Practitioner reflections on the methodologies of church planting movements in the Thai setting

Abstract

This article had its beginnings in an invitation from a missions journal wanting a contribution on church planting movements (CPM) in the Buddhist world. The request was to look at CPMs in the Buddhist world along these lines: what do they look like, how do they happen and how can we prepare the ground for them? My first response was that I am the wrong person. I am the poster boy for missionaries working in Buddhist places that have seen little fruit. I have spent my career in the context of a small Thai church organization with all of its warts and complexities. I have read much on CPM, tried things personally, and endeavored to talk with Thai pastors about my discoveries and have gotten virtually no traction at any level. I frankly told the person who made the invitation that I had many more questions than answers. He was kind enough to say that they did not mind questions and encouraged me to proceed. However, at the end of the day, I was unable to make their publication deadline. But the invitation got my mind working and I felt it was a positive exercise to clarify my own thinking on these matters, so I decided to press on and develop the essay.