Doing the Gospel in Northeast Thailand by James Gustafson

I first saw Tu in the late seventies when she came to apply for a job with the Center for Church Planting and Church Growth which we had just started in Udon Thani, Thailand. She was eighteen and just a slip of a girl, shy and quiet. We needed several secretaries to help us catalog data from our growing integrated agricultural work. Tu got the job and began a journey that was to bring her into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and into the hearts of each of us on the team.

For over a year Tu studied God's word. As she grew in her understanding of who Jesus Christ was and what he had come to do for her, she "was struck by the contrast of his grace with the law" that was the heart of the Buddhism she had learned while growing up. At first, she could not believe that it was true, but as she continued to study the Word and to build relationships with members of the team, she became convinced of the reality of God's grace and accepted it with joy.

When the Issaan Development Foundation (IDF) began in 1983, Tu was part of the team chosen to head up that organization. She worked first as assistant to the head of the development department and then became department head. Over the past ten years Tu has seen the "integrated holistic development work of the IDF grow and expand to include extension programs in agro-ecosystem, agro-forestry, water resources, vocational training (sewing), and primary health. In 1993 she turned over fourteen village church agro-ecosystem cooperatives to the Thailand Covenant Church and continues to work in over forty villages with the various development extension programs that she and her team have developed over the years.

Recently, Tu was elected by the board of directors of the IDF to be the vice-president of the organization. Today, she is acting president and as usual she is allowing God to work through her full-time.

Whether it is meeting with government officials from the social welfare department of the labor department or meeting with local villagers in one of the many project villages, Tu is equally at home. God has gifted her with his in-sight and discernment and has given her a spirit of courage which is critical to the work of holistic ministry in Thailand.

When I saw Tu on a short trip back to Udon last October the IDF was going through rough times with some previous employees who were trying to cause trouble. The impact of this pressure was doubled by the fact that in Thai society behavior that causes confrontation and crises is considered socially unacceptable and to be avoided. As I talked to Tu and the rest of the management committee I asked how they were taking the pressure and what they thought we should do. Tu spoke up immediately: "We have given 'grace upon grace' to these people who are opposing us and God has blessed us because we have done this. I believe that what we have to do now is to hold firm to our faith in God and do all that we can to bring them back to their senses. I am willing to do whatever it takes to accomplish this."

I thank God for Tu. I thank God that she is my friend and has covenanted with me and the rest of our team to work together to "do the gospel" in northeast Thailand. I thank God that as she has committed herself to him, he has em-powered her to do what she in and of herself could never have done, to counter the values of her own culture and allow his grace to live out in her life.

This article originally appeared in the World Mission Newsletter section of the Covenant Companion, May, 1996.