Thailand: Mission in bloom

Thailand: mission in bloom

The transformational power of knowing Jesus

Your support of the Thailand Spring appeal has brought incredible change to new believers in the northern district of Uttaradit, Thailand.

Portrait of Wit and Helen Boondeekuhn

The nights are drawing in, harvest season is coming to an end and the inevitable buzz of Christmas is creeping ever closer. It’s a time of year that naturally makes us think of conclusions and winding down, but God’s plan for mission rarely follows the seasons on earth. In Thailand, there’s exciting work that is in full bloom – thanks to your support. Back during our spring appeal, we shared about the incredible work that Helen and Wit Boondeekhun are making possible in Thailand and introduced you to some of the amazing people they’re bringing to faith. Let’s revisit this blossoming mission bearing fruit in Thailand, and see first-hand the change that you’ve made possible.

The support you brought to Thailand

Your generous donations are:

  • Supporting Ajarn Arreat, a local Thai evangelist, to share the good news of Jesus and disciple new believers.
  • Equipping church members like Thew with skills to increase their income and better support their families.
  • Raising up new local leaders, bringing hope of sustainable church growth long into the future.

Dreams fulfilled

In the appeal, you met Som and Thew, a young couple who had recently come to faith in the village of Wang Daeng. This joy-filled couple are now helping lead at a new church planted in the nearby village of Ban Dara, where their son recently got baptised! When we first met Thew, he shared his desire to one day make and sell his own food, a very different trajectory from his exhausting daily work as a manual labourer. Along with Suree, Wang Daeng’s first believer, this dream has been made possible. Located in front of Wang Daeng’s church building, their recently launched food stall selling fried chicken, sticky rice and fried dumplings has been immensely popular in the community, especially with the children walking past it daily on their way to school! Sadly, a combination of monsoon season and Thew breaking his leg has caused the food stall to take a brief sabbatical, but there is every intention for its triumphant return to continue to bless and serve the village. With every dumpling sold, you’re helping Thew to provide for his family, build community and draw newcomers into church with an inviting (and delicious!) welcome.

Thew and Som smiling in a sunlit area full of trees
Thew and Som's lives were transformed when they came to know Jesus.
A young man in a pool preparing to be baptised
Your support for Helen and Wit means believers like Thew are thriving in their faith.

Churches planted

When Helen and Wit first moved out to Thailand over five years ago, there were no churches or Christians in the region. But now, there are three blossoming churches: one in Wang Daeng, one in nearby Tao Hai and the latest plant in Ban Dara. These churches started off as small house groups but have grown into thriving hubs of community and connection. They’re providing free English classes, local council representation and trying to support and meet the needs of the communities they are based in.

Thanks to your faithful prayers and in God’s kindness, the churches in the area have been growing at such a rate that the church in Wang Daeng has outgrown its rented premises and has started the process of designing its own building. With plans drawn up and the land purchased, the church family is gathering the funds to complete the process – a task you’ve helped with by providing a third of the total necessary. God willing, this thriving congregation is hoping to be in their new building by July 2024.

Believers equipped

Along with the amazing growth the churches have experienced, God has been building up new workers for his harvest field. Ajarn Arreat has recently become a BMS-supported worker, thanks to your generous giving. Ajarn was a maid in Hong Kong and a committed Buddhist, until she was invited to a Christian group. She gave her life to Jesus soon after and started saving up to return to Thailand and study at Bible college there. Since her studies, she’s been working as an English teacher and helping plant the church at Ban Dara in her free time, where there are nearly 20 people in regular attendance. Your support for Ajarn means she can focus her attention more fully on supporting the church, instead of juggling teaching jobs alongside.

If you supported the Spring appeal, you’ll likely remember the incredible story of Ba Nuan, a resident of Wang Daeng. At Ba Nuan’s lowest moment, God stepped in and transformed her life, bringing an abundance of hope, peace and joy in his wake. Ba Nuan is still a new believer, but it’s an absolute joy to share that her partner Muat has also found faith, being baptised this summer! Since then, Ba Nuan and Muat have been actively engaging with the small groups in Wang Daeng and helping others encounter the transformational power that a relationship with the Father can bring.

As you reflect on the incredible work you’ve made possible, a verse that Helen and Wit shared in the appeal may come to mind: “The harvest is great, but the workers are few.” The stories of lives transformed, hope restored and God’s Kingdom coming in Thailand are plentiful, much like a tree heavy under the weight of its own fruit.

A Thai man and woman pray together sitting on blue plastic chairs inside a church building.
Your support has helped Ba Nuan to live with hope.

Helen and Wit are keen for BMS supporters to know how much they value your support. Echoing their words — thank you. Thank Jesus for the work that he’s doing and thank each and every one of you who has made this work possible. The harvest is plentiful, and this is only the beginning for Thailand.

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Words by Ed Axtell
Content Creator Apprentice, BMS World Mission

Hope personified: Ba Nuan’s story

Hope personified:

Ba Nuan’s story

Ba Nuan went from not being able to see a way forward to living every day for Jesus. Her incredible story was made possible through your gifts to the Thailand Spring appeal.

