New Prayer Retreat Project in Thailand!
God is moving in Thailand. We see His hand moving in many ways, too many to count here. But we have a problem. Even though the church has been in Thailand for over 100 years, there are still precious few Thais who have received the truth as it is in Christ. With less than 1% of the entire population considering themselves Christians of any denomination (including Catholic), missionaries from every faith are asking themselves the question: How do we reach the Thai?
For several years now, we’ve been asking God to lead us in a new direction. We’ve been asking Him to lead us in ways that haven’t been tried, in ways that He knows will be effective in communicating the Gospel, for Him to take charge. And He has led us to this truth: “We wrestle not against flesh and blood…” (Ephesians 6:12) which means that our battle is a spiritual battle, so we should use spiritual weapons. Our objective is spiritual, so we should use spiritual tools to build a spiritual house.
The most obvious spiritual weapon is prayer. “Prayer is the key in the hand of faith that unlocks heaven’s storehouse” (Steps to Christ, 94).
The most deeply moving aspect of this, which I am awed by and not sure how to fully put into words yet, is that praying for and with the Thai people is a way to connect with them and introduce them to Jesus. I’ve been learning this from a local Adventist pastor in Thailand. The Thai are open to prayer, and when they meet Jesus in prayer and realize He is alive, then they will be interested in getting to know Him. Please pray for us as we explore what this would look like.
As part of these new insights, we feel strongly led to build a prayer retreat center outside Bangkok.
This place will have five purposes:
1. Be a place where we pray. People can schedule time to come and pray and seek God.
2. Be a retreat for church groups from the city. Some churches in Bangkok would love to get away for a spiritual emphasis weekend to be close to nature and connect with God.
3. Be a prayer training center where we could conduct seminars and workshops on how to exercise faith and pray more effectively.
4. Be a Bible Worker Training Center to train Bible Workers for Thailand and beyond.
5. Be a Missionary Training Center to train new missionaries from other countries like America.
We already own the property, a beautiful 5-acre parcel located about 2 hours from the center of Bangkok at the foot of a mountain. We also have a family preparing to move to the property and host/organize the events. We just need the funds to bring in power and build the structures to host the people that God will bring.
We’re super excited about God’s leading.
On my recent trip to Bangkok, I had been asking the Lord what we should do with this property, whether we should sell it or keep it. But when I saw the need of the churches in Bangkok, the hunger for prayer in the Thai believers, and their desire for an experience with God, my prayer changed from “What should we do with this property?” to an urgent “Lord, can we please have a Prayer Retreat Center on this property?”
Would you please pray for the provision that God has already allocated for this project?
Jon Wood
Jesus for Asia President