CHURCH PLANT - chiang saen

In June 2024, Pastor Suphot was asked to conduct a funeral for a westerner who had died in the northern town Chiang Saen. He did so and also preached the gospel. 2 people were saved including the daughter of one of 3 monks who had attended. The widow, “Nut (pron. Noot)”, was already a believer and requested Suphot to start a house church in her house as there was no church anywhere nearby.

The house church was started in June 2024 in Nut’s living room. However the location and area were not ideal to gather many people together, so in November with the help of The Freedom Project, a small building on the main road was rented.

The Need

Thailand is a much favoured tourist destination due to their amazing food and friendly smiles, however the predominantly Buddhist country which has had missionaries for several hundred years is still less than 1% Christian. This lack of churches and Christians means that it is very unlikely for a Thai person to be presented with an opportunity to hear the gospel. The goal of many Christian leaders now is to work together to see churches established in every village which will allow all Thai people the opportunity to hear the gospel clearly and interact with Christians whose lives have been transformed.

Pastor Supot

Born in the east of Thailand, Supot has lived most of his life in Bangkok and Chiang Rai selling insurance. A natural salesman and evangelist, he left his career 5 years ago to pursue ministry full time. He often says that he is already passed middle age and isn’t sure how long he has left so he wants to reach as many people as possible with the good news of Jesus as well as growing as many healthy churches as he can also. He doesn’t speak much English, however is constantly joking and carrying a big smile on his face. If you didn’t know he was a pastor you might think he was a game show host!

He started a church in Chiang Rai first, maturing both the church and leaders in that church until he was able to hand it over at the end of 2022. From there he started driving 2hrs (one way) each week to meet with a couple who were believers in Phayao. They desperately wanted a church in their town, so together with Supot they started in their living room and invited others to join them. The gathering grew and in about 6 months they moved into a rented room. The church continued to mature and In August 2024 Supot handed it over to his 2IC, a younger local pastor who he had been training.

Supot has a vision to see at least 2 more churches planted in neighbouring provinces (states) before he retires, however at the speed it is currently going it may be more! His strategy is biblical and simple: locate a initial believer or family and from there start evangelising to friends, family and through the local market. The church grows and as it does so, he will train another local pastor with the aim of handing the pastoral responsibilities to them when the time is right. This then frees him up to move to another area and start a new church.

Budget

As part of the Santiphap network of churches, Supot and his associate pastor in training receive a nominal amount for their work. Supot is in the ministry full time while his wife works to support him. The town they are in has no other church and there many who need to hear the good news. As such, we are looking to increase the resources available to them so they can input more time into discipleship and pastoring.

Petrol costs the same amount per litre in Thailand as it does in Australia! Yet our salaries on average are 4x higher. Supot and others in the team travel weekly from Chiang Rai city out to the small town of Chiang Saen where the church plant is.

The small building they have rented is an ideal location next to the local market. It has enough space for about 50 people to meet as well as a couple of rooms upstairs where Supot and others can sleep overnight when doing multiple days of outreach or training.

Rent - Petrol - Salaries - Electricity - Water - Food

Monthly Goal: $2100