The following points should help you pray for Thailand.
- Thailand’s religious culture is a complex web of spirit appeasement, occult practices and Buddhism, which is closely interwoven with social culture. Pray that Christians may be able to express their faith without losing their cultural identity.
- Thailand is a Buddhist country but there is freedom to belong to other religions.
- The burgeoning economy is changing society. People are drifting to the cities and materialism is growing.
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The growth of the Church has been slow. Much of the growth has been among the Thai-speaking Chinese in the cities and the marginalised tribal peoples.
- Leadership training is vital. There are fine evangelical leaders, but there are few who are adequately trained and spiritually mature.
- Of the 76 provinces, 14 have fewer than 1000 Christians, three have less than 100, and four have no evangelical congregations.
- Students [one million] have largely not heard the gospel. Pray for OMF’s work at a Christian centre in one university. Pray for Christian students who are a tiny minority among their peers.
- Most of the 3,000,000 Muslims live in South Thailand and Bangkok. Pray for the opportunity to show Christian love to these peoples.
- Bible translation is ongoing. Some people do not have the complete Bible in their mother tongue.
- Christians among the hill tribes in the north have a vision and calling to reach their people groups in the countries surrounding Thailand. Pray for them as they take the gospel into these areas.
- Pray for local churches to take up opportunities for evangelism among their own peoples.
- Pray for rebuilding work after the tsunami of 2004, and for those personally affected.