Reaching Refugees in Thailand

Over 120,000 refugees from Myanmar have fled to Thailand to escape the violence raging in their homeland. We put together an international team from America, Japan and the Philippines to reach out to several villages in southeastern Thailand where some of these refugee families have settled.

The mission team to Thailand.

Many of these refugees are Christians, from ethnic tribes oppressed by the majority Buddhist Burmese. We set up clinics in village churches to provide care that is often unavailable or unaffordable to the refugees. We also did first-aid training for the pastors, who often care for the physical as well as the spiritual needs of their congregations.

The team providing First Aid training.

The team holding a medical clinic.

During the clinics, our children’s ministry team set up outdoors to gather the local children for songs, games, skits and Bible stories. They played with balls and balloons, and enjoyed candy and treats. It was a great joy to see their smiles and hear their laughter.

The Lord opened a door for us to enter two public schools where the team could minister to the children sent out class by class. As the team gave out toys brought from the US, we were surprised to hear from the teachers that many of the children had never had a toy of their own.

The team doing kids ministry at a local school.

The kids playing with toys brought for them.

We were deeply moved to hear the stories of families who climbed over the mountains to find a place of safety in a new country. We were inspired to see how the village was banding together to build a large church where they could worship the Lord who always cared for them and provided for their needs. What an example of faith and hope!

Church being built for the village.

The medical professionals and children’s ministers who served on this team took vacation time and made the journey at their own expense in order to serve these refugees in the name of Christ. We are very grateful for their sacrifice, though each of them declared it a joy to join the mission.

Points for Prayer

• Pray for the refugee families who struggle with daily life in a foreign land.
• Pray for our missionaries in Thailand, Albert and Jiep Gonzales, whose efforts in planning and logistics and leadership made this mission possible.
• Pray that the children who heard the gospel would remember and turn their hearts to the true and living God.
• Pray for wisdom and strength and provision as we serve the Lord in Asia, the most unreached area of the world.

Thank you for partnering with us to fulfill the Great Commission in Asia!

Russell & Sandra Board

"The spirit of Christ is the spirit of missions. The nearer we get to Him, the more intensely missionary we become." - Henry Martyn, missionary to India and Persia