Stine Info letter

After achieving many of my high school goals, I was left feeling empty and for over a year and a half I studied many of the world’s major religions, and took the Bible’s challenge to pray for truth.

I was answered and began a relationship with Jesus Christ as a sophomore in college. After serving in the College ministry and church, I felt the Lord calling me to teach. During grad school, God called me to Thailand.

I went to Thai Christian School immediately after finishing my master’s degree in October of ’03. God blessed me with the opportunity to immerse myself in Thai culture, language, the church community, service and in meeting my wife Eliza, an international school teacher in Bangkok from Colorado. God has given me opportunities to grow in Him and see the many different ways He is reaching the diverse needs of Thai people. God has really given me a heart for Thais and I’m grateful for this opportunity to serve. The Lord has now led me to the next chapter of service in Thailand at the Bangkok Institute of Theology to serve as an English Teacher.

Shortly after my arrival in Thailand I became good friends with Leith and Carol Fujii and their family, missionaries of 7 years who worked at BIT. As our relationship developed and I learned more, I saw a need for stronger Thai leadership. These leaders can be effectively supported by westerners who have had access to greater resources but Thais themselves can effectively present the Gospel without cultural biases and different skin color that can taint the message. I saw that BIT was a strong force in raising indigenous leaders and that because Christian Thais understand our brotherhood through Christ; they desire to utilize Westerners as a resource. I am passionate about BIT’s vision and ministry and I am grateful to accept the call to minister there.

The Bangkok Institute of Theology is an accredited seminary reaching the future leaders of Thailand by encouraging them and nourishing them in their relationships with Jesus Christ. We believe it is through these indigenous servant leaders that the nation can be transformed by the love of Christ and work of the Holy Spirit.

Many factors along with prayer have led Thai Church leaders toward their desire for Thailand to be a missionary sending country which utilizes the growing Christian population in Asia, our brothers and sisters in Christ, to reach out to the rest of Asia in new and exciting ways that glorify God. Strategically located to reach the most Christ deprived region of the world, the Kingdom of Thailand is an ideal training ground the servant leaders of the whole region.

Our students have many different gifts as they represent Christ’s body in Thailand. From traditional post-seminary vocations like pastoring, preaching, planting churches and youth leadership, to ministry for the downtrodden, counseling, seeking social justice and sending missionaries to foreign countries, BIT students represent many aspects of Christ’s body in Thailand.

My position this year will be to teach English while delving into the practical use of English for Evangelism and contextualization. I’ll teach students how to research topics using English texts and the Internet. I will help prepare students who wish to continue their studies abroad for their proficiency exam the TOEFL test. In my class, students will also learn how to teach Basic English classes that they’ll use as an evangelistic tool in their churches through which they’ll build trust and friendships with the predominantly Buddhist community around them.

Our commitment to Bangkok Institute of Theology is only one year, which goes from May of ’06 to May ’07. Liza and I were united in Christ on July 22 in Ouray Colorado, near her hometown. We feel called to serve the Lord in an overseas, cross-cultural setting; Liza, as an International School teacher while I teach in a setting where I can serve the Lord in raising indigenous leadership for the advancement of the Gospel. After BIT, we’ll probably seek another teaching job for two or more years before coming back to the US for further studies. I will need to study for a Masters of Divinity and seek ordination for the calling before me and Liza would like to get her masters in education as well. We are looking forward to seeking the Lord’s will for our steps into the future.

(Liza and Dan)

Prayer Thanks:

A special thanks to Bay Road Presbyterian Church, Queensbury United Methodist, Bellefield Presbyterian, The Open Door, Harmony Baptist, Schuylerville United Methodist, Hoosic Valley Community Church, Pine Knolls as well as my church here in Thailand, The Evangelical Church of Bangkok, for all their prayers and support. You are making my ministry possible and touching the lives of Thai people through the love of Christ; thank you.

Bible's charge to pray for truth:

James 1:4-6
4Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. 5If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. 6But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.

Luke 11:9-13

9"So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 10For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.
11"Which of you fathers, if your son asks for[f] a fish, will give him a snake instead? 12Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 13If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!"

Map of Thailand

Dan and co-worker Lizzy with students at Thai-Christian School

Leith and Carol Fujii at our wedding

Mobile: Dan Stine 011.66.84.124.2303
Liza Stine 011.66.4.130.6247
Skype 518-632-4501

E-mail: dstiner@yahoo.com

Bangkok Institute of Theology

71 Soi Vachara-thamsathid 37

Sukhumvit 101/1 Prakanong,

Bangkok, 10260 Thailand

Fax: B.I.T. 011-66-2-398-7787