Putting plans into action

A few weeks ago a small group of youth leaders met together with a blank piece of paper on the wall.  We had gathered to discuss how we could work together to more effectively reach and disciple Karen young people living in the city of Chiang Mai. It was soon clear that this was no simple task - once we had added the three main organisations involved and some of the pressure factors affecting young people, the picture was looking quite complex!  In fact, we had filled five of these large sheets with ideas and plans by the time we had finished.

Praying and talking about closer cooperation

Not headline grabbing stuff, you might be thinking - no conversions, no baptisms, no great spiritual awakening happened here.  But actually, in the long term, I suspect that conversations like this between key leaders can lead to more changed lives and have more impact on local churches than many public events.  Especially if these talks lead to better cooperation between local churches and parachurch organisations, and strategic plans being put in place for more effective youth ministry.


Indeed, these are exciting times for the youth ministry of the Thailand Karen Baptist Convention.  There's a developing sense of a shared identity among young people in the city - yesterday afternoon I attended a joint youth service for four of the city-based churches here in Chiang Mai.  It was great to see about 90 young people worshipping God together and enjoying some really creative and innovative activities planned by their leaders. They also were doing some more traditional things - such as reciting the Ten Commandments, the names of the 12 disciples, and the books of the Bible!

A tri-lingual recitation of the books of the Bible

Please pray that the Karen youth leaders will be able to put their plans into place and effectively disciple these young people - who are often the only Christians in their schools, colleges, universities and work places.  Pray for closer cooperation between the various groups working in Chiang Mai.  The Karen churches, and especially their young people, have tremendous potential for reaching out to the staunchly Buddhist majority Thai peoples. That potential is personified in a young man called Chi, who was appointed yesterday as the Youth Pastor of one of the Karen church plants in Chiang Mai. Please pray for him as he starts work this week.

Chi - a new Youth Pastor in Chiang Mai