Global Partner Highlight: Asia Christian Services

Jan 30, 2020

“We have two new guests coming consistently now who are both Buddhists!” – Pastor Adam in Thailand.
 
“Recently, A buddhist lady gave her life to the Lord and was baptized!” – Pastor SinSar in Thailand. 
 
“We are sharing the Good News to Buddhist families. Two families in particular are interested in Jesus. They want to accept Him but fear rejection of society and are reconciling letting go of reincarnation ideas from the Buddhist practice. Pray for these families.” – Pastor Aung Shwe in Myanmar.
 
Working primarily among refugees in Myanmar (the ancient country of Burma) and Thailand, Stadia is partnering with Asia Christian Services (ACS) to plant churches that will share the Gospel and meet needs among desperately poor and displaced Burmese people. 
 
ACS empowers Asian missionaries to reach the unreached, plant new churches, and disciple believers.
 
“While the whole world needs the gospel, we focus on the people of SE Asia because the need for the gospel is so great. Most “unreached” people live here in extreme poverty (an average wage of less than a dollar a day). It is the center of conflicting religions: Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism and Animism.
 
Stadia and ACS are partnering in a new strategy that is incredibly effective among Buddhists. By starting preschools and church plants, U.S. church partners and Stadia are teaming up to create infrastructure where none exists.
 
We are doing this through two different models, depending on the cultural context. 
 
The first model is a $30,000 project to build a building that acts as a preschool during the week.  The church planters minister first to Buddhist children through new preschools. This provides opportunities for parents to hear the Gospel, which they readily accept when shared through acts of kindness in Jesus’ name.
 
The preschools convert into churches on the weekend to further connect families with the Good News of Jesus. They are sharing hope in a dark place and seeing many choose to follow Jesus. 
 
The second model is by funding a church plant evangelist for $9200 to support him/her in their ministry for four years. 
 
Having helped design these models, Stadia has already seen these models bear fruit. 
 
Will you invest to make an impact in a Burmese or Thai community? Our new churches will turn your investment into changed lives. What a great return!

Passionate about the church and the people she’s been called to serve, Andrea has spent the entirety of her professional career in ministry. As a director at Mosaic Christian Church, she built the missions program into a sustainable, focused endeavor and developed the Kids Ministry into a thriving environment for children to encounter Jesus. From leading trips across the world to leading pre-k volunteers, Andrea has seen the very real impact of the local church on a given community, and it has only stoked her passion to see God’s lost children come home. In addition the her role at Stadia, she helps lead Gail’s Girls and is intentional about building others up to be all that God designed them to be. If she’s not at hip coffee shop working, you can find her at a spin studio, exploring Baltimore’s freshest restaurants with girlfriends, or in Pennsylvania spending the day with her family.

Andrea Hamilton

Director of Global Development, Stadia