A CCI Coordinator’s Journey |
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Greetings!
One of the 149 people groups in Myanmar is the Karen people group. They are also known as the Kayin. Most Karen people live in the Kayah State of Myanmar, which borders Thailand. There are about 5 million Karen people. Over 3 million live in Myanmar. About 1 million moved to Thailand. Others live in Western countries, like the US, Canada, Australia, and Sweden. Most Karen people in Thailand farm in the hill country of Thailand. They are one of the many hill tribes of Thailand.
In the 1800s, Baptist missionaries began evangelizing the animist Karen people. Animism is the belief that spirits inhabit inanimate objects, such as rocks, trees, and mountains. People endeavor to live in harmony with the spirits through offerings and following widely held taboos. Offend the spirits, and they will curse you. Many Karen people believed in Christ through the Baptist missionaries’ evangelization efforts and churches were started.
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However, in 1949, the Burmese military junta targeted the Karen people and began an unprecedented genocide against the Karen people in Myanmar. Hundreds of thousands of Karen people were killed. Many were displaced into refugee camps, while many crossed over to Thailand. |
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In 1960, Chatri’s grandparents moved to the mountains of Mae Hong Son in Thailand, fleeing from persecution and genocide in Myanmar. They were animists who worshipped spirits and made offerings to them. One day Chatri’s uncle went to town and was invited to study the Bible. He learned about God’s love for him and how Jesus Christ was born, lived a perfect life, died a horrible death on the cross, and rose again on the third day. He learned how through faith in Jesus Christ, he could have forgiveness of his sins and eternal life. He believed in Jesus Christ, returned to the mountains, and shared the Good News with Chatri’s parents, Sasi and Bunang. They also believed in the Lord Jesus Christ. |
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Later in 1984, Bunang gave birth to a baby boy, and they named him Chatri. Chatri was born into a Christian family.
He grew up going to church and hearing the stories of the Bible. However, he did not trust in Jesus Christ until he was 19 years old. When he was 19, Chatri had a terrible stomachache. He prayed to God and told God that if He helped him recover from this severe stomachache, he would submit to God and become a servant working for Him. Chatri recovered from his stomachache. He repented of his sins and trusted the Lord Jesus Christ. He also committed to serving the Lord at the same time.
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God revealed His calling to Chatri when he was a child, but he chose to ignore it because he did not like this kind of work. He wanted to live his life the way he wanted. God continued to call him as he grew until one night when the Lord spoke to him from 1 Timothy 4:12-13. “Let no man despise thy youth.”
Chatri testified, "I totally sacrificed myself for God. I decided to study His Word, and He was always speaking to me about equipping hill-tribe church leaders in the mountain area where seminary graduates usually will never go." But he did not know where to start.
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Pastor Chatri, CCI Area Coordinator |
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In 2000, Chatri started his journey in serving the Lord at Ruk-Mae-In Church. At that time, he served together with Pastor Wattanachai Jao and his family. They started church planting with only five members. Chatri moved from his village to live in Ruk-Mae-In village to better reach the people. Pastor Wattanachai appointed him to take care of this church because he needed to travel to other churches he had started. About 95% of pastors worldwide do not have theological training, and many are pastors of multiple churches.
So, Chatri began with a cell group for adults every Sunday and Sunday school for children. Chatri served in this way for four years. The number of teenagers increased, and they started serving alongside him. Chatri continued serving there for more than ten years, faithfully leading cell groups, evangelizing unbelievers, and teaching the Bible. Chatri faithfully did the work, and God multiplied the work to more than 100 people.
After ten years at Ruk-Mae-In Church, God burdened Chatri to start a new church. He started praying earnestly, and the Lord gave him a clear vision – to evangelize unbelievers with the Gospel, disciple leaders, and plant churches for His kingdom.
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He moved to Mae-La-Luang, and God provided him with a wife. They started a new church called Sang-Prasert-Mae-La-Luang Church. They began with ten members altogether, and the church grew to 60 members.
He then enrolled in Chiang Mai Theological Seminary. After he graduated, he still did not know how to start equipping hill-tribe Karen pastors, even though he still had the burden to do so. The Lord led him to meet with Pastor Kittikun (CCI Thailand National Director), and Kittikun introduced CCI to him. Chatri said, “God is the one who called me, motivated me and led me all the way. This is not human effort but a divine invitation.”
In 2012, Chatri attended the Teacher Training Workshop (TTW) and became a CCI-certified trainer. Kittikun began to mentor and work with him, especially in the CCI principles of the discipleship relationship. Later, Chatri became the CCI coordinator for the Karen people group in Thailand.
Since 2012, Chatri has led three CCI classes with 60 church leaders through the BTCP (Bible Training Centre for Pastors) curriculum. Twelve (12) of the graduates are assistant teachers with Chatri. Over 30 of his graduates are serving full-time. Eight (8) have now started new churches. We are also translating all our curricula into the Karen language, which will also be used in churches in Myanmar.
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“God is the one who called me, motivated me and led me all the way. This is not human effort but a divine invitation.”
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In March 2022, one of his graduates, Yuttachai, started a church in his rural village in western Thailand with a small number of believers that has now multiplied. He is equipping his church and spreading the Gospel throughout his village. This is the multiplying fruit of Chatri’s ministry.
Chatri’s journey illustrates the very core of CCI’s multiplication strategy. Chatri, once a Bible student, became a CCI-certified teacher who equipped and trained students. When Kittikun saw his potential for serving with CCI, he equipped him to serve as a coordinator for the Karen people, and Chatri started overseeing training classes. Every year we see the fruit of Chatri’s students. Today, more than half of his students are training others or planting churches. We praise God for Chatri’s commitment to teaching and reaching those in rural, mountainous, hard-to-reach places.
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The church planted by Chatri's student Yuttachai |
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As an area coordinator, Chatri is training new CCI teachers through Teacher Training Workshops (TTWs), overseeing and mentoring newly certified teachers, distributing training materials, and expanding the ministry into unreached areas.
The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Nearly every day, we receive invitations from untrained pastors worldwide asking for our CCI training.
By equipping Chatri, mentoring him, and resourcing him with financial resources and oversight, Chatri has been able to multiply disciple-makers. We prayerfully look for men like Chatri who can become multipliers. It only takes $300 per month to support one coordinator. Coordinators are the primary means of expanding the CCI ministry.
We ask you to prayerfully consider making a monthly investment to support new coordinators and become a CCI champion helping us equip and multiply local leaders. YOUR investment can help more leaders be trained so the Gospel can expand into unreached areas. The world needs Jesus.
Will you help us equip more pastors and church leaders for the harvest?
Grace and Peace,
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David Nelson
President & Founder
Crossing Cultures International
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For God to guide us to find faithful pastors and church leaders to be equipped.
For God to open the doors for more Teacher Training Workshops.
For God to touch the hearts of His people to start supporting a coordinator.
Sign up to become a CCI Intercessor here.
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Consider supporting one or more coordinators at $300 per month.
to select the coordinator you would like to support.
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Join a coordinator's team and get to know them through emails, phone calls, Facebook Messenger, and WhatsApp. This will greatly encourage your heart as you become a partner for the Gospel. Choose a coordinator and sign up for their monthly email news updates.
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The CCI Fall Tour is underway! Please continue to pray for good health, safe travels, and endurance. We thank the Lord for the wonderful reception we are receiving from churches and friends of the ministry.
To follow along on our journey, visit our Facebook Page or type in #CCIFallTour in the search box on Facebook.
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