Summary Report – Thailand boat building mission

God’s mission to tell all nations of his plan for salvation through Jesus Christ is the responsibility of all believers. He calls each of us to take this message into the world. In Thailand, where the west coastal region is still recovering from the devastating effects of a catastrophic tsunami on December 26, 2004, the Gospel message is reaching a predominantly Buddhist population through the efforts of the Sahathai Kok Kloi Lutheran Church. With support from Lutheran Hour Ministries, Pastor Suchart Choojit and his congregation are inviting fishermen who lost their boats and livelihoods to the tsunami to join with them to build new boats for themselves and other fishermen in the community. The result is an opportunity to connect hearts and minds first, then connect non-believers with the saving Grace of Jesus Christ.

The efforts of 12 volunteers from Concordia Lutheran Church, Fort Wayne, Ind., were well received by the Sahathai congregation and the people who have or will soon receive fishing boats. We were welcomed into the pastor’s home, a central gathering place for the church and the community at large, for meals morning, noon and night. We were welcomed to work along-side the fishermen on building new boats and communicated both through rudimentary hand gestures and smiles and via an interpreter who made more in-depth interviews possible.

Because Buddhism is more of a cultural ethnicity than a religion, overnight conversions in the manner of St. Paul were not readily evident during the week onsite and may not become evident for years or generations to come. Buddhists are compelled to care for deceased ancestors by performing certain ritualistic duties in hopes of their being reincarnated as a higher life form. Conversion to Christianity would mean expulsion from the temple where those duties are performed. The end result, to the Buddhist, would mean an unforgivable dishonoring of the dead. A fundamental understanding of the Biblical teaching on death and resurrection seems like a logical first step prior to conversion.