If you asked Ba Nuan about her childhood, she’d say that life felt very ordinary. Growing up as one of eight siblings in rural Thailand, it made sense to Ba Nuan that her parents, struggling to make ends meet, would ask their children to help wherever they could. When Ba Nuan’s grandmother became too elderly to take care of herself, the family chose Ba Nuan to go and live with and support her. And so it was that Ba Nuan, though still a young girl, would grow up far from home, taking on the responsibilities of both caregiver and breadwinner in one. Life was tough – but so was Ba Nuan.

Ba Nuan went to school during the day and spent all her free time labouring or collecting branches for roof thatch to earn money. There was no time to dream about her future: the health and happiness of her little two-person household rested entirely on her young shoulders.

A Thai man and woman pray together sitting on blue plastic chairs inside a church building.
Your support has helped Ba Nuan to live with hope.

As she grew older, Ba Nuan’s strong work ethic continued. She opened her own restaurant and also began working as a medium to cure people believed to have been cursed by black magic – a practice passed down by her grandmother. Married with two children and with a stable career, poverty gradually lost its grip on Ba Nuan. But happiness was still a long way away.

Helen and Wit Boondeekhun stand next to each other in a field in Thailand
Your support for Helen and Wit Boondeekhun allowed them to come alongside Ba Nuan.

One day, Ba Nuan’s world came crashing down around her. She was heartbroken to discover her husband had been unfaithful – and that this wasn’t the first time. Her business began to crumble as her marriage fell apart. Then, four years ago, Ba Nuan’s husband tragically took his own life. Alone and in despair, Ba Nuan couldn’t see a way forward. That’s until a neighbour visited her, and told her about a man called Jesus.

Ba Nuan was invited by her friend to the church run by BMS World Mission workers Helen and Wit Boondeekhun in a small village called Wang Daeng. There, Ba Nuan encountered unconditional love, from God and from her new community. “God transformed me,” says Ba Nuan. “I didn’t have any hope, my life was in despair, and I didn’t want to live. But now I have found a new life, new happiness,” she continues. “I’m so happy indeed that I found God. I know that he loves me, and I want to live my life for him.”

Thank you!

Thank you so much for your incredible response to the Thailand Spring appeal, sharing the gospel with people like Ba Nuan. Coming to know Jesus has transformed Ba Nuan’s life and given hope to a whole community now attending a fledgling church in Wang Daeng. Learn more about the appeal here.

The people who attend the church in Wang Daeng each have a story like Ba Nuan’s – a story of a life searching for hope, and finding it in Jesus. The village has gone from being a place where no-one would have called themselves a Christian, to a community with a thriving church where eight new believers were baptised just last year. Excitingly, Ba Nuan was one of them. The BMS team asked Ba Nuan whether she had a message for supporters in the UK. She replied: “Love God with all your mind, soul and strength, because God is powerful, and he can help you, and he loves you so much.”

If you gave to the Thailand Spring appeal, thank you for bringing new life to Ba Nuan and to a whole church community. Helen and Wit are so encouraged to know that you are standing with them. And if you haven’t come across their ministry in Wang Daeng before, there’s still time to get involved. Why not find out more about Helen and Wit here, and subscribe to receive their free prayer letters today?

A woman getting baptised in Thailand.
Praise God that Ba Nuan was baptised last year!
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Words by Hannah Watson.

Pioneer mission: The church planters who need your prayer

Pioneer mission:

The church planters who need your prayer

Praying for this

Being Jesus in a village that is 100 per cent Buddhist is challenging work. Our church planters Helen and Wit Boondeekhun would love you to partner with them in prayer as they live out their faith in Wang Daeng village. Meet them and their new neighbours in this video brought to you straight from Thailand!

“We have one secret believer. But nobody really knows about this. She hasn’t been brave or bold enough to tell her friends yet, because it’s hard.”

It’s really difficult for people to convert to Christianity in Wang Daeng, in northern Thailand. BMS World Mission workers Helen and Wit have been living out their Christian faith in the village for the last two years – faithfully serving the community and trying to meet the practical needs of their new neighbours.

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They’ve been building friendships, teaching English, and helping women develop new skills. They’ve also hired a youth worker called Tah, who is training young people in football and guitar, and building relationships with their families.

Helen, Wit and Tah have become part of the community – and they’re so happy that their new friend Suree has become a believer. Now, they would love to see more fruit!

Would you pray with them for Wang Daeng? Download our prayer poster at the bottom of the page, print it out and stick it somewhere you will see it to remind you to pray for Helen, Wit and Tah, and the village of Wang Daeng.

PLEASE PRAY

  1. Pray for ten people to come to know Jesus Christ as their personal saviour in the next 12 months, through the ongoing witness of Helen, Wit and Tah. Pray that they will be the beginnings of the first church in Wang Daeng.
  2. Pray for Suree. Pray that she would continue to grow in her faith, and that God would give her boldness to share the gospel with her family and friends. Pray too that he would give Wit and Helen the wisdom to support her and disciple her well.
  3. Pray for Tah, as he seeks to build relationships and share the gospel with young people in Wang Daeng. Pray for energy, discernment and opportunities for him to pray with and encourage his football players and guitar students.
  4. Pray for God to bless Wang Daeng and all of its inhabitants with peace, joy and opportunity. Pray for real hope to drive out despair.
  5. Pray for Helen and Wit as they live and serve in Wang Daeng. Everyone knows that they are Christians, and they feel like there are thousands of eyes on them. Pray for protection and blessing on their lives, so that they can be salt and light.
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Click the image to download and print the prayer points.