Dear Co-laborer in Christ,
Before Jesus ascended into heaven he told his disciples in Acts 1:8, “
…you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” Jesus told them to first share the gospel in the capital city, then move out from there until you have reached every village.
Putting this verse in context of the spread of the gospel in Thailand we know that all 77 provinces in Thailand have a church. In fact, 30% of all churches in Thailand are located in the capital (Jerusalem) of these provinces.
Thailand has 928 districts (Judea). 231 districts have no church. The population of the unreached districts is 8,850,556.
The third level is the sub-district level (Samaria). In Thailand’s 7,421 sub-districts, 76% of them have no church. Over 38 million people live in these unreached sub-districts. In fact, 87% of all Christians in Thailand live in just 814 sub-districts that already have two or more churches.
What about the “end of the earth” -- the villages? Thailand has 80,677 villages. Churches in Thailand are located in just 3,419 of these villages. Only 4% of the villages in Thailand have a church. 95% of Thai citizens live in a village without a church. If a village does not have a church those living in that village have almost no possibility of becoming a Christian (1).
In most provinces only 1% to 4% of the villages have churches. Even in the provinces of Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai and Mae Hong Son, where 51% of the Thai Christians live, 71% of the villages still don’t have a church. 2,348,434 people live in these unreached villages.
A key reason why there are so few Christians in Thailand is because very few villages have a church. Where there are churches, they are clustered together. People fortunate to live in those villages have a great opportunity to become a believer in Christ (2). Unfortunately, most people in Thailand live in a village where they don’t have a place to worship God.
If they don’t have a church how will they learn about God? Who will teach them?
May God richly bless you as you Glorify Him in all that you do.
Dwight Martin
Research Coordinator
Thailand Evangelism & Church Growth Committee
(1) Hypothesis 18: People in a village with a church are more likely to become Christians than people in a village without a church. (p 127)
(2) People living in a village with a church are almost 100 times more likely to become Christians. (p138)
Conversion Growth of Protestant Churches in Thailand, Marten Visser, © 2008 Uitgeverij Boekencentrum, Zoetermeer (The Netherlands)
