The Laos Mission (also, North Laos Mission, North Siam Mission) was founded in
Chiang Mai
Chiang Mai (, from th, เชียงใหม่ , nod, , เจียงใหม่ ), sometimes written as Chiengmai or Chiangmai, is the largest city in northern Thailand, the capital of Chiang Mai province and the second largest city in ...
, northern
Thailand by the Rev.
Daniel McGilvary and Mrs. Sophia McGilvary in April 1867. It was established as a mission of the Board of Foreign Missions,
Presbyterian Church in the United States
The Presbyterian Church in the United States (PCUS, originally Presbyterian Church in the Confederate States of America) was a Protestant denomination in the Southern and border states of the United States that existed from 1861 to 1983. That y ...
.
Mission
The original vision for the mission came from Dr.
Dan Beach Bradley, who himself once proposed starting a mission in the
North. The Laos Mission included, at one time or another, six stations in
Northern Siam
Northern Thailand, or more specifically Lan Na, Lanna, is geographically characterised by several mountain ranges, which continue from the Shan Hills in bordering Myanmar to Laos, and the river valleys which cut through them. Though like most of ...
:
Chiang Mai
Chiang Mai (, from th, เชียงใหม่ , nod, , เจียงใหม่ ), sometimes written as Chiengmai or Chiangmai, is the largest city in northern Thailand, the capital of Chiang Mai province and the second largest city in ...
(founded 1867);
Lampang (founded in 1885 and originally known as the Lakawn Station);
Lamphun
Lamphun ( th, ลำพูน, ) is a town (''thesaban mueang'') in northern Thailand, capital of Lamphun Province. It covers the whole ''tambon'' Nai Mueang of Mueang Lamphun district. As of 2006 it has a population of 14,030. Lamphun lies north ...
(founded 1891 and made a sub-station of Chiang Mai in 1897);
Phrae (1893):
Nan (1895); and
Chiang Rai (1896). In addition, the mission founded a station in 1903 to work with the
Tai peoples of eastern
Burma in
Kengtung, which was closed in 1907; and it founded another station, the
Chiang Rung Station, in
Yunnan Province,
southern China in 1917.
The mission founded its first church, Chiang Mai Church, now known simply as First Church, Chiang Mai, in 1868. After a brief period of evangelistic success, the mission underwent a time of persecution in 1869, during which two converts were martyred. The mission did not fully recover until the late 1870s. In 1880, it founded three congregations including the Mae Dok Daeng Church, known today as the Suwanduangrit Church,
Ban Dok Daeng.
In 1885, the mission sponsored the founding of the Presbytery of North Laos, officially under the
Synod
A synod () is a council of a Christian denomination, usually convened to decide an issue of doctrine, administration or application. The word ''wikt:synod, synod'' comes from the meaning "assembly" or "meeting" and is analogous with the Latin ...
of
New York City, to give oversight to the churches.
By the 1890s, the mission increasingly emphasized medical and educational institutional work, founding boarding schools, such as
Prince Royal's College
The Prince Royal's College ( th, โรงเรียนปรินส์รอยแยลส์วิทยาลัย) is a private Christian school serving the education needs of over 6,000 students per year in grades kindergarten through ...
and
Chiang Rai Witthayakhom School
Chiang Rai Witthayakhom School ( RTGS), locally spelled as Chiengrai Vidhayakhome School ( th, โรงเรียนเชียงรายวิทยาคม), is a school in Chiang Rai city. It is the oldest school in Chiang Rai Province, ...
, American printing house (Wangsingkam), hospitals and dispensaries in each of the stations. The churches, meanwhile, numbered 37 by 1920, the last year of the mission, and communicate membership numbered 6,649 that same year.
The presbytery continued in existence until 1934, when it was incorporated into the
Church of Christ in Thailand
The Church of Christ in Thailand (C.C.T.) (Thai: สภาคริสตจักรในประเทศไทย) is a Protestant Christian association. It is the largest Protestant denomination in Thailand and is considered to be the large ...
. Beginning in the 1890s, the majority of the mission's members campaigned for mission expansion into the
Shan States of Burma, which brought it into a protracted, time-consuming territorial dispute with the
American Baptists
The American Baptist Churches USA (ABCUSA) is a mainline/evangelical Baptist Christian denomination within the United States. The denomination maintains headquarters in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. The organization is usually considered mainl ...
in Burma. For a brief period from 1911 to 1914, the mission's church grew rapidly in the wake of
malaria and
smallpox epidemics in various parts of northern Siam. With improvements in communications between northern and central Siam, the Laos Mission was united with the
Siam Mission
Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...
in 1920-21.
From Herb Swanson with permission
/ref>
See also
*Chiang Rai Witthayakhom School
Chiang Rai Witthayakhom School ( RTGS), locally spelled as Chiengrai Vidhayakhome School ( th, โรงเรียนเชียงรายวิทยาคม), is a school in Chiang Rai city. It is the oldest school in Chiang Rai Province, ...
*Prince Royal's College
The Prince Royal's College ( th, โรงเรียนปรินส์รอยแยลส์วิทยาลัย) is a private Christian school serving the education needs of over 6,000 students per year in grades kindergarten through ...
References
*Curtis, Lillian Johnson. ''The Laos of North Siam''. Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1903. (Reprint. Bangkok: White Lotus Press, 1998).
*McFarland, George B., ed. ''Historical Sketch of Protestant Missions in Siam 1828-1928''. Bangkok: Bangkok Times Press, 1928. (Reprint. Bangkok: White Lotus Press, 1999).
*McGilvary, Daniel.'' A Half Century Among the Siamese and the Lao''. New York: Revell, 1912. (Reprint. Bangkok: White Lotus Press, 2001).
*Pasuna, C. Lanna Dynamics: Changing of Language in Payap County (Monthon Payap) Under the Influence of Siam from Missionary Archives, 1893-1926. "''Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences''" 8(2) (July-December 2020).
*Swanson, Herbert R. ''Khrischak Muang Nua''. Bangkok: Chuan Press, 1984.
*Wells, Kenneth E. ''History of Protestant Work in Thailand 1828-1958''. Bangkok: Church of Christ in Thailand, 1958.
{{Christianity in Thailand
Christian missions in Asia
Protestantism in Thailand
1867 in Chiang Mai
Buildings and structures in Chiang Mai