Today is Day 4 of our 35 Day Spiritual Adventure of getting to know and then actively praying for Northern Thailand Impact Ministry (NTIM) and all of the various unreached people groups in and around Northern Thailand. Please join us and invite your friends to join us for this great time of seeking the face of God on behalf of millions who have never heard the message of our Lord Jesus.
DAY 4 – December 1, 2013 – “Thailand-Home to Over 70 Different Unreached People Groups.”
When most people think of the country of Thailand, they mistakenly think that the Thai people are all from of specific people group where everyone speaks the central Thai language in their homes. However, that simply and very clearly is not the case. Yes, most citizens of Thailand can speak central Thai but ethnically, linguistically, and culturally, Thailand is made up of between 80 – 100 different people groups. It is true that the Central Thai are the largest people group in Thailand with a population of around 20,000,000 according to Joshua Project statistics. However, what that also means is that out of the 70,000,000 people in Thailand, 71% are from a different ethnic group than the Central Thai group. What that means is that 71% of the Thai people speak a different language in their homes with their families and close friends than they do when they are in public or in school.
We live in the far Northern part of Thailand where there are dozens and dozens of different ethnic groups living here, some of them from neighboring countries as close as a 45 minute drive from our home. I can be at the border of Laos and the border of Myanmar (former Burma) in less than 45 minutes. I can be at the border of China in less than 6 hours by car. We truly are strategically located in a place with a great diversity of unreached people groups living all around us. Our church, Baan Athitaan Church, is a true community church made up of over 23 different people groups that meet together for worship every Sunday morning.
Prayer Example: “Heavenly Father, we thank you for the rich diversity of people groups in Thailand. We also thank you for planting a community church right in the heart of Northern Thailand and ask that you would help them to embrace the whole community. We ask you to be pleased to expand the impact of NTIM to these various unreached peoples and give NTIM an opportunity to be a vessel that you are pleased to use to reach many of the unreached ethnic groups in this part of your world. We pray this in the name of our Lord Jesus. Amen.”