posted on January 1, 2024
aXcess: Join a Church-Planting Team to Reach Young People in Thailand
This is a position for someone with a heart for reaching youth and young adults in an area where most churches consist only of the elderly and children. Thailand is a Buddhist country that has freedom of religion, but less than 0.2 percent of the population of this region are Christian. Come and use your skills to work alongside others in a newly formed church-planting team! Work in partnership with other Alliance workers and Thai believers to plant churches in the Udon Thani Province in northeastern Thailand. There is potential in future years for this worker to come alongside our Thai national church youth director to help him/her develop youth ministries, as this is a problem nationwide.
Position Type
- International worker (IW)–aXcess–Clergy Track
- Church planting, discipleship, evangelism, leadership development, youth/young adults
- Partially funded
- Single or couple
Responsibilities:
- Find creative ways to share the gospel with young people in a Thai context
- Disciple new believers
- Develop and maintain strong relationships with Thai believers, national church leaders, and pastors
- Make and develop relationships with young people that allow ministry to flow as an expression of faith and genuine concern for this segment of the population
- Help to develop young Thai leaders within the church plant
Required Qualifications:
- A recognized bachelor’s degree
- Completion of at least 30 hours of Bible/theology/ministry and 15 hours of intercultural studies
- Spouse must hold a recognized bachelor’s degree and have completed at least 18 hours of Bible/theology, 12 hours of missions/ministry studies (with a minimum of 6 hours in cross-cultural or missions studies)
- Completion of Alliance Polity course
- Completion of Alliance ordination/consecration
- Minimum of two years successful Alliance Licensed Ministry Experience
- A minimum Modern Language Aptitude Test (MLAT) score of 60
Biblical Characteristics Desired:
- Kingdom-minded
- Biblically grounded
- Spirit-dependent
- Competently skilled
- Self-aware
- Self-disciplined
Timeline for Deployment:
Summer/fall 2025. All appointees are required to attend a cross-cultural and language acquisition program and pre-field course/experience prior to deploying.
General Information:
Udon Thani is a rapidly growing city of about half a million people with large shopping
malls, grocery stores, fun cafés, Western restaurants, and modern gyms. Wi-Fi and cellular data are inexpensive with good service throughout Thailand. Western products and foods are readily available. For nature lovers, just outside the city you can find yourself quickly in the midst of rural living—rice fields and water buffalo are often seen. There are several large parks in Udon and numerous outdoor activities. The Thai people are friendly and gracious, but spiritually, the people are in bondage as they don’t know freedom in Christ. Current team members have found comfortable, modern rental homes. Living arrangements will be in the local community of the new church plant in order to introduce others to Jesus, mentor them in biblical faithfulness, and partner with a team to plant new communities of faith.
World Factbook – Thailand
Joshua Project – Thailand
Language Expectations:
Language is an essential part of ministry. Those who do not know the language will attend a language study program. The goal will be to speak, read, and write the language at a functional level in order to mentor, teach, and train others.
The successful applicant(s) will receive one year of intense language classes followed by ongoing language and cultural acquisition. The second year will emphasize opportunities to use the language in different settings and grow in proficiency. The mastery of the Thai language is a lifelong learning process.
Health Considerations:
Modern and inexpensive medical care is available throughout Thailand. Udon Thani has several great hospitals, including one that is accredited by the U.S. Joint Commission International. Medications can be easily and inexpensively obtained.
Expectations for Spouse:
Spousal roles vary based on the spouse’s gifts, training, and abilities as well as the needs of the team. It is expected that both spouses will be meaningfully involved in meeting ministry objectives depending on the nature of family roles, children, etc.
Children’s Educational Plan and Options:
The current team members in Udon have chosen to send their children to the International Community School Udon Thani. This Christian school provides a high-quality, American-curriculum education. Homeschooling is an option for those who desire to do so.
Compensation Package
The successful applicant(s) will receive a full compensation package with the expectation that, once appointed, efforts will be made to raise a portion of support costs through the applicant’s network of friends, family, local church, or other resources. Information on support costs will be made available upon application. Training and/or coaching in fundraising is available.
Whole-Life Health
As part of an evangelical denomination, we are committed to biblical holism, which is modeled and reflected through our work. Due to this commitment, part of the required qualifications includes optimal emotional, spiritual, and physical health. These will be assessed during the application process.
Importance Clarification
Applicant(s) should be aware that serving in the international world often requires a higher degree of grace and flexibility. For example, overseas teams can be suddenly and unexpectedly impacted by illness, government decisions, financial realities, team changes, or other factors beyond the team’s control. The challenge for applicants is that these factors can sometimes necessitate the sudden redefining of a position, which may take place before, during, or after the application/interview process has begun or is completed.
Questions?
Please email the IPO office at [email protected].