Thailand

The Church of Christ in Thailand (CCT) is the largest Protestant church in Thailand. CCT is engaged in active social efforts (health care, medical work, hospitals, universities, schools) and ecumenical movements in local society.

In 1998 Churches of Christ in Victoria and Tasmania signed a Memorandum of Understanding that enabled the Urban Neighbours Of Hope (UNOH) team to receive visas and facilitated the partnership with the Community Centre in Klong Toey. COCOA has been a funding partner in the rebuilding of the Community Centre and in supporting the community development programs of the Centre.

The ministry of Beulah Land Service is also linked to CCT.

Profile

Population: 65 million (89% Thai national)
Language: Thai, English
Literacy: Adult literacy is estimated at 95% (men), 91% (women)
Average life expectancy: around 68 years (men), 75 years (women)
Major religions: Buddhism 75%, Islam 4-5%, Christianity 0.1%

Thailand, known as Siam until 1939, borders the Andaman Sea and the Gulf of Thailand, southeast of Burma.  It is a country of mountains, tropical rainforests and flat plains.

Thailand is the only Southeast Asian country never to have been taken over by a European power. Buddhism, the monarchy and the military have helped to shape its society and politics. The country is currently facing separatist violence in its southern ethnic provinces where there is a larger Muslim community.

Thailand is a constitutional monarchy. Its king, Bhumibol Adulyadej, assumed the throne in June 1946 and is the world's longest-reigning monarch. The royal family is revered by Thais.

The 1980s brought an economic boom, and the agriculture-based economy changed as Thais flocked to work in industry and the services sector. The Asian economic collapse in the late 1990s has had a significant impact on Thailand. With a well-developed infrastructure, a free-enterprise economy, and generally pro-investment policies, it is currently one of Southeast Asia’s best performers - the Thai economy grew 4.5% in 2007.

(Sources: Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, BBC Country Profile, Lowry Institute.)

The Church of Christ in Thailand

The Church of Christ in Thailand (CCT) is the largest Protestant church in Thailand and consists of Thai, Chinese, Karen, and English-speaking congregations.

It was founded in 1934 as the Church in Siam with the intent of forming a single ecumenical denomination to include all Protestant churches in Thailand. Its formation came at the request of the Thai Government to have a reduced number of Christian denominations to relate to. Other than a small number of American Baptist and British Churches of Christ congregations, all of the original member churches were originally Presbyterian congregations. CCT originally had seven districts - six geographical and one ethnic Chinese.

Since 1990, the denomination has experienced a major demographic shift. Tribal churches, mostly Baptist in origin, now account for about half of its total number of roughly 100,000 communicant members. CCT is engaged in active social efforts (health care, medical work, hospitals, universities, schools) and ecumenical movements in local society.  CCT is member of the World Convention of the Churches of Christ.

Harold Gross is an Australian Churches of Christ minister who has served for many years in Thailand. He maintains contact with missionaries serving with the Church of Christ in Thailand (CCT) and produces a monthly newsletter Echoes. Harold has provided the following highlights of some of the current ministries of CCT.

• Approximately 200 missionaries work with the CCT from USA, Canada, U.K., Australia, New Zealand, Germany, Norway, Japan, the Philippines, South Korea and Taiwan. These missionaries supply a strong impetus to the Church’s evangelistic witness.
• CCT carries on a ministry of support for victims of HIV/AIDS and their families. A volunteer with wide experience recently praised the CCT’s programme as being the most compassionate and effective effort in this field that she had encountered.
• A Child Protection Awareness Programme has recently been established. It alerts churches, CCT institutions and the public at large to their responsibilities in this matter.  In Chiang Mai in the north, the New Life Center (operated by Baptist missionaries related to CCT) offers girls and young women ensnared in, or in danger of being caught up in, the sex trade an opportunity to escape and provides accommodation, occupational training, friendship and guidance.

The ministry of Beulah Land Service is also linked to CCT.

