Presenting Prasiri United Methodist Church

Phrasiri UMC Bangkok

Phrasiri United Methodist Church in Bangkok formally known as “Phradumri” UMC was started by Pastor Sila Janthanava and his wife Vassana Janthanava in 2008. In its infancy, the congregation started to gather for Bible study and Christian fellowship. Later, Sila saw the need and opportunity to bring this group of Christians into a formal gathering and opened the opportunity to grow in Faith and numbers for the Glory of God. Their first meeting was in the 430 square feet living room of the Janthanava’s family.  Their first meeting gathered eight people on November 16^th 2008. One year later the numbers grew from eight to 30 and the living room was too small for the gathering.  They decided to move to a four story store front.  With the limited resources they had, they helped to clean and rearranged the first floor to be their Sanctuary. There is a little outdoor kitchen on the second floor for the fellowship meals which they offer every Sunday.  The rent is 12,000 Baht ($400.00) per month for the first year, 14,000 Baht ($460.00) for the second year and 16,000 Baht ($530.00) for the third year.  They have yet to reach the end of the first anniversary in the space.  The average attendance is around 45, which is after a recent split about a month ago.  The congregation is counting that as a blessing to them because they see the need and are motivated to work harder to
bring the Gospel into their community. The goal for 2011 is to have 150 persons in attendances before the year end.

                The Thailand Initiative is supporting this congregation by paying the pastor’s salary and recently, is supporting 10,000 Baht ($330.00) towards the renting of their space of worship. We also are actively looking for programs and volunteers to help this congregation with their outreach. This is our first United Methodist Church in the Capital of Thailand.  I am currently preaching at this church twice a month and teaching Bible Study every Monday.  We are looking for funds to renovate the top three floors so that we can use them as meeting rooms and classrooms. We will also use this space for our Outreach program where we will have English Classes and tutoring sessions for children in the housing units that surround the Church.  The plan is to provide English classes and tutoring to the children, which provide a witness opportunity and allows us to follow up with their parents and family members.  Less than a mile from our Church is also a major University where we plan to extend our ministry in the future.

                We are currently looking for a Church in the US, who would see the potential fruit of this Ministry and be a partner in prayer and financial support.  The current need is $3,000.00 per year to ensure that this congregation can support their outreach programs and serve the church
and the local community by spreading the love of Christ to this predominantly
Buddhist city and country.

We are also looking for volunteer mission teams with the resources
to renovate the upstairs spaces to be used for ministry.  A onetime grant of $3,000.00 to $3,500.00
would help with the renovating and painting of the upper floor spaces and furnish
the rooms for Sunday School, group meetings and outreach projects.