Even though the school we taught at was a Christian organization, the majority of the student body were unbelievers—sent to this international school because of its high academics and caring faculty. During our time there, this was the approximate breakdown of the students’ nationalities: Thai 50%, Korean 20%, American 15%, Indian 10%, Other (Chinese, Canadian, European, etc.) 5%. We were able to integrate Biblical truths into our lesson plans as well as build relationships through after-school clubs and athletics. We both coached for a time, but Mark continued—realizing his niche—and ended up coaching a total of five teams over two years.

Our church, Newsong, hosted many outreach events in Bangkok, including a slum ministry with which we got involved. Malia went to the mubaan (community) every Saturday to teach English to elementary children, and Mark took his sports teams every season to play with the kids. Mark was also part of a basketball ministry. Every Saturday morning, he and others from the church would play pickup games at a public park and build relationships with the guys who joined them on the court. A number of these “strangers” became regular attendees at Newsong events.