Beulah Land Services

Founded twenty years ago by Dr Kanchana Kongsuebchart, Beulah Land Services, a Thai ministry to leprosy communities, is now headed by Pastor Yupha Pinata who oversees a staff of over thirty pastors and children’s workers from leprosy villages mainly in the northeast of Thailand.

Seven of the twelve leprosy villages have churches together with a fellowship led by a trained Thai pastor. There is also a weekday day-care service to look after the children, staffed by low-paid helpers. The other leprosy villages have part-time workers that visit and look after the needs of these people.

Each leprosy village has three generations of people: the original, older group who contracted leprosy; their children, who are now middle aged; and their grandchildren. The middle and younger groups have not suffered from leprosy. Nevertheless, they still experience similar stigma and rejection as those of the first generation because of an association with the disease.

There are currently five WA churches in partnership with Beulah Land Services, with each adopting at least one leprosy village. Over the past few years they have been to their adopted village on a number of occasions to be involved in short-term projects ranging from building a basketball court to teaching English in a local Thai school. The purpose of the partnership between the churches in Australia and in Thailand is to provide friendship, relationship-based assistance and resources for the development of the churches, the village people and facilities.

Seeds of Love

This ministry is based in Perth, WA, and works in Thailand. It is located at Baan Non Som Boon near Kohn Kaen and Phuket. The mission is to “seed” sustainable grass roots community and welfare projects in S.E. Asia – currently predominantly in Thailand. The emphasis is on projects which will be run by national workers with initial support from Australian donors.

Urban Neighbours of Hope (UNOH)

In 1998 Churches of Christ in Victoria and Tasmania signed a Memorandum of Understanding that enabled the UNOH team to receive visas and facilitated the partnership with the Community Centre in Klong Toey. COCOA has been a funding partner in the rebuilding of the Community Centre and in supporting the community development programs of the Centre.

In May 2001 Urban Neighbours of Hope (UNOH) was commissioned as "a missional order among the poor" by the Churches of Christ in Victoria and Tasmania. Since March 2002, UNOH through Ash and Anji Barker has been serving in the Klong Toey Slum. It is Bangkok’s largest slum with an estimated population of over 80,000 people in a very small area. The slum is well known for its drugs, violence, and as being a major source of young women and girls for prostitution due to the nature of the poverty experienced there.

Some of the current ministries at Klong Toey include:

• A small worship service has started. Two young men were led to the Lord by Jim, a Thai friend. They shared communion together for the first time and asked to be baptised.
• The Thai cooking school continues to be popular and is booked out each week. There are plans to expand the program.
• Each Monday Anji visits the women's prison taking children to see their mothers inside. It is sad to see how many other visitors they know from their neighbourhood. Chris, a chaplain in the prison hospital, sees a high proportion of men from Klong Toey in prison waiting to die of AIDS. The visiting program needs to expand to help inmates stay in touch with their family members.
• The preschool is going along well. There have been a number of deaths and illnesses that affect the children’s lives in tragic ways. Anji writes, “The sadness often overwhelms me. On Saturday we took the youth group swimming and the boys and girls were constantly climbing on, and hugging us. Those whom I talked to could not remember when they last received a hug - 8 years old! I am sitting here in the handicrafts room. As I write this five women work at making the Christmas cards for this season. I praise God for the many people who support these women by buying their products. At least that is some hope in this often dark place.”

Thai Burma Border Consortium

The Border between Thailand and Burma is home to many Karen displaced people and refugees. There are many Refugee Camps located along the Border. The residents of the camps are mainly Christian, and are dependent on support from Aid and Development agencies around the world. They care for thousands of people many of whom have been born in the camps. COCOA is one of the funding partners that support the work of the Thai Burma Border Consortium (TBBC).

Prayer Points:

• For continued ministry of the Church of Christ in Thailand.
• For the leaders, staff and refugees that are part of the Thai Burma Border Consortium.
• For the ministries of Beulah Land Services and Seeds of Love.
• For the Barker and MacCartney families and Rod Sheard, the ministries of Urban Neighbours of Hope and the many in need in the communities around them.

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The Thailand update is attached below.