A new Blessing Home Center in Kalasin Province

 A new Blessing Home Center is opening in Kalasin

Thailand NOW missionaries Nhia Wahn and Mao Her have opened a new Blessing Home Center at their new home church in Kalasin province.  Pastor Corn, director of Blessing Home Isan, brought a group of her Blessing Home young adults and teens to help give this new center a great start.  And then the numbers have taken off, and the place is totally packed with children and teens.

Above is Pastor Korn leading the children at Blessing Home Kalasin in worship songs.  Pastor Corn has been accepted into the D.Min. program at Asbury Theological Seminary and will begin her studies at the end of July.  Most of the work is done online, but she will need to come to Asbury once per year.  We are very proud of Corn!

Above is the young children's group at Blessing Home Kalasin with Thailand NOW missionary, Pastor Mao.

Above is the teen group at Blessing Home Kalasin, with Pastor Mao on the left and Pastor May on the right.  Pastor May serves as Director of the Abundant Life Financial Training Program and also as President of the Life Upon The Rock Foundation.  This new Blessing Home Center in Kalasin is registered with May's foundation.  The village chief was very happy to meet with May and to discover that this new ministry was being done under a legally registered foundation with the Thai government.  It is important to do things the right way.

This new Blessing Center (Blessing Home Kalasin) also has a new Pioneer Pastor church being planted.  Pastors Nhia Wahn and Mao Her are veteran church planters, and we know that this new church plant will be a center for planting many Pioneer Pastor churches in the Isan region, which is the most unreached part of Thailand.  Please pray for this new Pioneer Pastor church and for Pastors Nhia Wahn and Mao.

 Abundant Life Financial Training for our Blessing Home teens and young adults gives them a great start

In April, the Blessing Home Isan young adults and teens joined an Abundant Life Financial Training Seminar provided by Pastor May at the Training Center in Buriram.  They were joined by adults from other churches coming for training in biblical principles of financial management and life skills.

Are hope is that these young people will learn biblical financial management early on so they they will not make the same mistakes of falling into deep debt and doing no budgeting and management of finances.  

Above is a group picture of everyone receiving certificates for participating in the Abundant Life Financial Training seminar.  Pastor May is in the middle of the front row.

Above: Participants learn how to use the envelope system of managing family and small business finances.

Above are three of our Blessing Home Isan young adults, and all of them serve with Pastor Corn at Blessing Home Isan and Grace Church.  These three are key leaders in the efforts being led by Pastor Corn to plant Pioneer Pastor Churches in the Isan region.  The one in the middle is Kaimook (which means Pearl) and she is one of our newest college graduates.  We will introduce her and other Blessing Home graduates in next month's blog.

YOUR DONATIONS MAKE THIS MISSION POSSIBLE

If the Lord leads you to support Thailand NOW mission, you can donate by mail, online, or with estate gifts.

Donations by mail:  Checks can be made to Thailand NOW and sent to our treasurer at Thailand NOW, P.O. Box 56, Mannsville, KY 42758

Donations online:  Visit our website at >  https://thailandnow.org/donate

Gifts of stocks, bonds and other estate gifts: Please contact our treasurer, Terri Gabehart via email at terrigabe@windstream.net

Sherri and I are grateful to all of the faithful supporters who make this mission possible through your prayers and generosity.  We are now completing 20 years of service in Thailand and we look forward to continuing to serve the Lord in Thailand and throughout Asia, as the ministry has expanded.

Missions Mobilization in Central Asia

In March, we enjoyed the wonderful privilege of training pastors in Central Asia.  These church planting pastors serve in many nations such as Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan,  and Turkmenistan.  Most of these pastors serve in Muslim majority locations.  We were asked to give training on how to make disciples and plant churches in these Muslim communities, and we were moved by the hearts of these pastors to reach the lost for Christ.

The location of the training was in Kyrgyzstan (which is located between Russia and India) which is a Shiite Muslim majority nation.  The day before we flew to Kyrgyzstan, the war in Iran broke out and Ayatollah Khamenei (who is a Shiite high cleric) was killed.  Our team in Thailand did not want us to go, but we knew we must go and we are glad we did.  The training was done at a compound that was surrounded by thick concrete walls and a large solid iron gate.  We had to stay on the compound and could not leave, for safety sake.

We enjoyed the hospitality of the people of Kyrgyzstan and look forward to coming back for future trainings.

Graduation Ceremony at Global Theological Institute

For the past 16 years, we have supported Global Theological Institute with scholarships and for 13 years was their primary sponsor.  Many church planting pastors from many denominations have been trained at Global Theological Institute, including many Pioneer Pastors serving with Thailand NOW.

In April, Global Theological Institute had 18 graduates.  Three of them were recipients of Pioneer Pastor scholarships, all serving in different regions of Thailand.

We are especially proud of Pastor Bangon, pictured below, who is the founding pastor of Ban Rat Church in Nakhon Ratchasima province.  Bangon planted Ban Rat Church together with Pastor Corn and the youth and young adults of Blessing Home Isan.  The Lord is working in a powerful way through Bangon.

Easter Baptisms

It is common in Thailand for pastors to choose Easter as a day for baptism of new believers.  This fits in perfectly with the ancient tradition in church history of Easter baptisms.  There were many Pioneer Pastors that contacted us to invite us to the baptism ceremonies, but we were back in the States for Easter.  But we enjoyed the pictures that they sent.

Thailand is a Buddhist majority nation with a significant Muslim population.  Most new believers come out of Buddhism or Islam for a new life and faith in Jesus Christ.  Most Christians in Thailand are first generation Christians.  

