From Least-Reached to Church Planters

How God used devastating floods to introduce a community to Jesus and call new believers to share the hope within them.

“Eighteen months ago, they were Buddhists struggling through life,” Kirk recalls. “Now they are leading people to faith and helping start new churches.”

Since floods devastated a community in Southeast Asia in the fall of 2024, Kirk and his Christar teammates have seen God bring eternal transformation in a place where the majority of people have yet to hear the gospel. And it started not with this team but with national believers seeking to reach their neighbors.

After the floods swept through, a group of Christians from a local church was the first to reach out and help the residents of this community. They began visiting the small neighborhood of about 10 homes, assisting with cleanup and seeking to share the hope of Christ within them.

When Kirk’s team learned what their local believing friends were doing, they looked for ways to come alongside them in ministry. Team members began accompanying them on their visits, getting to know members of the community and helping them get the supplies they needed.

One woman, Nin, seemed especially touched by the group’s service. As a child, Nin had been to church, but after a bad experience with her dad, she had no desire to return. But someone had suggested she try prayer, and after the flood she gave it a shot.

Seeing God answer through the help of His people opened her heart to the good news. Neither the government nor her family had responded with assistance, but Christians had.

“Every time we visited her, she was very open to us sharing about the gospel, about spiritual matters,” Alice, a member of the Christar team, shares. “She was open to us coming every week.” And so, that’s what the team of local believers and Christar workers did.

At first Nin’s husband, Sawat, sat to the side and declared his disinterest, telling her, “You can be a Christian first.” But he still listened.

As the weeks passed, he began engaging more in the Bible studies and responding to questions. “He would come up with really thoughtful answers,” recalls Charis, another member of the Christar team. “And every now and then we would ask him, ‘What do you think now? … Would you like to follow Jesus?”

The first time he said no. The second time he said maybe. And then, as Christmas approached, he decided to place his faith in Christ. Both he and Nin celebrated Christ’s birth as new believers in Him.

The couple began inviting their neighbors to the Bible study, and the group grew. Another couple, Mali and Krit, soon professed faith in Jesus. Six believers were baptized on Easter 2025.

As the months passed, God began to give this group a growing burden to reach members of their families who still didn’t know Christ. Early in 2026, two couples in the group began visiting Mali’s home village, about 40 minutes away, to share the hope they’d found.

During the first visit, one couple shared their testimony and asked if the group could come back to share more. After receiving a yes, they continue to travel to this community to share stories from Scripture, tell more of their testimonies and worship. Members of the Christar team accompanied them weekly but rejoiced to see them take the lead.

Their testimony was powerful. As one member shared, "The flood brought a lot of water and flooded our homes, but that flood also brought Jesus to us."

In early 2026, three members of Mali’s home village professed faith in Christ, and a small second-generation group of believers has begun to gather there as well. “The best part is that the local believers are leading it,” Kirk says. “Our team helps them prepare and debrief, but they are the ones sharing, discipling and gathering people.”

“It's been such a blessing and privilege to witness not just their personal spiritual growth but also their obedience to the burden that the Lord has placed on their hearts to reach their loved ones,” Alice shares. “God is working here. And there are people whose hearts have been prepared to hear the gospel.”

As they’ve rejoiced in what God is doing, the Christar team has sought ways to equip these local believers to minister effectively and help the church grow in a predominantly Buddhist region where most people are still cut off from the good news of Jesus. In February, the team held a three-day training in sharing the gospel, discipleship and church planting. Through it, the core group of local believers learned and practiced skills that they immediately applied in leading the small gathering in the second village.

“Our role is just being catalysts for those local believers. … A local partner is going to be more effective,” Charis explains, sharing that God is bringing fruit through their local friends’ ability to connect with people and share the gospel in the context of relationships. “For our team it’s really more about empowering them, giving them the tools, giving them the support and coaching for them to go out and do it. … God is working here and it's not really our work. … We get to be a part of it, which is a really great gift.”

Participate Through Prayer:

• Praise God for preparing the hearts of people in Southeast Asia to embrace the gospel!
• Pray for continued boldness and wisdom for this group of local believers as they share their faith and lead the second-generation gathering.
• Ask for wisdom for Christar workers in coming alongside local believers to continue to expand the Body of Christ in this region.