AP

A little over 16 years ago, a bright young Lisu man crossed the mountains between Myanmar and Thailand to introduce himself to us and we were privileged to see his life transformed by the gospel. Though he had excelled academically — finishing high school and graduating from both a tribal and a national Bible school — he was dead in his sin. By his own confession, this young man had a proud and legalistic heart, and whose excellence was motivated by pride rather than the love of Christ.

Shortly after, we had the privilege of meeting this young man and invited him to study at the James O Fraser Centre in Chiang Dao. Over a period of a few years, we witnessed Jesus Christ transform this young man’s life. He was cleansed from the sins of his youth, his pride was shattered, and he came to know the gospel of grace. The gifts he was endowed with by His Creator would henceforth be used for the glory of the King.

After four years of study, six years of staff training, and two years of graduate study in Singapore, the young man we met is now a preacher of the gospel. He spends his life preaching Christ and training others in a theological training centre in Myanmar. The gospel of Jesus Christ is shining bright in a dark impoverished corner of the world.

1. South-East Asia Needs the Gospel

SE Asia is overwhelmingly non-Christian, with the majority of people adhering to a form of Buddhism. For example, with a population of 55 million, 90 per cent of Burmese people identify as Buddhists (6 per cent identify as Christians, mostly from ethnic minority groups). There are more than 10,000 temples in Myanmar, and it is known as the land of the pagodas. In spite of a long-known history of missions pioneered by men such as Adoniram Judson, the country remains gospel poor. The believers residing in Myanmar desperately need theological training, a vision for evangelism, and church planting among the unreached majority peoples.

Similarly, Thailand is a nation impoverished by spiritual darkness. It has a population of over 70 million people who overwhelmingly identify with Buddhism. Less than 1 per cent even identify as Christians. Over the last 70 years, the Lord has powerfully worked among tribal groups in the North of Thailand, and it is these people that the Lord is raising up to reach out to the Thai Buddhists.

Many church denominations across SE Asia have compromised the truths of the gospel for prosperity teaching and liberal theology. For instance, it is not uncommon for preachers to take Scripture out of context and for sermons to be primarily about entertainment rather than proclamation. Inevitably, this leads to a lack of Biblical literacy which affects the maturity and growth of the church, and thus the spread of the gospel. Therefore, it is critical to understand that SE Asia is not only unreached, but the believers are also largely untrained.

2. Why not send SE Asians overseas to be trained?

This strategy has been tried by missionaries and churches and in some cases has been successful. But, too often the young people sent to be trained do not return; or they return home for a short period and then look for opportunities to work in the country of their training longer term.

What that means is the bright, young people with great potential often find their home in a gospel rich country, leaving their own country even more gospel poor. Cornerstone Presbyterian Church has a conviction and vision to bring rich theological training to SE Asia to enrich the churches there.

3. What is JOFC?

The vision

The James O Fraser Centre (JOFC) is named after the first missionary to the Lisu people in the early 1900s. Located in Chiang Dao, Northern Thailand, JOFC is a strategic ministry that trains local gospel workers from Lisu and other minority peoples.

Our vision is for JOFC to be a place where God’s glory is on display as students come to know Jesus Christ through His Word. We want to see students delight in God’s Word and to be able to teach it faithfully through the power of the Holy Spirit. Ultimately, we pray that the believers who study with us would be transformed by the Spirit to love Jesus, wage war against sin, and rejoice in the gospel. We believe that this is critical for the proclamation of the gospel in Thailand and among other SE Asian people groups. 

Partnership with Cornerstone Presbyterian Church 

JOFC began 17 years ago as a ministry of Cornerstone Presbyterian Church in Sydney, under the direction of Jim and Linda McIntosh. Cornerstone’s leaders have been instrumental in providing vision, direction, training, and resources for the students and graduates of JOFC.

Early each year, Cornerstone sends a small team to serve on a short-term mission. Cornerstone Presbyterian Church recently commissioned the Jeffery Family (James, Zenina, Anna, and Benjamin) to join the team at JOFC. James recently graduated from Christ College and was ordained as a Presbyterian minister in January this year. We are excited to work with the Jeffery family when they arrive in Chiang Dao early 2026.

Training on the Ground

In the last few years the teaching staff at JOFC are mostly former students who have completed six years of training at JOFC. They teach, disciple, lead students into local churches and help with mission.

The students who come to study at JOFC are mostly Lisu, but Lahu – a closely related tribe, along with Karen, Hmong and Akha also come for training. This provides wonderful opportunities to connect and build relationships with many local churches. Most students were born in Thailand from parents or grandparents who migrated from Myanmar. Some have come from Myanmar but have obtained legal residency to live in Thailand. This means we have graduates involved in mission and ministry in both countries.

Staff and students live alongside each other in community. Each morning, they gather for a daily worship service, English and theology classes, shared meals, and sport/work each afternoon. Teams of students are sent to local churches every Sunday to be involved in local church ministry and to bless the churches with good Bible teaching. They run camps and outreaches and offer trainings to local church leaders.

God is opening doors for staff and graduates to teach His Word and serve in leadership positions to strengthen the churches in the gospel and the obedience that comes from faith in our Lord Jesus.

4. The Impact of JOFC

A central conviction of the team at JOFC is that the Word of God transforms lives. Many students who come to study are regenerated by the Holy Spirit as they hear the gospel taught and proclaimed faithfully. We have witnessed individual lives transformed by the gospel, with students hungering to know more of Christ and share Him with others.

There is a great need for theologically rich and faithful resources for Thai believers to help them exposit the Word of God. We are committed to training and equipping God’s people to access such resources and bless others.

One such resource is the Preliminary Theological Certificate (PTC) offered by Moore College. JOFC became a partner with the Centre for Global Missions (Moore College) in 2018 and has been teaching the PTC ever since. In the last few years, the Lord has provided opportunity to translate this course into Thai for use at JOFC, and other Thai believers electronically.

Currently, the PTC is also being translated into Lisu by a team living in Myanmar. We pray that these materials will be of great blessing to God’s people as they mature in the Lord and fulfil the Great Commission.

5. The Future of JOFC

A major development in JOFC’s ministry was the planting of Word Minister Training Centre (WMTC). In 2021, WMTC was established by Yawbay and Dorcas, graduates who studied and served on staff with us for ten years before completing a Master of Theology at the Evangelical Theological College of Asia (ETCA) in Singapore. After their studies, they were jointly sent by the Crossings Church, Singapore to serve at WMTC in Myanmar.

WMTC is based in a poor urban village where Yawbay and Dorcas live among Burmese Buddhists. They partner with a local church reaching out to Burmese people. Looking forward, we hope for JOFC to develop a deeper relationship with ETCA in order to create a small network of likeminded reformed Bible schools across South East Asia.

God-willing, these can encourage and help each other and perhaps share training and resources. Although JOFC started as a discipleship and training centre, it is becoming a ministry hub for gospel work in the wider region. JOFC is grateful to God for the partnership with Cornerstone Presbyterian Church for the sake of the gospel of Jesus and the glory of God.