Thailand Christian Leaders Urge Believers to Pray, Speak Out Amid Crisis
Churches in Thailand are being encouraged to put pressure on the Thai Government to ensure that it deals peacefully with thousands of protesters who have vowed to occupy the offices of the prime minister until he resigns.
Meanwhile, Chinese missionaries from Hong Kong ministering in Thailand have urged believers around the world to pray for the safety of local missionaries and also for those who will be attending an upcoming mission conference.
Early last week, close to 35,000 demonstrators stormed a state-run TV station and surrounded at least three ministries before finally invading the grounds of Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej 's office, the Government House.
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Since the Aug. 26 takeover, thousands of protestors affiliated with the People's Alliance for Democracy — a loosely knit group of royalists, wealthy and middle-class urban residents, and union activists — have remained ensconced at the compound the Government House under makeshift tents.
The standoff, which has virtually paralyzed the government for the past 12 days, is intended to oust the prime minister and his government, which has been accused of corruption and violating the constitution. The alliance protesters say Samak is a stooge of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was removed from power by a military coup in 2006 following months of street protests by the alliance.
On Friday, Samak said in a live radio broadcast that he had no intention of stepping down despite the resignation of Foreign Minister Tej Bunnag and the army chief's refusal to remove protesters from Government House by force.
"I am not resigning. I have to protect the democracy of this country," said Samak in the broadcast, while acknowledging that the crisis projected a "shameful" image of Thailand internationally.
Earlier this week, Samak declared a state of emergency in Bangkok after bloody riots between government supporters and opponents left one person dead and dozens injured.
In addition to the PM's office, demonstrators occupied the landing zones and runways at Phuket International Airport, stranding an estimated 15,000 tourists from other countries before the airport was reopened Sunday afternoon.
Furthermore, a Methodist missionary working in Thailand reported in an email on Aug. 28 that the national railways workers labor union had decided that day to go on strike in support of the PAD protestors, threatening to disrupt the service of the national railroad transportation. And according to rumors, water and electricity companies that are opposed to the government may also be planning to cut off the water and electricity services.
In response to the crisis, the Rev. Pradit Takerngrangsarit, president of the Payap University in Thailand, urged churches to "express to the ruling regime the need to deal with people in a peaceful way and not to use arms or weapons to crack down on unrest.
"Human rights and human life are the most important factors, rather than being in power based on the blood of the people," he told Ecumenical News International.
Hong Kong missionaries of Bangkok CCMA Agape Church & Language Resources center, meanwhile, urged everyone to pray for the national security of Thailand and in particular to pray for the leaders of PAD to be able to engage in peaceful dialogues.
The missionaries reported in their blog that Bangkok's state of emergency has not brought any disruptions or dangers to the local missionaries, but that prayers were still needed.
The latest crisis also comes ahead of two top-level Christian conferences that are scheduled to kick off in Thailand over the next two months.
In October, the World Evangelical Alliance will be hosting its 2008 General Conference in Thailand, drawing over 500 leaders from national and regional Evangelical alliances from around the world. WEA is a network of churches in 128 nations that have each formed an evangelical alliance and over 100 international organizations joining together to give a worldwide identity, voice and platform to more than 420 million evangelical Christians.
So far, no special announcements or changes have been made regarding its general conference in Thailand in light of the current crisis.
The Chinese Coordination Center of World Evangelism, on the other hand, has urged prospective participants of its Senior Mission Conference to gather in Thailand with faith.
Seeing the recent social upheaval and instability in Thailand, CCCOWE reminded participants how Satan always brings disruptions in the country of meeting or causes the main-speaker to get sick or experience difficulties, preventing some to people from attending. The center, which was established in 1976 to mobilize Chinese churches to spread the gospel to nations all over the world, encouraged those who have already registered to participate while looking at the testimonies of those who attended past conferences believing in the protection of God.
Since from Sept. 2, the CCCOWE has been praying each day at noon for the Senior Mission Conference. The gathering is to scheduled to begin on Sept. 9 in Thailand.
Christian Today reporter Anne Thomas in London and Gospel Herald reporter Luke Leung in Hong Kong contributed to this article.
