In November 2014, I was a part of team headed to Thailand. It was my first time going to the country. I would return to Thailand three more times, but it was this trip in particular where God birthed within me the initial burden for the country and its people. A burden so deep in my bones, I couldn’t stop thinking about the people who live there and the absence of Jesus.

To say it is a depraved, Godless land would be an understatement. During my time in Thailand, I have seen a caste system erode and devalue human life, where the perception is that people have less value than animals. I have seen parents sell their children to strangers in coffee shops, bars and in the mountains. I have seen children born with HIV go from dumpsters to special homes where they are left to a life of isolation and premature death. I have talked with girls and boys, women and men who were forced into a life of sex slavery. I have seen those who exploit others sit at bars in the early hours of the morning trying to rid themselves of the memories of what happened just hours earlier. I’ve been on the phone with a john, someone who purchases another human for sex, who had a gun to his head asking me why he shouldn’t pull the trigger. Memories of being in combat, losing loved ones, and being rejected by society push him to look for hope and peace in all of the wrong places. I have seen widows, orphans and those with disabilities forced to the streets with little ability or chance to provide for themselves. I have heard pastors preach and berate their people that they don’t have God’s favor because they aren’t doing enough for God. I have seen apathetic church leaders not call or equip their people to something greater than themselves.

Although these are evil and unjust events, steeped in the generational sin that enslaves Thailand, they are only surface in nature. The real issue is there is little to no presence of Jesus in the country. Jesus changes hearts. Jesus changes one’s affection. Jesus changes one’s identity and value. Any social, economical, governmental change will not have a long-term affect nor would it rectify the generational sin the country faces. It is only when the Thai people hear the name of Jesus and the proclamation of who He is and what He has done with repentance and faith, will the people and villages in Thailand begin to see change in their families and in their communities.

In 2016, I lived in Thailand for six months. Originally sent on a mission to come alongside a former partner of the North Canton Chapel, I see now how God used that time to both connect me with specific people and places and to prepare me for what is ahead. God put all of those connections together to clearly call me to what and who He burdened me for years ago—the people of Thailand.

During my stay, I knew God was calling me to Thailand to plant a movement of His gospel among His people so that it may be reproduced so that God’s presence would cover the country. I was just unaware of God’s timeline.

In August of 2017, God made His timeline known. Within a period of two weeks, the following events took place. I received calls and texts from Thai people and when the dust settled, God had given me the following: a full-time translator; the possibility to be the pastor at a local church in Chiang Mai; an opportunity to train pastors from Chan, Karen, and Thai descent; opportunity to open a seminary; access to two specific villages in northern Thailand who have never heard the gospel; a meeting place for a gathering of believers within a local Thai language school; a community of American believers for support and accountability; and affirmation of my calling from Dr. Ryan Johnston, Lead Pastor of NCC.

My projected launch date to arrive in Thailand is April 2018. The goodness and greatness of God is matchless. The clarity to what He has called me to do is unquestionable. I believe God is moving in Thailand and stirring His people in His search for worshippers for a movement of making disciples by God’s grace, for God’s glory, so that His peace and presence will saturate the earth. I believe this movement has greater capacity than just Thailand. As believers listen and obey God in faith, they will be called out to their Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and the outermost parts of the world. We want to see southeast Asia saturated with the gospel of Jesus Christ by Spirit-led worshippers of Jesus.  I am compelled to join and be used by Him in what He is doing.