“To be Thai is to be Buddhist” is a narrative Stephen Cox heard repeatedly when he first moved to Thailand and began learning Thai language and culture.
Cox is part of an IMB team engaging northern Thailand, and he specifically focuses on the city of Chiang Mai. In Thailand collectively, less than 1% of people are evangelical Christian.
Buddhism can seem inextricable from Thai culture, but Cox knew that wasn’t true. He’d heard testimonies of first-generation Thai believers. They grew up with little access to the gospel, making offerings and doing their best to earn merit at Buddhist temples. But nothing ever satisfied them until they found Christ.
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“Those kinds of stories are powerful,” Cox said. “And we wanted to find a way to empower God’s work in their lives and get those stories out.”
Cox went through digital engagement training that equipped him to use social media and digital advertising to engage people with meaningful access to the gospel.
‘Same thing, just in a new way’
“The church has always done this kind of broad seed-sowing evangelism,” Cox said. “We used to put tracts in people’s mailboxes. But people aren’t going to their mailboxes anymore; they’re going to their social media accounts. So we’re doing the same thing, just in a new way.”
Churches in the U.S. gave generously to fund the advertisements, and God provided Thai believers to coordinate the outreach and connect with anyone who responded to ads wanting to know more.
The team’s first campaign was just a simple social media advertisement, asking “How can we pray for you?” As the team began planning their second ad, Chiang Mai flooded, and many people lost everything. Additionally, a school bus in Bangkok filled with children caught fire, and more than half of the children on the bus were killed.
Hearts were heavy after these national tragedies, so Cox and his team designed a simple ad that acknowledged the world’s brokenness and linked to a gospel presentation, as well as disaster relief resources.
Later, they followed up with a third ad that linked to a site where people could watch a testimony of a Thai believer.
Response to these ads has exceeded Cox’s expectations. The ads have reached more than 980,000 people. 70,000 people alone have watched the testimony in full, and more than 500 people have sent messages expressing thanks or wanting to talk further.
“It’s just been incredible,” Cox said. “God put all the perfect pieces of the puzzle together.”
Ways to pray
Pray for Cox and his team as they continue to share more testimonies of Thai believers.
Pray that God will direct the ads to the Facebook feeds of those who need to see them, and that through digital engagement efforts, many Thais in Chiang Mai will put their faith in Christ.
Some names changed for security reasons.
EDITOR’S NOTE — This story was written by Stella McMillian and originally published by the International Mission Board.
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