Give Securely

Clicking the button below will take you to a secure donation page managed through Aplos, the official online giving system used by City for the Nations.

City for the Nations is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, all donations are tax-deductible to the fullest extent allowed by law, and we are ECFA-accredited.

State of the Great Commission in Thailand

Thailand is a country of 71.6 million people located south of China and to India’s east. Its population is roughly evenly divided between urban and rural areas, though this is in the process of shifting in favor of urban populations. ⁰¹ Thailand’s energies are likewise distributed between urban economies that focus on manufacturing and services and a mostly agricultural rural economy. ⁰²  In the latter, an aging population combines with economic inequality to create noteworthy pockets of desperation.

The Church in Thailand has encountered significant difficulty making headway. Thailand has no formal policies prohibiting evangelism or conversion, and instances of persecution are incredibly rare; nevertheless, typical estimates place the proportion of the population that in any way professes Christ at about 1.83%, with evangelicals making up less than half of that. ⁰³ While there has been growth in those proportions in recent years, at least some of that growth is attributable to sheer generational reproduction (Thailand in general is in population decline), not penetration of the gospel into places and peoples that are unreached. ⁰⁴ As a result, of Thailand’s 114 People Groups, 74 remain unreached and 5 remain frontier.⁰⁵ That amounts to 61.4 million people living without ready access to the gospel.

The explanations for this are numerous and complicated. Christianity is demographically focused in the region of Lanna (also called Northern Thailand). ⁰⁶ This region is home to only 17% of Thailand’s population, but over half of Thai Christians live there. This region is notably very rural, and Christians throughout the rest of Thailand have primarily gained traction in rural areas.⁰⁷ Another key barrier is a perception that Christianity is simply not Thai. ⁰⁸Thailand has a long history of Buddhist philosophy and religious practice which many identify as being core to Thai identity. Buddhism has a complicated relationship to other religions in general, both to prior Thai mystic/spiritualist traditions and to the gospel, but it generally positions itself as not a religion, but a way of life that transcends religions altogether to offer a path away from desires and toward enlightenment. This dynamic often complicates evangelistic conversations.

Nevertheless, there is real reason for hopeful, optimistic prayers for Thailand. All prior concerns about the Thai Church’s growth notwithstanding, its rate of proportionate growth has been remarkable, averaging a doubling around every 12 years for several decades. ⁰⁹ On top of this, several mission organizations, including City for the Nations and our partners, are reporting optimistic outcomes as they seek to saturate Thailand with the gospel.

Planting Seeds of Disciple-Making

City for the Nations began its involvement with Thailand in 2021, when many of our partners in Jacksonville, Florida began to cast a vision for reaching all of Thailand with the gospel. A focus on intercession and prayer led to two steps:

First, we partnered with mission organizations active in Thailand and provided financial support that enable them to give special attention to unengaged unreached people groups in Thailand. These partners have been on the cutting edge of the missionary task in Thailand and have seen many come to faith in the least-reached areas of the country.

Second, we sent teams to Thailand regularly. These teams were commissioned to develop a coalition of Christians in Thailand who were ready to begin pursuing rapid multiplication through disciple-making movement methodologies. Pastors and indigenous missionaries all over Thailand were trained to make disciples who make disciples as part of their ministry, and we began pursuing collaborations with the Thai church.

Saturating Southern Thailand with the Gospel

In 2024 City for the Nations recruited, trained, and deployed a cohort of Thai Christians to begin sharing the gospel and making disciples throughout the unevangelized communities near them. These engagers have since received regular personal coaching sessions and exhortation as they become increasingly bold and capable proclaimers of Jesus.