Below are some of pictures sent by Pastors Sila and Wassana of Prasiri Wesleyan Church in Bangkok.  They travelled to Bangsaen Beach (near where we used to live) to conduct the baptisms.

YOUR DONATIONS MAKE THIS MISSION POSSIBLE

If the Lord leads you to support Thailand NOW mission, you can donate by mail, online, or with estate gifts.

Donations by mail:  Checks can be made to Thailand NOW and sent to our treasurer at Thailand NOW, P.O. Box 56, Mannsville, KY 42758

Donations online:  Visit our website at >  https://thailandnow.org/donate

Gifts of stocks, bonds and other estate gifts: Please contact our treasurer, Terri Gabehart via email at terrigabe@windstream.net

Church Multiplication - Train the Trainer Event in Bangkok AND A Mission Team Opportunity This Summer

Church Multiplication - Train the Trainer Event in Bangkok

Usually we post a few pictures when we have a training event, but this time we need to not post any pictures nor give names of those who participated in the Train the Trainer event in Bangkok.

In February, we had 25 veteran church multipliers from all over Asia come to Bangkok to be trained to be trainers of Church Multipliers.  This event was done as a collaboration with The River Network International, and we are grateful that they are giving away their curriculum so that churches may be planted throughout Asia.

We had participants from India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand, and the Philippines come, and many of them serve in places where evangelizing and planting new churches will cause them to be persecuted and imprisoned.   Sherri and I were in the midst of God's royalty, when we were with this group of veteran church multipliers.

One church multiplier from India was a quiet, shy woman who never boasted about how the Lord has used her.  It was others who told us that she has planted over 500 churches, many of them are 6th and 7th generation churches.  And now over 30,000 people worship every Sunday at these churches.

Another Indian church multiplier was recently released from prison for the crime of sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ.  

All of the participants will be taking the materials from the Train the Trainer event back home and will translate the materials into their own languages and then use these materials to train others to plant churches in their home countries.  We already have commitments for translation of materials into 14 languages.

On the last day of training, each participant made a church multiplication plan.  We were especially touched by one of the church multipliers from Myanmar.  Myanmar is currently under civil war, and the Myanmar military, which is controlled by the Burmese ethnic majority, is attacking the minority groups in various states in Myanmar.  This church multiplier from Myanmar just two weeks before the training,  lost his son-in-law, a grandson, and three other relatives when the Burmese air force bombed his village.  Instead of hating the Burmese and the military that killed his family, this church multiplier had compassion on the Burmese people, who are majority Buddhist.  When he revealed his church multiplication plan, a large portion of the plan was to make disciples of the Burmese majority and plant Burmese churches!  God's servants like this man truly are God's royalty!

We also invite you to participate in a missions team going to Thailand in July 2026.  Jeremy and Shelby Folkerts, who serve as Mission Mobilizers for Thailand NOW, will be leading this team.

Please visit this website for information on this mission team opportunity > https://thailandnowmission.blogspot.com/

The itinerary is on that website as well as an application form.

Thailand NOW is accepting applications for a team of up to 10 people to join Thailand NOW board members Jeremy and Shelby on a mission trip to Thailand from Jul 22 - Aug 2. The cost is $2,000 per person if sharing a room with another person. $2,500 for individual rooms. This covers all team expenses including in-country lodging, transportation, and food. This does not include flights or insurance. 

Finished applications should be sent to folkerts@thailandnow.org and funds should be sent to Thailand NOW, P.O. Box 56, Mannsville, KY 42758.  There is a deadline of April 22, 2026 (coming up soon) for receiving your application with a non-refundable deposit of $500.  The remaining funds can be received by June 1, 2026.

What we will do and what to expect

WHAT YOU WILL DO ON THIS MISSION TEAM

1. We will visit some of the Pioneer Pastor churches to pray with new believers and those in need.
2. We are working with Thai mission teams to do English Bible Camps at the Blessing Home Centers. We will bring crafts for the kids to do and will also lead in games. The Thai mission team will lead in singing Christian songs and will teach the Bible. We will also be engaging in basic English language conversation with the kids, to give them a chance to practice.
3. We will learn how the Thai church is growing rapidly in a multi-religious, multi-cultural context. 

WHAT TO EXPECT:

1. Heart-warming fellowship and worship: You will be working on projects side-by-side with Thai Christian brothers and sisters. As you seek to be a blessing to them, you will soon discover that they will bless you even more.
2. Housing: You will stay at hotels with air conditioning.
3. Food: Be prepared to eat Thai and other Asian foods that will be prepared for you. The foods will be made non-spicy. We will do our best to accommodate any dietary restrictions you have, but you need to list those on your application form so we can prepare. If you are a picky eater, you will want to bring snacks with you.

FLEXIBILITY:

The projects and schedules that we will follow will be flexible due to the context of ministry here.

Please e-mail us with any questions at folkerts@thailandnow.org.

YOUR DONATIONS MAKE THIS MISSION POSSIBLE

If the Lord leads you to support Thailand NOW mission, you can donate by mail, online, or with estate gifts.

Donations by mail:  Checks can be made to Thailand NOW and sent to our treasurer at Thailand NOW, P.O. Box 56, Mannsville, KY 42758

Donations online:  Visit our website at >  https://thailandnow.org/donate...

Gifts of stocks, bonds and other estate gifts: Please contact our treasurer, Terri Gabehart via email at terrigabe@windstream.net