In many regions of the globe, MAF aircraft connect Christian workers to people in remote areas. In Thailand, MAF has recently established the Thai Church Resource Center to accomplish the same purpose. MAF assists the emerging church by providing mapping services, digital data collection, analysis of Thai church data, and translation of biblical distance education courses into Thai. The center also provides jobs for previously unemployed and labor-exploited tribal women.
THE NEED
In the early 1800s, the first Protestant missionaries brought the Gospel message to Thailand. Some 180 years later, less than one-half of one percent of Thais know Jesus Christ. Ninety-four percent adhere to Buddhism, while five percent profess Islam.
However, there are signs of a spiritual awakening on the horizon. More churches have been established in the last 15 years than the prior 165 years combined. The Gospel is spreading at an accelerating pace.
In 2002, key leaders representing all national denominations and mission organizations met to form the Thailand Evangelism and Church Growth Committee (TEC). The TEC has formulated a strategic plan to plant churches in every unreached district of Thailand by the year 2010. For the first time in its history, the Thai church is united in its vision, purpose, and plans to expand the Kingdom of God.
As churches are established and communities of believers spring up, the need is created for Christian discipleship and leadership training. Thai pastors and lay leaders lack access to adequate training and biblical resources. They have a call to minister and a passion to learn, but distance, cost, and lack of resources present significant barriers. Many are unable to leave their towns and villages for education, and few Christian materials are available to them.
THE SOLUTION
MAF-Learning Technologies (MAF-LT) recently launched the Thai Church Resource Center (Video) to address these needs. The MAF-LT resource center has partnered with the TEC to provide the tools and technology to support the Thai church in its vision to advance God’s Kingdom.
This resource center ...
- Creates, maintains, and disseminates a digital collection of Christian resources.
- Maintains a national statistics database for tracking church growth.
- Generates maps from this data, enabling church leaders to formulate strategic decisions.
- Translates biblical distance education courses into the Thai language.
Digital Resources
Over the years, the Body of Christ in Thailand has produced thousands of Christian resources in the Thai language. These include books, sermons, movies, tracts, songs, lessons, crafts, etc. Unfortunately, the vast majority of these resources are inaccessible to local Christians.
The MAF-LT resource center is creating a digital library of these resources, which will be available without cost via the Internet or on CDs. To date 1,332 resources have been identified—most in paper format—and are being digitized. Items such as books must be typed in their entirety into a word processing program—a time-consuming process.
To date ...
- 530 resources have been digitized and are ready to be placed into a digital database.
- 225 are being converted from paper to digital format.
- 425 have been identified for acquisition.
- 152 are available and awaiting copyright resolution prior to digital conversion.
The first version of the digital library will be available by the end of 2007. As the project goes online, church leaders will be able to access resources via computers from their homes, churches, or Internet cafes. These same resources will be distributed via CDs and thumb drives, allowing a pastor to carry an entire library in his or her pocket.
National Church Database
The MAF-LT resource center has assumed responsibility for maintaining and updating a database of Thai church statistics. The data is comprehensive and will help pastors, denominations, and mission organizations evaluate church growth and formulate strategic plans for the future. Following are examples of reports offered by the center:
- Comprehensive lists of all Thai churches including membership statistics.
- Provincial, district, and people group profiles indicating the number and percentage of Christians for each.
- Customized lists and profiles for denominations and mission organizations.
Mapping Services
Using church information in the database, the MAF-LT resource center provides a mapping service to display church data in easily understood and meaningful ways. For example, research center staff can produce maps at the district level indicating where churches need to be planted. This allows mission groups to focus on ministry gaps and unreached areas, as well as formulate plans for church planting efforts. A volunteer cartographer has been tasked with establishing the mapping center, creating new maps, and training Thai workers to produce maps to meet future needs.
Additional Ministry Opportunities
To help create the digital resources collection and to maintain the Thai church database, MAF-LT has entered into a personal ministry. Needing assistance with data entry, MAF-LT partnered with New Life Foundation to provide employment for labor-exploited Thai women. Because of their tribal ethnicity, these college-educated Christian women face discrimination in many areas of life. With a steady job, these women now have the means to support themselves and improve their lives while contributing to the growth of the church in their country.
IMPACT 2007 HIGHLIGHTS
In the past 12 months, the MAF-LT ...
- Founded the resource center to gather and disseminate available church related data
that will serve the growing, emerging Thai church.
- Developed relationships with the Thailand Evangelism and Church Growth Committee (TEC) members as well as with numerous church leaders and organizations throughout Thailand.
- Recruited and trained five Thai tribal women as employees.
- Initiated the online digital database, including the preparation of more than 500 Christian resources.
KEY GOALS 2008
- Launch the online digital resource library.
- Create new digital resource libraries for use by missionaries and pastors working among tribal people groups (e.g., Hmong, Karen, Lahu, Lisu, Akha, etc.).
- Expand operations at the Thai Church Resource Center. Recruit one full-time technician to assist with programming and networking. Acquire three additional computers, a high quality color printer, and mapping software.
- Publish the results of the 2007 nationwide church survey for use by missionaries and Thai Christian leaders.
