INTRODUCTION TO OUR MINISTRY:

Ron and Cheryl Myers, missionaries to Thailand—serving under the auspices of Baptist World Missionary Outreach Ministries—are presently receiving speaking engagement requests for mission conferences, workshops, symposiums, etc.  Their goal is to provide enlightening information and communicate the importance of the work they are involved in among the Isan people of Northeast Thailand, and to generate interest.  Their hope is to garner interest enough to see the translation ministry through to completion by supplementing the loss of support due to the prolonged economic downturn.  Incidentally, at over 23-million in number, Isan is by far the largest remaining people group still without God's Word in their own heart language, apart from the translation work the Myers are doing – now entering the final stages before any printing can be done! 

Thinking of having a helping part in this vital ministry?
All gifts are tax deducible and may be sent to the Myers' work through the auspices of:
Baptist World Missionary Outreach Min.  *  PO Box 3303  *  Chattanooga, TN  37404, USA

Meanwhile, Ron is redeeming the time by continuing the arduous task of translating the New Testament into the heart language of the Isan people—now over 98% complete.  Ron also authors, develops, and produces various other ministry-related media—in both printed and audio formats—creation-evangelism booklets, foundational teaching materials, etc.  Ron returns to Thailand regularly on a funds-available basis to check, print and distribute books that have been completed, as well as visit and teach believers.  Meanwhile, he also pastor-teaches the Cambodian Bible Fellowship of San Diego.  Cheryl teaches English at San Diego Christian College (formerly called Christian Heritage College) and now chairs their Department of Education.

What is "Isan"?  The vast Korat Plateau comprises Thailand's Northeastern Region, better known as the Isan (E-sahn) Region.  And, the people that dwell there are generally termed "Isan People" or Isanians.  Isan is shown in dark green on the above map of Thailand.  It is also shown in a rice planting scene in the background photo above.  Isan or Northeast Thailand is home to twenty-plus million village-dwelling Buddhist peasant farmers. 

The red dot on the outside edge of the Isan region map represents the location of Nakon Panom city—situated on the banks of the Mekong River, bordering Laos.  It is the captial of Nakon Panom province, where we lived, ministered, and continue to minister since 1974.  A paultry 1-in-10,000 (0.01%) Isan people are truly born-again Christians, much less than the rest of Thailand, which is a meager 1-in-1,000 (0.1%). 

Even though most of these spiritually-needy Thai and Isan people have heard the name of Jesus Christ in passing, by and large, they are not the least interested, since their lives revolve around Buddhist thought and practice as their sociocultural worldview, or way of life.  Besides that, the overwhelming majority have no clue as to who Jesus Christ really is, and even fewer have ever heard a clear-cut Gospel presentation. Nor have they heard the foundational facts of Creation and the Creator, which is were we must start. 

Therefore, this is where we must begin in establishing an effective witness—Origins, i.e., Creation and the Creator.  Being of a totally works-based religious background, they cannot readily conceive of Salvation by Grace, as well as who Jesus Christ really is, why He is important, and why they need forgiveness of sin through Him.  Otherwise, they misconstrue Christ as being the Westerners "Buddha," a religious seeker who progressed from mere humankind to become a great enlightened teacher of doing good, as the way of escape from this world's sadness and sorrow.

With a predominantly Laotian and Mon-Khmer (pre-Cambodian) heritage, these primitive rice farmers adhere unwaveringly to centuries-old customs, traditions and beliefs, passed down over countless generations from their ancestors—which separates and distinguishes them from their Central Thai cousins.  Their standard, every-day, heart language is known as Isan.  The Isan language is different from Central or Bangkok Thai—the official language of Thailand&MDAsh;of which the greater majority of Isan dwellers speak very haltingly, if at all.  At present, the Isan believers only have the Central Thai Bible, which is often very burdensome to understand correctly, even for Thai Christians, say nothing of the Isan.

The Isan people are a large, conglomerate of people who remain tenaciously resistant to outside influence or change, be it medical, agricultural, sanitation, etc.  This means that they have been highly resistant to the Gospel as well, especially not having the Scriptures in their own language.  Furthermore, they have not been fully assimilated into mainstream Thai society.  Consequently, their unique way-of-life remains much in tact yet today, despite on-going rural development programs. 

The Isan rely on centuries-old healing arts, hold to various superstitions, practice spirit appeasement (called Animism), as well as ancestor care and veneration... all mixed in with Buddhism.  In what often constitutes a literal hand-to-mouth existence, the Isan depend on a staple diet of glutinous (sticky) rice two-to-three times a day, eaten with hot peppers, garden produce, leaves, salt, and pickled fish.  This, along with whatever small amount of frogs, lizards, and bugs they can eke out of their rice fields and surrounding forests, or whatever fish and aquatic creatures they manage to catch from nearby muddy streams.  The majority of Isan people still use water buffalo to plow and harrow their rice paddies, use oxen and ox carts, live in primitive dwellings built on upright beams, and sleep on grass mats, usually spread out on bare wooden floors.  

UPDATE: As time advances, so does the economic state of the general Isan populace.  Long-standing agarian traditions and practices are changing as Water Buffaloes are being exchanged for Japanese-brand garden tractors, used to plow and harrow rice paddies.  These are sold on credit in hardware stores, located in district towns and provincial capitals.  The locally-owned garden tractors are also replacing teams of oxen, which draw the traditional oxcarts.  These changes in implimentation from aminals to small tractors cause a change in banking practices as well.  Also, local farmers hire out in small groups to field owners during planting and harvest-time — creating a new labor class, or division of labor subgroup.

