Serving Sanpatong
Reaching the Northern Thai
Planting indigenous churches
"Still other seed fell on good ground and produced fruit:
some a hundred, some sixty, and some thirty times what was sown."
Matthew 13:8
About Game and Katie Pongpa
We are Game and Katie Pongpa, a Thai-American church-planter couple serving in Game’s home district of Sanpatong, Thailand, since 2018.
Game is from the Northern Thai ethnic group, known locally as the Khon Muang /kohn mwahng/, and was born and raised in Sanpatong. He first heard the gospel at age 21 from a Thai Christian friend at college and became the first known believer in his village. Today, as a Khon Muang Christian, evangelist, church planter, and pastor Game is reaching his own people with the gospel alongside Katie, who has served as a missionary in Thailand since 2014.
Together, we are raising our family in Sanpatong and have committed our lives to sharing the gospel, making disciples, developing local leaders, and planting healthy, indigenous Thai Baptist churches. Our prayer is that every Khon Muang man, woman, and child will have repeated opportunities to hear the gospel from someone in their own language and culture through a healthy local church.
Serving Sanpatong
Just 40 minutes south of Chiang Mai City, Sanpatong District is made up of rural villages, growing communities, schools, markets, and family networks where generations of Khon Muang have made their home.
Yet the gospel presence here remains incredibly small, and many people have little opportunity to hear the good news of Jesus through a healthy church rooted in their own language and culture.
Why Sanpatong? In 2018, God called us to reach Game's home district and people with the gospel of Jesus Christ. The following year, He called us to leave our jobs and raise support so we could give ourselves fully to gospel ministry and church planting in Sanpatong.
We are committed to living amongst the people, building relationships, sharing the gospel, making disciples, developing local leaders, and serving through the local church year after year.
Reaching the
Northern Thai
The Northern Thai people (Khon Muang /kohn mwahng/) make up the majority of Sanpatong’s population. They have their own distinct language, culture, history, and identity, shaped over generations by Buddhism and traditional animistic beliefs. Only 0.03% of Khon Muang are evangelical Christians.
For us, this mission is deeply personal. Game is Khon Muang. He trusted in Christ in college and was later called by the Lord to carry the good news back to his own family and community. Today, as an evangelist, church planter, and pastor, he is discipling other Khon Muang believers to do the same. We’ve been sharing the gospel, starting Bible studies, and planting churches together since 2018.
Game’s story is one we long to see multiplied.
We want to see more Khon Muang hear the gospel. More become disciples. More share Christ with their families, friends, and neighbors. More answer God’s call to lead, pastor, plant churches, and take the gospel to others.
Our prayer is not simply to reach Khon Muang, but to see a growing number of Khon Muang believers join the missionary task of reaching their own people—and beyond.
Every Khon Muang person reached. Every believer equipped. The gospel multiplying from one generation to the next.
Planting Indigenous Churches
The local church is the vessel through which God carries out His gospel mission in the world.
Our goal is to see healthy, indigenous Thai Baptist churches planted throughout Sanpatong—churches rooted in the gospel and led by believers who understand the language, culture, families, and communities they are seeking to reach. Churches where the gospel is proclaimed, believers are discipled, leaders are developed, and new churches are planted.
Today, Nong Thaen First Baptist Church is one expression of that vision, and a new house group has begun in another subdistrict. As more churches are planted, we hope to develop a church planting network in Sanpatong—churches working together to make disciples, develop leaders, plant new churches, and send believers to carry the gospel beyond Sanpatong.
Yet in a still largely unreached field where much pioneer work remains, local churches are not yet able to financially sustain the full-time workers needed for this broader ministry. Through partnership with the global church, we are able to continue the good, hard work of evangelism, discipleship, leadership development, and church planting throughout Sanpatong.
We are praying for the day when healthy churches are multiplying throughout Sanpatong and Khon Muang believers are carrying the gospel to other districts, provinces, and nations.
Partner With Us
When you partner with us, you are investing in a growing indigenous gospel presence in Sanpatong that will, God willing, multiply to other districts, provinces, and nations for generations to come.
Since the indigenous evangelical church is still very small in Thailand, God uses His global church to send, support, pray for, and encourage those serving on the front lines of ministry.
PRAY
Pray for the gospel to take root and multiply and for God to raise up more Khon Muang believers, disciple-makers, leaders, pastors, and church planters.
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GIVE
Invest in the long-term work of evangelism, discipleship, leadership development, and indigenous church planting.
Why do we raise support?
Like many church planters serving in areas where churches are still being established, we raise financial support so that we can devote ourselves full-time to this ministry.
Become a ministry partner through a monthly recurring gift or make a one-time donation.