MERGE, a Covenant ministry which trains and sends teams from US churches, has long desired to connect with the work of the Covenant in Thailand. This has become a reality with our first team in June 2024—a team Ruthie facilitated, along with church leadership in Roi Et. Bill Johnson and his son, Lucas Johnson, were our first Merge team, coming from Salem Covenant Church in MN!

They worked hard—visiting 3 different schools, with a programs we helped them design, teaching English and sports! These schools, many poorly-resourced, welcome input and provide opportunities to share our faith in this Buddhist context. They have also opened opportunities for Thai church members to develop relationships with teachers. On this trip our Thai friends were able to answer questions for some teachers who were genuinely interested in their faith.