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Last Update :Aug 26th' 10 |
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 Visitor #5891 |
HISTORY OF THE THAILAND BAPTIST MISSIONARY FELLOWSHIP (TBMF)
The American Baptist Foreign Mission Society ( ABF MS) began missionary work in Thailand on 22nd March, 1833 with the arrival of Rev. and Mrs. John Taylor Jones. The first Protestant church in Asia , the Maitrichit Chinese Baptist Church , was organized in Bangkok on 1st July, 1837 . From 1900 to 1950 there were no American Baptist missionaries stationed in Thailand . However, Rev. and Mrs. A.Q. Van Benschoten, Jr. arrived in 1951 to work among the Karen tribe of northern Thailand . Then with the arrival of Rev. and Mrs. Carl M. Capen in October 1952 to work among the Chinese-speaking peoples, the mission was considered re-opened. At this time, it was understood that the American Baptists would work among the ethnic Chinese in the Central region and then also the tribal people living in the Northern and Western regions of Thailand . The Australian Baptist Missionary Society (ABMS) wanted to expand its' work in Asia and so after consultations with the Board of International Ministries of the American Baptist Churches (formerly the ABF MS), it decided to join with the American Baptist work, using the existing mission office in Thailand . In 1972 Miss Betty Edmonds came to work at the Chiang Mai Co-educational Center (now the CMIS) and Miss Josie Falla came to work at the Kwai River Christian Hospital in Kanchanaburi Province . With the presence of both the Americans and the Australians within the Baptist Mission, a new constitution was adopted in August 1974, forming the "Thailand Baptist Missionary Fellowship". As early as 1972, the Baptist Union of Sweden (BUS) expressed a desire to open work in Thailand . After a period of negotiations between the BUS and the Board of International Ministries (BIM), and with the Thailand Karen Baptist Convention, a set of guidelines were adopted in 1975 for working together through the TBMF. The first BUS missionaries, Anders and Maria Hovemyr, arrived in July of 1976. In 1988, an agreement with the Baptist Missionary Society (BMS) from the U.K. resulted in a fourth mission group being added to the TBMF. The first BMS missionary to Thailand , Miss Jacqui Wells, arrived in November, 1988 and was assigned to work with the Karen Baptist Convention. In 1992, Eiji and Emi Osato of the Japan Baptist Union (JBU) came to work with the Karen Baptist Convention. In September of 1993, the JBU then joined TBMF as the fifth official member. At first augmenting the work of the BUS, then later finding their own roles to play, the Baptist Union of Norway (BUN) has also been active in Thailand for many years. Now in February of 2006, they have also joined TBMF becoming the seventh member organization. The first missionaries to come serving under the banner of the BUN are Oyvind and Phethsamai Hadland. They will work with the Lahu Baptists based in Chiang Mai. The above mentioned missionary organizations today work together through their membership in the TBMF and are officially referred as "Cooperating Boards". The purpose of these Cooperating Boards and the TBMF is to strengthen the work of the national Church bodies which we have partnership with here in Thailand . The TBMF is also affiliated with the Church of Christ in Thailand (CCT) and enjoys a cooperative relationship with the CCT, by being involved in various programs and ministries related to this federated church body. The TBMF maintains close relationships with the following national church bodies and organizations, in addition to the CCT itself. These are the Chinese Baptist Churches of the 12th District of the CCT, the Kwai River association of churches in the 16th District, the Karen Baptist Convention of the 10th & 19th Districts, the Lahu Baptist Convention of the 18th District, the Ahka Churches of Thailand , and the Christian Service Foundation. The Cooperating Boards of the TBMF maintain a relationship with these local organizations both directly and through representative personnel on the field. The TBMF provides counsel and assistance in matters regarding administration, the assignment of missionaries, project development, finance & funding, planning & strategy for the future, program development, and the interpretation of policy. All this is accomplished through a process that involves mutual concern, cooperation and dialogue with the partner churches in Thailand which TBMF relates to.
At present, the missionaries and volunteers which comprise the TBMF come from a total of about ten different nationalities and number about 40 - 45 in all. The various kinds of ministries which TBMF personnel are involved in would include:
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