I am delighted to share news about an exciting project I have been working on with my IM colleague, Rev. Kyle Witmer. Thanks to gifts from individual donors, and a grant from the Virginia and Gordon Palmer Junior Trust of the American Baptist Foundation through International Ministries, the Thai translation of the CASKET EMPTY New Testament Study Guide and Timeline will be released later this month.

Casket Empty https://www.casketempty.com/  is a Bible survey curriculum developed by Dr. David Palmer and Dr. Carol Kaminski, professors at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary.  It traces the key themes of scripture in chronological order, with Jesus Christ at the center of the meta-narrative. This is a unique approach that differs slightly from the traditional way of teaching according to the order of the books of the Bible. The Timelines outline the narrative themes of scripture at a glance using visual symbols. This curriculum has already been translated into Spanish, Chinese, Korean, Arabic, and Farsi, and is being used by Bible teachers around the world. Our Thai translation team has been hard at work on this project for the last two and a half years, and we are delighted that the New Testament Study Guide will be released as an eBook through a website called iChurch later this month. The Timelines will also be available through iChurch.This curriculum is suitable for local pastors and evangelists, and could also be used for teaching a seminary level New Testament class.

The McGilvary Leadership Institute at the McGilvary College of Divinity, Payap University in Chiang Mai has kindly agreed to organize and host an event on October 28-29 to train local pastors, seminary professors, and evangelists how to use the NT Study Guide and Timeline, and to celebrate the release of the Casket Empty curriculum in Thai.  Dr. David Palmer, the author of the New Testament Study Guide, will be flying from the US to Chiang Mai to conduct the training.  Dr. Palmer will teach in English with interpretation into Thai.

A great deal of time, resources, and love have been invested into the translation of these materials with the sincere hope that this project will be a blessing to churches throughout Thailand. Please join us in praying that God will be glorified through this project, and that Christian leaders in Thailand will come to the training, see the value of the teaching materials, and use them in their daily ministry.

After the training, our translation team will commence with the next phase of the project – translation of the Old Testament Study Guide and Timeline. If you wish to contribute to this ongoing project, we are still accepting donations through the IM website at: https://internationalministries.org/thailand-casket-empty-bible-curriculum/