Dan and Mam Rutledge faithfully serve the Lord in Thailand at Heart Redeemed Ministry, a ministry oriented towards training church leaders in biblical counseling. Although Dan and Mam come from very different backgrounds, God brought them together to serve in Mam’s home country, Thailand, after working in children’s homes for functional orphans and noticing the need for the church to strengthen up families. Their desire to see families be transformed by the power of God’s Word developed very early in their marriage, as they both believed God was clearly leading them to a life of service for others.
Dan’s parents became believers when he was around two years old, and a couple years later he was influenced to pray “the sinner’s prayer” to accept Christ. Dan recounts that when he was in elementary school, he wanted to do what was right and had a desire to go to church. However, in high school, Dan fell away from his relationship with the Lord to follow after the desires of the world. This resulted in him wanting to get away from the church entirely in college. He followed down this track for a period of time, until after his first semester of college when the Lord called him back to Himself.
He gradually began to feel convicted over his sin until finally, at a conference, he realized his desperate situation and rededicated his life to the Lord. He then became very influenced by Campus Crusade for Christ, a nonprofit Christian organization that targets university students to help bring them into a relationship with Christ and grow in their faith. He graduated from Idaho State University with a bachelor’s degree in secondary education, then decided to pursue full-time ministry through the Jesus Film in Orlando, which was a project that sought to make a film of the Gospel of Luke. Dan served on the audio team and traveled to Thailand where he met his wife who was serving at an children’s homes for functional orphans at the time.
Mam was living in a children’s home at the age of seventeen when she heard the gospel for the first time and was baptized. Her heart quickly began to change for Christ and she wanted to know God more. After her conversion, she began to have a passion for the gospel, serving at Christian youth camps and children’s homes. Her and Dan’s paths crossed several times after their initial meeting in Thailand, which eventually grew into a relationship and marriage. Now, Dan and Mam have four children: Gracie (15), Joy (14), Hope (12), and Kyle (10).
Dan and Mam began their early marriage working together at a children’s home for functional orphans in Thailand when they saw the dysfunctionality of the children’s homes in that true and lasting change was not offered to the children. They noticed that these children’s homes were not aimed at strengthening the families and working with the parents. Consequently, Dan and Mam headed back to the U.S. for more serious theological training to help struggling families.
Dan knew that he did not necessarily want to be a pastor, but he wanted to become well equipped to come alongside the church and he found biblical counseling to be the perfect fit. Dan found a biblical counseling apprenticeship with University Bible Church and enrolled at The Masters University for his Master of Arts in Biblical Counseling. After this training, they returned to Thailand, as they had originally intended.
Thailand is a very secular in culture, as it is less than 1% evangelical and there is scarcely a theologically sound church within any local area. While the majority of the culture is Buddhist, nominal Christianity, where one’s life is not characterized by true repentance and following Christ in faith, is the most popular form of Christianity among Thai-landers. Therefore, even if you claim to be a Christian, the odds of hearing the true and entire gospel are rare.
As far as the people’s source of hope and counsel, people look to natural signs and palm readers to give them a sense of direction. Secular psychology has also had a significant impact for many Thai, which has created an opportunity for some Thai pastors to push for an integrated Christian-psychology model within their churches. They fight not only mysticism, but now scientific psychology as well. For Dan and Mam, Matthew 9:37 rings true for them, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few.” This can make biblical counseling both rewarding and challenging when they minister to the local people.
Like many others who work within the context of other nations and have seen the benefits of OIC, Dan and Mam were drawn to OIC’s culturally sensitive training program. At first, Dan was hesitant to join because many missions-based agencies concentrate on certifying overseas church leaders in Western-based certifications. However, OIC offered the unique opportunity of building up an authentic certification for church leaders within their own country.
Dan also appreciated that OIC’s focus is on church pastors as their key target audience. The Rutledges’ feel especially passionate about raising up new gospel-centered churches amongst the people of Thailand, as Bible-based counseling is most dependent upon the local church, no matter the country or context. Dan has a deep desire to see pastors care well for their flock, as he commented, “If you develop the pastor’s heart well, then the body of the church will start to develop as well.”
At a conference, Dr. Wayne Vanderwier, now the Director at Large for OIC, and Dan connected, and after discussing strategy, they both agreed the need for OIC in Thailand was strong, as OIC’s strengths directly addresses weaknesses that Thai pastors needed to develop in order to properly minister to the hearts of their people. At first training offered in coordination between the Rutledges and OIC, 120 people came to the first module; however, only three of them were pastors. Out of that 120, only nine people completed all four modules.
However, with the Rutledges’ patient persistence, they have begun to see fruit from their ministry. In eastern Thailand, some churches have really begun to embrace Bible-based soul care and started putting it into practice. There have been a number of churches ministering to college students in particular, and Dan and Mam rejoice as they see the church leaders they trained for ministry now train others and begin more church plants.
Although their ministry brings many challenges as the Thai culture is very secular, Dan and Mam encourage anyone planning to undertake Christian ministry to be patient with what God is doing. One of their hopes is to continue to use OIC’s training to develop a network of wise and seasoned biblical counselors in the country of Thailand, so that they can call upon each other for greater accountability as well as assistance within their local churches.
In the years of their ministry in Thailand, a key tool that the Rutledges have seen used powerfully by the Lord is the local church, rather than a single missionary. As such, they have a heart to see local churches become more competent in their counsel and be more effective with God’s Word for the building of His people, so they can be salt and light in the world. OIC has served the Rutledges well as they pursue strengthening of Thai church leaders to shepherd their flocks with wisdom, care, and compassion. As such, we encourage you to consider committing to pray, and possibly providing encouragement and support in other ways, for the Lord’s work in southeast Asia, including Thailand, through the Rutledges who are valuable instruments in their Redeemer’s hands.
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