of today as well. He said it feels like Satan is constantly talking in my ear and that of the people in the world. But when he has this feeling he prays to God that he can do his will.

I went back home and this time I was the one that learned a lesson!

Remember the tailor who was interested in the gospel? Last week my wife went there again but this time she had bad news. She can not become a Christian because then she is not allowed to go to the Buddhist temple anymore, but my wife was still allowed to come and teach the bible.

(more…)

“The church building is half-full, we’re not doing too bad”, pessimists say. Optimists think: “The building is half-empty, so there’s lots of room to grow!” At the beginning of this year there were conflicts in the church we planted in Bangkok. About half of the members left. “It’s like a tsunami”, one of the remaining members told me. “You look around, and all of a sudden this one is gone and that one is gone.” Experiences like these in a church are always sad and dishonour God’s name. Yet after half a year I also see the other side of the medal. (more…)

A few weeks ago I went to a local tailor to have some trousers made. She took my measurements and said that it would be ready in two days. When I came to collect the trousers, (more…)

Last week an Isaan Christian I baptized last year died. Until his death he was sharing the Gospel with his relatives. They were listening with interest. He also clearly said he wanted a Christian funeral, and no Buddhist monks present. But after he died, his relatives immediately arranged for a Buddhist funeral. At the same time, they were very happy for the church to take part in the ceremonies as well. After the monks finished their chanting, and just before the body was cremated, a brother of the deceased invited me to the front. “My brother was a Buddhist. But in the last few years, he added a religion. He also believed in Jesus. And therefore we invite a leader of the church to come and share with us.” Right in front of the monks with their sign ‘There is no resurrection’ I shared the Christian hope of eternal life and resurrection. At the end, everybody applauded.

What happened here? (more…)