The church in the West, in the modern era of missions, has played the lead role in sending out missionaries and working cross-culturally. At the same time, growth of Christianity in the West has been showing a steady decline, which will have a major impact in the numbers of missionaries coming from the West in the future. The purpose of this study was three-fold. The first purpose was to document the growth of the church in non-western countries compared to the decline of the church in western countries. This includes the reality that more missionaries from nonwestern regions of the world (and non-traditionally missionary sending countries in the west) are starting to work cross-culturally in missions. The second purpose was to determine how mission organizations were adapting to the changes in global Christianity. The third purpose of this study focused on the growth of the church in Thailand, including the contributions and challenges of non-western missionaries in cross-cultural missions, specifically those working in Thailand.

Final-Thesis-Joseph-Paul-Charles