AFT’s Vision
“Form a house church in every village Establish a district church in every district in all provinces of Thailand”
Pastor Somsak’s Story
Pastor Somsak and his wife Rajiroat have a remarkable story of faith and service to God. They got married as teenagers and had three children by their early twenties, and with only a ninth-grade education, they started a motorcycle repair shop. However, with three children and limited financial resources, times were tough and they struggled to make ends meet.
One day, in desperate need of funds, they decided to visit Rajiroat’s mother to borrow money. The journey to her mother’s place was a challenging 75-mile one-way trip on a dirt road through the mountains on a motor scooter. When they arrived, Rajiroat’s mother was in a church service, so while they waited outside the church and listened to the Thai pastor. Listening to this Pastor is when they decided to believe in Jesus.
Overjoyed by their newfound faith, they forgot to ask for the money they had come for and returned to their town of Chon Daen rejoicing. At this time, there were no churches or Christians with an 75 mile radius of their home, so they decided to study the Bible on their own. To do this, they would get up at 4:00 AM every day, memorizing and studying the Bible and following its teachings.
As a result, they would share their new found faith with friends, family, neighbors, and customers, and eventually, started a church in their motorcycle repair shop. As the church grew, they purchased land in 1987 and built the Chon Daen Free Church. This is the beginning of the Free in Jesus Christ Church Association (FJCCA) It an indigenous denomination, grown out of “native soil” with no outside missionary involvement. (The FJCCA is a member of the Associations of Free Churches in Thailand (AFT))
Pastor Somsak and his family’s story is a testament to their perseverance, faith, and deep commitment to serving God. Their daily Bible study and prayer, combined with their obedience to the leading of the Holy Spirit, have played a critical role in his growth as a leader and servant of the Lord. His selfless giving of time, resources, and energy to the ministry serves as an inspiration to all who know him
During the past six years, along with their family, church leaders, and Dwight Martin, they have pioneered a revival in Thailand.
Data Driven Discipleship
- 3,413 people baptized during July and August 2022.
- 14,618 new believers in 2021 & 2022.
- Since 2017 AFT churches have had 36,796 new believers.
Dwight and Mary Kay Martin
Our ministry in Thailand started in Dwight and Mary Kay Martin in December of 2006. However, its origin can actually be traced to 1948, when Dwight’s parents came to Thailand and were the first Protestant missionaries in Nakorn Phanom province with the Christian & Missionary Alliance. Dwight was born when his parents served in this remote province on the Mekong River and is where he would develop a connection with Thailand and its people. Dwight has dual Thai-US citizenship.
After high school, Dwight left Thailand to attend college in the US. He married Mary Kay, started a business career, raised a family and received an MBA in Technology Management. Eventually, he founded a successful software company. Though away from Thailand for many years, he never forgot the place where he had grown up and, as had his parents, began to sense God’s call to serve the Thai people. In 2006 he and Mary Kay moved to Thailand.
The Martins quickly connected with the Church and people of Thailand due to Dwight already having a personal knowledge of the language and culture and his being able to establish some key relationships with leaders who had been impacted by his parents’ ministry. Using the business skill and experience gained from thirty years in the software industry, his initial focus was bringing “back to life” in digital form, thousands of Christian materials no longer accessible to the Thai people.
Within months of arriving in Thailand, the value of their work was recognized by Thai church leaders who asked Dwight to join them in other ministry projects including maintaining the statistics on the church in Thailand. Many other ministry projects requiring the business and technical skills he possessed soon followed. This growth also increased Mary Kay’s ministry as she uses her background in library science and office experience to manage the office and serve as the ministry accountant. She has also been significantly involved in updating the Chiangmai Theological Seminary library and mentoring young ladies who work with her. As the ministry began to expand into other parts of Asia a ministry model was needed that allowed for expansion beyond Thailand.
The circle was now complete; the “missionary kid”, born in Thailand, “birthed” a mission agency, based in Thailand – that, in many ways, carries on the work of his parents. Dwight is ordained by the Church at Brook Hills, Birmingham, Alabama. He and Mary Kay have two grown children who live and work in Minnesota.
