GLORIFYING GOD BY BUILDING LABORERS ON THE CAMPUS FOR THE LOST WORLD.
HISTORY
HISTORY OF CAMPUS OUTREACH THAILAND
And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age." Matthew 28:18-20 (ESV)
It all began before Bob McNabb graduated from Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama. During this time he was very involved with Campus Outreach and was discipled by Curtis Tanner. God built a desire within his heart to see Matthew 28:18-20 become a reality through his life. While a campus director with CO at the University of Montevallo, Bob built some key relationships that would lay the foundation for the first team to go overseas with Campus Outreach.
The Leadership Development Project (LDP) was started as a group of recent graduates (Jim Doggett, Keith Nix, Brian Firpo, Jonathon King) joined forces to prepare and develop them in order to serve the Lord in whatever capacity he calls them.
In 1988, the Team Missionary Institute (TMI) was founded by Bob and the newly forming Campus Outreach team to prepare those who would go overseas with CO.
1990
August – Bob McNabb and his wife, Susan, set out for Bangkok, Thailand along with Rebel Houston, a grad from Montevallo who was one of the single staff men.
October – Brian & Terri Firpo, John & Melody Hunt and Gregg Nicholson arrived in Bangkok as the second wave of the CO Thailand team. Everyone studied Thai at Union Language School on Sirawong Road. They all lived together in one townhouse in the early months.
* Shawn Cushen arrived; worked as a campus staff person until his mother became sick. He returned in 1994 to care for her and remained stateside, married, and has been involved in the music industry.
* Jeed became our first Thai staff girl as the secretary.
1991
* Dana Reynolds arrived. She was the senior staff woman until 1998 when she left staff to marry Mike Ball, who is on staff with the Jesus Film Project located in Orlando.
* Jennifer Aderhold arrived as a new single staff girl. She was on staff for ____ years until she married Neal Gooch who arrived with the 1992 CCP as director and director of the recent expansion of Campus Outreach Charlotte, North Carolina. Neal asked Jennifer to marry him before the summer was over. Jennifer returned to the states as Neal’s fiancé.
June – our first Cross-Cultural Project (CCP) arrived from CO Birmingham.
* Betsy Lawler also moves to Thailand as a tent-maker missionary. We meet her through language school.
1992
Opened up campus work at UTCC (University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce –Hunts), Turakit Pundit University (Firpos) as well as Seepatum University (Rebel).
1993
January - Rebel and Jeed were married and began working with international schools in Bangkok.
Onn (UTCC grad) comes on staff.
Betsy Lawler, a “tentmaker” with a background in the Navigators and hailing from Bethlehem Baptist in Minnesota, joins the COT team in Bangkok.
1994
Gittima (Git) came on staff and remained on staff until marrying Moe in 2001.
Bam comes on staff as a single staff girl. Dee comes on staff as a new single staff guy and stayed on staff until after moving to KhonKaen in early 2000.
* Covenant Church: Our original intent was to join existing churches as the university ministries arm. After consulting pastors, we were encouraged to plant our own church due to the great need in Thailand. This was officially done as we met in the single guys home.
Amy Carden, Brannon Rice and Chris Duncan arrived as our short-term commitment workers. They committed for three years on the team. Amy came to help with our growing administrative needs while Chris and Brannon helped on the campus.
* Tom & Molly Mullis arrive as a new staff couple and served until Tom took a missions position with Perimeter Church in Atlanta.
1995
June/July – Sent first International Beach Project (IBP - pictured on left) to the US to participate in the Summer Beach Project. John Hunt & Shawn Cushen lead this team while they were on furlough.
* Opened a ministry at Seepatum University and Chankasem Teacher’s College.
* Bee came on staff
1996
* Jam, Tukta, Dune, Dee (Seepatum grad) came on staff.
* The kids from our team are pictured on right. (Megan, Abbie, John Mark, Will and Matt)
November/December - Pete & Shannon Collins arrive on staff and study language in Lopburi with Overseas Missionary Fellowship’s language staff. Pete was part of the Bangkok team until returning to work with the Campus Outreach Mission’s office as a graphics designer.
1997
July - Moe Montenegro arrived as a single staff guy. He had originally come over on the 1994 CCP.
October - Gary & Robin Alward arrive as a new staff couple in Bangkok.