Also, as rural development progresses, most villages now enjoy electricity as opposed to pitch torches and kerosene lamps. Village lane-ways are not cement instead of unimproved dirt. Preferred building materials have transitioned from now-scarce hand-sawn forest wood to single-story mortar-covered brick structures. Nevertheless, the afore-mentioned conditions still remain pretty-much unchanged in the more-remote areas.  Either way, whether externals change or not, old beliefs and traditions remain pretty-much in tact.

It was to this region and people that Ron and Cheryl first went as pioneer church-planting missionaries in 1973.  After a year of Thai language studies in Bangkok, the Myers moved some 500 miles up to Nakon Panom (NKP) province, situated in the far reaches of Thailand's vast Northeast or Isan Region.  The date was Summer of 1974.  NOTE: See red dot on Thailand map above for location of Nakon Panom (NKP).

Ron and another missionary then conducted an extensive survey of the area on motorcycles, looking for a medium-sized Nyaw village that would invite them in to live.  Locating one in the District of Tah-U-Tane, Ron spotted and leased an ideal plot of land on the edge of the village—the owner later being the first to receive Christ.  Ron then located and purchased a substantial amount of good used lumber, and set about building their home.  The Myers moved into their newly-constructed 36' by 24' cozy little home on the edge of that Nyaw village on Christmas Eve, 1974. 

Click on the thumbnail photo at right to view a larger photo of the Myers' home in the remote primitive village of Ban Na Nai where they lived and ministered among the Nyaw people for 8 years.  After furlough, they sensed the Lord's leading to move into the provincial capital of Nakon Panom, whereupon another missionary took their place in the village.   (Use the "back" key to return to this page.)

Also, click on the thumbnail photo at right to view a schematic layout of the Myers' village home.  There was no electricity in the villages in the 1970s. So, using only hand tools, Ron built their village home from scratch (in six weeks) out of reclaimed hardwood lumber from a razed store in a nearby province.  They lived and ministered there for eight years. They then moved into the provincial capital of Nakon Panom to expand their ministry outreach and begin work on the Isan New Testament Bible translation—called God's Word For Isan.  (Use the "back" key to return to this page.)

Our BanNaNai Home Bird's Eye View  (Use the "back" key to return to this page.)

The Myers' time spent in the remote Nyaw village was during the final months of the Vietnam War. Geographically, they were living within a heavily-infested Communist insurgent area, yet God kept them safe.  In fact, danger-wise, North Vietnamese and Laotian Communist troops were stationed only six miles away, just across the Mekong River in Laos.  There, they continually uttered threats over local radio stations, threatening that they would invade Northeast Thailand at any juncture... saying their advancement would be so decisive and swift, they would be eating lunch on the outskirts of Bangkok. 

Yet, the Myers continued to live, minister, and raise their children in that remote Nyaw village, an unreached subgroup of the Thai and Lao-Isan family of languages.  Immersing themselves in local-area culture, language and linguistic studies, Ron and Cheryl first began their evangelism and pioneer church-planting ministry among the rural-dwelling Nyaw people in 1975, as well as among other unreached people groups, interspersed throughout the surrounding area.  Meanwhile, The Myers' children attended Missionary Kid (MK) school in Chiang Mai, a large city in Northern Thailand, over 1100 kilometers (685 miles) west-by-northwest of Nakon Panom along the northern-most route.  The trip took from early morning till mid-evening in the Myers' old but faithful VW Microbus.  Their children stayed there in a hospice setting (under the care and tutelage of fellow missionaries, dedicated to the task). Their children returned home to spend a few weeks with their parents, three times a year. 

Time was of the essence, as no one could predict what might transpire, or when.  With airlift evacuation plans in place, and maintaining a full tank of gas in their old VW Van (and two full 5-gallon Jerry Cans as well), the Myers learned the local language as quickly as possible to be able to communicate the Gospel.  As it turned out, the War ended that next year.  As The Myers became more fluent in spreading God's Good News in the local vernacular, people listened.  One here, one there, people slowly responded to the message and came to faith in Christ.  Ron, reflecting back, says the idea for the Isan translation developed out of his teaching ministry as he began to realize the obstacles faced trying to use the Thai Bible to effectively and accurately communicate God's truth to the predominantly Isan-speaking people.

Now, years later, it is clearly evident that God has blessed the Myers' ministry, and that He is using the various Isan Scripture books that have been completed, checked, printed and distributed. (SEE: Endorsements & Testimonials)  The Isan New Testament is now completed and in print, along with the book of Genesis and other Old Testament portions necessary for background teaching, starting from Creation and its Creator, to fully comprehend the Gospel message.  The potential outreach of the Isan Scriptures is in the tens of millions, and is now beginning to reach across Thailand's borders into Laos and beyond, far beyond the scope of the Myers' original ministry and exciting beyond their fondest imagination. 

Numerous missionaries serving in Thailand's Isan region agree that the Isan translation is foundationally strategic and vitally important to successful evangelism and church growth throughout the region.  Local Isan and Lao believers attest to its clarity (see endorsements & testimonies page).  In a recent development, Wycliffe Bible Translators asked formal permission to use the Isan translation as a source text for their translation teams working among various targeted people-groups in Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, and Thailand.  This alone speaks highly of the Isan translation and its potential. 

More recently, FEBC Radio (Far Eastern Christian Broadcasting Corporation) has asked permission to incorporate the reading of the Isan Scriptures in their daily Gospel broadcasts into Thailand's Isan region over local-area radio stations, as well as their broadcasts into Laos, stretching beyond the political boundaries of Communism that separates the two countries of Thailand and Laos, and Laos from the Free World.  This means that the Isan New Testament (God's Word For Isan) has the potential to reach into every home in both Thailand's Isan region and Laos.  We see this as another positive sign of God's endorsement and blessing.