By John Blackmon, Associate Pastor, Calvary International, Bangkok, Thailand
The Asia Baptist Network (ABN) gathered March 12-14 in Bangkok, Thailand. While the gathering had lower attendance than in previous years, the participants were encouraged by the intimacy and camaraderie experienced in the setting. ABN moderator Chris Eyre recruited speakers from ABN churches and HPBC. Conference attendees lauded the choice for the relevance, transparency, and personal testimonies of the speakers.
The theme this year was “Church Health.” HPBC executive director-treasurer Craig Webb spoke specifically to churches in transition and noted this has been a major season of transition for both the HPBC and ABN member churches (including the host church’s longtime senior pastor, Martin Chappell, who retires at the end of 2024).
Pastor Butch Tanner of Hong Kong shared that he was at first hesitant to attend but was delighted to find that … “this meeting was a breath of fresh air. It was much smaller than previous meetings, but … that gave it its special character. There seemed to be a lot more interaction between church leaders.”
Benjamin Howard of Yokohama Baptist Church pointed specifically to a testimony shared by Chris Eyre, “We heard an honest pastor who wrestled with grief and hurt, but at the same time was clearly grounded in the hope he received through Christ.” Howard said having ABN members speak “… made the sessions even better, hearing from our own.”
Throughout the few days, participants enjoyed meals, relevant sessions, musical worship, touring Bangkok, serving alongside Calvary International Baptist Church’s (CIBC) ministry to refugees, making food deliveries, and visiting detainees at an Immigration Detention Center (IDC).
Masahiro Harta reflected on his visit to IDC: “…it was a good opportunity to consider my faith in Christ. I met a Pakistani Christian man and he said ‘because I believed in Christ I had to leave the homeland.’ When I preached in youth worship service right after I returned to Japan, I shared about him . . . [the students] were crying with tears and impressed how God is working… even through the tough situations. Then we prayed for the ministry that CIBC has for the immigrants.”
The Network’s fellowship predated their joining the HPBC. The Foreign Mission Board of the SBC (now IMB) planted most of these churches in previous decades. In 2017, they were invited under the leadership of Chris Martin to join the HPBC. Some are in majority military communities, while others are in dual or multi-ethnic
settings in city centers.
While much of church life is similar to New Testament churches worldwide, these congregations face distinct advantages and challenges. Parker Windle, the new lead pastor of the International Baptist Church in Manila, remarked, “International churches are unique. Having other pastors challenged by the same particularities to discuss these with is an important resource.”
In our year and a half of service, my family and I have realized that we could not do what we are doing here without the encouragement and support we have received from the Hawaii Pacific Baptist Convention and the fellowship we enjoy with the Asia Baptist Network.