* Da and Noi (Feb 98)
* Dang (UTCC grad) came on staff
* Noi
* Sinn
* Tote
* Silk
1998
March – Parinda (Bui) and Pattama (Bla) come on staff preparing to be on the KhonKaen Team.
COT opened a new ministry at Kasetsart University in Bangkok.
May - Steve Lindenmeyer, along with his wife Marie, leads a new staff team to Thailand including Josh and Catherine Edmonds (from May ‘98 to March ’03) as well as Troy and Caroline Wilson (from May ‘98 to 2004).
May: After much prayer and investigation, Campus Outreach Thailand made its first expansion in the country. Part of the team moved to KhonKaen with Brian Firpo as the new campus/area director while Gregg Nicholson remained with the team in Bangkok as the Bangkok Area director.
---- Bangkok Team ----
Gregg Nicholson, Gary & Robin Alward, Pete & Shannon Collins, Betsy Lawler, & Tom & Molly Mullis.
Thai Staff: Da, Nam, Sinn, Tote, Noi, Silk
---- KhonKaen Team ----
Brian & Terri Firpo, John & Melody Hunt, Steve & Marie Lindenmeyer, Troy & Caroline Wilson, Josh & Catherine Edmonds, Moe Montenegro.
Thai Staff: Dang & Watt, Git, Bla, Bui, Dee
Bob McNabb and family (country director; moved to KhonKaen as well)
Julie Ehr becomes Covenant School KhonKaen’s first teacher. She later marries Gregg Nicholson on the Bangkok Team. Covenant School was formed to serve the growing needs of our missionary families.
December - Dang marries Watt. This is the beginning of the "Gritz" family!
1999
* Dr. Frank Barker arrived under the authority of Briarwood Presbyterian Church in order to particularize Covenant Church Thailand as its own denomination or entity in Thailand.
April – COT held a joint 6-week course to help train our Thai students and those in the church. We called this the Leadership Training Institute (LTI). This later evolved into our Thai Summer Project (TSP).
August - Pam Spruell (now Angel) served as a Covenant School teacher in KhonKaen until May 2000.
2000-1
Lewis join the KhonKaen campus staff team until March 2004 before returning to the states to work with youth.
Stacey Sanders also arrived and served our team as a teacher for our children until December 2003.
June – Nui came on staff as an administrative assistant.
December - Begin having CCP’s from CO Australia (arrive during the Australian summer – December/January).
2002
March - Guy (NEU grad) began as campus staff at KKU and is currently on the NEU team. In November of 2007, he marries Ying, a campus staff girl at NEU, and they continue laboring at NEU.
* Shannon Collins comes on staff with COT in Bangkok and serves as staff until returning to the states in 2004.
June - Foy Thetford arrived and taught the staff children until April 2005. At that point she returned to the US to teach at Oak Mountain Christian School in Birmingham.
2003
* 2003/4 Kent Bailey (COBrazil) assumes leadership of the overseas branches of Campus Outreach (Brazil, Thailand, Central Asia, Australia, South Africa) and begins to work to unite the teams into a single force for building laborers on the campus to reach the lost throughout the world.
2004
February – Rung (Chankasem grad) moves from Bangkok after working with FEBC Christian broadcasting company to work with COT KhonKaen as Brian’s administrative assistant as well as doing campus ministry.
September-- Kate Dale arrived from Kentucky in order to teach the Firpo and Hunt children at Covenant School until November 2005.
* Jay (KKU statistics grad) - Worked in Baakchong for a period of time before returning to KhonKaen in order to get further training and fellowship. He worked with COT until May 2006 before going off staff, finding a secular job and working with our newly forming graduates ministry. Jeff also came on staff and worked with us in various capacities including campus staff, overseeing the student center, and assistant to Dang until going off staff and working in Bangkok.
Jami Smith came over for a 1-year term with the Bangkok team but this time was cut short.
2005
Bangkok ministry divides off COT and joins United World Mission as a church-planting team in Bangkok.
* Open a new campus in KhonKaen (North Eastern University). The new team consists of Steve Lindenmeyer, Bui, Guy, Ying and Chad & Michelle Watkins
* April – International Staff Conference was held in KhonKaen. This was the first conference ever for all of our international staff. Frank & Barbara Barker attended while most of the teaching and seminars were “in-house”.
* Gary Alward’s family moved to KhonKaen from Bangkok to join the team there. Betsy Lawler also moved to the KhonKaen team after studying counseling courses in the states.
