Wednesday, 21 June 2023
Asia is home to 60.8% of the world’s population (4.8 billion people)*. Around the continent of Asia, there are 2.8 billion people who are unreached with the Gospel.
Convinced that everyone needs to hear the Good News of Jesus, SIM has created a strategic initiative called ‘Faithful Witness’. Faithful Witness is sending multi-cultural and multi-skilled teams of mission workers to make Jesus known in communities with little or no Christian witness and no access to the Gospel.
Praise God, across the world today there are 8 Faithful Witness teams with over 60 workers. Two of SIM’s Faithful Witness teams are ministering to least reached communities in Asia, with one located in Thailand and the other in South Asia. Ayutthaya, the location of the Thailand team, has been identified by SIM as one of the least reached places in the country.
The historic city of Ayutthaya, which was once the capital of Thailand, is an important place for Thai Buddhism because of the ancient temples and royal palaces. On Buddhist holy days and national holidays, many Thai people visit Ayutthaya temples to make merit and seek blessing.
As well as building relationships in their day-to-day activities, the Faithful Witness team is reaching the community by teaching English at schools for free, running university outreach groups, organising a sports ministry, leading an outreach program at the local youth detention centre, hosting an art club, and building relationships through hospitality evangelism.
Aussie mission worker, Ruth, has been working with local believers in Ayutthaya to form connections and build trust with those they are reaching out to in their ministries. Ruth shared the story of one young girl who was greatly impacted by the care and compassion of the team.
Teaching English, sharing their Faith
‘I teach English to a small group of teenagers who have left school to sell souvenirs to tourists and provide for their families. One girl, now 11, has been chasing tourists since she was 5. Her guardian sits under a nearby tree, watching her to make sure she pursues every potential customer.
A few weeks ago, when she was sitting and playing an English game with me, we heard her guardian’s shrill voice shouting across the temple grounds at us, “Stop wasting your time learning that stuff, get over here and do your job.” And that was that. No more study.
But the other day, just as we were leaving the temple, she ran over to put a piece of paper in my colleague’s hand. “Don’t read it until you’ve driven away,” she said.
Amongst her drawings, the paper read, “Why don’t some people’s parents love them?” “Why are some people even born?” and then, “Thank you for caring about me”. She doesn’t yet understand the love of Jesus, but she knows we are Christians. And she knows that God’s people care for her when those who should, do not.’ – Ruth
FIND OUT MORE: Whether you feel called to Go, Give or Pray, find out how you can partner with Faithful Witness by visiting
sim.org.au/faithfulwitness.
WATCH: Get a glimpse of life in Ayutthaya! Watch the video
here.
*Joshua Project, 2023
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