Factors Contributing to Thai Buddhists’ Adoption of Adventist Beliefs –Part 2
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Abstract
Christian missiological approaches in the Kingdom of Thailand have had little progress in terms of the number of converts since Christianity’s first contact over 500 years ago. Currently, the total Christian population in Thailand amounts to little more than 1% of the country’s population. In a bid to better understand how Buddhists in Thailand can best relate to Christianity, this qualitative study sought to answer two main questions: a) What factors contributed to the conversion of Thai Buddhists to Adventism (answered in Part 1) and b) What evangelistic methods would be best suited for the Thai context. To answer the latter question, the study continued the findings collated from the responses of 12 former Thai Buddhists who converted to Adventism. Results suggest four main types of missiological approaches including 1) Living out beliefs, 2) Testifying to Buddhists, 3) Having good relationships, and 4) Doing community outreach. It is recommended that these types of evangelism be tested over a larger population to further strengthen the study’s findings.
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