2006
Kara Lockhart joins the COT KhonKaen team under the leadership of Moe Montenegro.
May – Yute comes on as an intern with CO before he begins his two year term in the Thai Navy in January 2007.
June / July – A CCP comes from Birmingham, AL to serve the KKU team while another CCP from Charleston, SC comes to serve the NEU team.
2007
* Mary Jo Ray, a new teacher, arrived in March (see the Covenant School site)
* Blaa went off staff to prepare to open a Christian bookstore in KhonKaen
* Kristen Trace arrived in October to join our teacher team (see the Covenant School site)
* NamPhueng (Honey) and Sano came on staff with the NEU team in November.
* Guy and Ying were married (NEU team)
* Bui and Matt Pierce were married and moved to the US.
* We had another CCP team from Australia arrive at the end of November.
2008
February - Yute comes on staff after serving in the Thai navy.
* March - Nai comes on staff after being a high school chemistry teacher for a year.
* March/April - We hold our annual TSP with the theme "It's Worth It"
* April/May - Staff holds a "Summer of Renewal" that serves as a 5 week sabbatical. A first since our inception in 1989.
* November - A community cross-cultural project from Brisbane, Australia arrives and serves with us for a week as we investigate how our two churches might form a partnership.
* The G4 team (graduate group) begins meeting each Wednesday night for prayer, fellowship and teaching.
2009
March Thai Summer Project (TSP) "More Than Enough"
2010
* The Lindenmeyer family returned to the US for personal reasons and continue working with Campus Outreach in South Carolina.
* Seeing a clear distinction of the Body of Christ working together in KhonKaen through the Campus Team, Community Team and also the school.
* Kristen Trace returns in order to be the head of Covenant Christian School and to see how God is going to work through this ministry in the future.
2011
* Bobby & Katie Hamlett and Bob & Courtney McGregor join the Thailand team and arrive in January.
* A successful TSP “Real Life” was held in Pattaya.
* April – Nai & Blaa get married.
2012-13
The CO Thailand staff all attended the first ever Campus Outreach Global Conference in Orlando, FL. A gathering over over 500 staff and their wives and families. John Piper was the keynote speaker, along with many other welcome guests (Frank Barker, Curtis Tanner, Bob McNabb).
In the Fall of 2013, the KhonKaen team expanded to ChiangMai in order to begin a strategic launching pad for ministries throughout the country. Gary Alward led this team while Bob McGregor assumed the role of campus director.
2014
Kristen Trace returned to the USA in order to pursue her career there after serving our school for many years in KhonKaen.
In June/July, the KhonKaen team held its first ever English Camp. A total of 55 Thai students attended while also living in the same apartment complex as our Cross Cultural Project. It culminated with a beach retreat at Rayong.
Betsy Lawler felt that the Lord was leading her to move to a new ministry in Spain. She left in July of 2014 after serving with the Thailand team since 1992.
2015
Noah Moran joined the team for college ministry.
Marc and Sherry Lewis with their children as well as John and Melody Hunt with their children moved to the USA after years of serving with Campus Outreach Khon Kaen.
Brian and Terri Firpo with their children moved to Chiang Mai city (Maejo) in the Northern Thailand to launch a new Campus Outreach Franchise there along with seven other LEAD staff from the USA.
2016
Khon Kaen team welcomed a new teacher/staff to the team. Abigail Diamond served with our school and college ministry for a two-year commitment.
2017
July, 2017, Khon Kaen team officially welcomed 5 new intern staff to the team ( 4 girls and 1 guy) for a one-year commitment. Jelly, Wut, Ping Pong, Namwhan were working with Campus team and Toey was with Resource team.
July 15, 2018, The five intern staff finished their one-year internship with Campus Outreach Khon Kaen and three of them decided to go on staff with Campus Outreach Khon Kaen for more years.
2018
July, 2018, Khon Kaen team officially welcomed one new intern staff as well as three other staff to the team. Fluk finishes her internship with Resource team one year after this.
2019
In the month of June, Boy and Aoy started their one-year internship at Campus Outreach Khon Kaen.
In October, Udon Th ani Team (COUD) was launched as an investigating team to a new ministry location in Udon Thani, Thailand.
2020-2021
COKK & COUD with 4 new interns (Mu, Yim, Pam, and Bam), and 1 new LEAD staff (Taylor Smith).
2022
2022 COKK Team
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