Extra Commitment Opportunities

There is a channel through which gifts can be designated for specific items that support the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)'s work around the world. These are called Extra Commitment Opportunities (ECOs). You can give directly to an ECO account online or by mailing your check designating the name and account number of the particular item you have chosen to:

PC(USA) Individual Remittance Processing
P.O. Box 643700
Pittsburgh, PA 15264-3700

Your gift will go directly into the ECO Account designated, and you will receive a letter indicating that your gift has been received and will be used for the purpose intended.

Below are some ECO's related to Thailand. For a complete listing visit Mission Funding's Web site and type Thailand into the search box.

Children and Youth

Orphanage at Prachakittisuk Church

The Church of Christ in Thailand founded the orphanage at Prachakittisuk in 2003 as a ministry to the community where many people have died from HIV/AIDS. The orphanage has children between ages 6 and 13 orphaned by AIDS. The orphanage provides shelter, food, medicine, clothing and scholarships.  Currently there are seminary interns and one widow who work full-time at the orphanage supplemented by volunteer help from church members. The church helps other orphaned children in the community by providing scholarships, and it is also faced with the requirement of the Thai government to house the boys and the girls separately — hence there is a need to build an additional separate building.

Education

McGilvary Faculty of Theology, Thailand

McGilvary Faculty of Theology, which was founded in 1888, celebrated its 100th anniversary of theological education November 5, 1988. The Faculty is a department of Payap University. Unfortunately the old “seminary” building will not make it for another 100 years. A new highway is being built just north of the building and the vibrations from the traffic will endanger the entire structure.

Payap University  

Payap University in Chiang Mai has just recently moved its campus and is presently in the process of constructing an entirely new complex. Through the Chiang Mai Mission Board the college has received a grant from ASHA in the amount of $600,000, and the college is seeking to raise $300,000 to add to this grant.

Student Scholarship Fund, McGilvary Faculty of Theology 

Gifts to this ECO will provide scholarship aid and help with living expenses needed for theological students. There are 100 students, and tuition is $600 per year.

Evangelism

Evangelism Programs, CCT

The Church of Christ in Thailand (CCT) has been involved in evangelism all through its history. The CCT now needs help with funding for evangelists’ outreach to non-Christians, training for volunteers to become evangelists and the follow-up of new believers. In addition CCT has ministries to AIDS patients and to people in slum areas, to express to them the love of Christ. Gifts to this ECO will help in all these areas.

Lamp of Thailand Program

This ministry of the Church in Thailand has a wonderful correspondence course program for children as well as adults. Gifts to this ECO help extend the ministry.

Scripture Fund

Contributions to this fund will be used in cooperation with various Bible societies to translate and distribute Scriptures around the world. Recent projects have included distribution in the former Soviet republics in Central Asia, Cambodia, Thailand and among Iranians and Kurds around the world.

Health

McCormick Hospital, General Support (Thailand)

McCormick Hospital provides fine medical care and exhibits concern for all individuals in the community, most especially the poor. It admits some 19,000 patients and sees some 400,000 outpatients annually. Funds are needed for medical supplies and pharmaceuticals.

McKean Rehabilitation Center

McKean is a Christian rehabilitation center providing a medical, surgical, spiritual and socioeconomic ministry for people affected by leprosy in Thailand. Thankfully the number of new leprosy cases is now decreasing. McKean has expanded its vision to integrate other disabled people in its hopital-based and community-based rehabilitation ministry, bringing new hope and quality of life to many. McKean continues to provide local residential care for people affected by leprosy.

Human Rights, Justice and Peacemaking

Working Together to End Religious Intolerance

Ending religious intolerance and rebuilding the human community is an urgent priority for Christians living as minorities in many countries. It is also a serious concern for all people of faith where other religious minorities face prejudice, discrimination and sometimes persecution. The PC(USA) works with other institutions to build a human community free from misunderstandings, suspicion and fear. Such institutions include, for example, SABEEL Center in Jerusalem, the Christian-Buddhist Relations Institute in Chiang Mai (Thailand), the Henry Martyn Institute in Hyderabad (India), Rajpur Center (India), Interfeidi in Yogijakarta (Indonesia), the Intercultural Forum of the Coptic Evangelical Organization for Social Services (CEOSS) in Cairo (Egypt) and other centers in Africa and Europe. These centers bring together religious leaders, intellectuals, writers and grass-root participants to share expertise, develop strategies and generate positive approaches to deal with religious intolerance. They build peace through interfaith and intercultural dialogue and action.

Mission Personnel

Esther Wakeman is vice president for religious affairs and community relations at Payap University in Chiang Mai. Rob Collins has retired but is continuing to serve as a mission volunteer at Payap University as interim director of its Christian Communications Institute. He also teaches New Testament in the McGilvary Faculty of Theology in Payap. Both Esther and Rob are ordained PC(USA) ministers.

Based in Chiang Mai in northern Thailand, Amy Davisson coordinates a refugee ministry among Burmese. She assists with programs that facilitate ethnic unity and reconciliation among the ethnic peoples of Myanmar (Burma) who now live in Thailand.

Brett and Shelly Faucett are newly appointed regional consultants for health and HIV/AIDS in South Asia, based in Chiang Mai. Most recently Brett, a registered nurse, was on the staff of Hoag Presbyterian Hospital in Newport Beach, Calif. Brett and Shelly served for two years with the Peace Corps in Moldova. Shelly has had special training in teaching English as a second language and has worked as a literacy specialist as well as an ESL teacher with the Peace Corps.

Leith Fujii, an ordained PC(USA) minister, is an instructor in theology and evangelism at the Bangkok Institute of Theology (BIT). He also teaches English and assists with a program for lay theological training for the Church of Christ in Thailand. Carol provides ministry from the home and teaches English to the entering class at BIT. Leith and Carol also are involved in outreach ministries with Thai congregations.

Annette George teaches in the Music Department of Payap University in Chiang Mai. In addition to teaching flute and other instruments, she teaches an occasional course in English as a second language. Payap University was Thailand’s first Christian university.

Scott Satterfield is coordinator for English-language teaching programs for the Church of Christ in Thailand (CCT). Khanita works with him in writing textbooks, developing curricula in English as a foreign language, organizing training seminars for English teachers, and evaluating the English programs at the CCT’s 24 mission schools. Scott and Khanita have been working in Thailand for more than a decade.