This article appeared in our quarterly magazine, Xpress, in 2004

  By JF and ES - Mainland Southeast Asia

John Fain, the regional leader for South Asia/Pacific, recently wrote the following:  “Have you ever spent much time thinking about Cambodia or Vietnam, Thailand or Myanmar? In many ways, I wonder if the Buddhist world is not one of the best kept secrets in missions. As Buddhists do not tend to be involved in the extreme violence of radical Islam or Hinduism, they are not as often in the lens of the world press.  Living in a predominantly Buddhist country and seeing just how subtle is the darkness that blinds them (at least in this context), it is understandable that they tend to fade into the background of the world stage.

“Yet, the spiritual needs of the Buddhist world are staggering.  Did you know that there have been over 140 years of mission efforts in Thailand, yet the Thai remain the most unreached people group of Southeast Asia?  Their thriving tourist industry and heartwarming politeness mask the deep spiritual needs of their hearts.  Please pray for a great outpouring of God’s Spirit in this region of the world.  Our desire is to see His light penetrate the spiritual darkness of Southeast Asia and to set these people free!”

This article was published in our Xpress Magazine Sept 2007

by K P and T S  Pioneers workers in South Asia

There is nothing in the world quite like the regions of South Asia and Southeast Asia.  As Sarah McDonald states regarding India,…it “is beyond statement, for anything you say, the opposite is also true.  It’s rich and poor, spiritual and material, cruel and kind, angry but peaceful, ugly and beautiful... It’s all the extremes.” It is a complex mix of life and yet arguably nothing is more overwhelming than the situation found today in this part of the world:  the sheer volume of people, the variety of cultures and range of religious beliefs, the entanglement of corrupt governments and the complications of the massive population of desperately poor people, all mixed together in the melting pot of humanity.