Ban Nam Bpan Church

Song Khwae, Nan

Location

The most remote church of our network, Ban Nam Bpan, Song Khwae is located in the mountains of northern Nan province, nestled near the border with Laos.

With one road in or out, you wind through the hills and past remote villages as you ascend through the hills to discover this village.

The nearest town is 40km away, the nearest rural hospital would be only 20km away.

Pastor- Elijah Konganan

Elijah was born and raised in Song Khwae. After coming to Christ as a teenager, he moved to Chiang Mai in adulthood to serve in several different ministry capacities/organizations.

In late 2017, Elijah felt God stirring in his heart to return to his home village to plant a church. When he was a teenager a church existed in his village, but after the pastor left, the church ended up closing and the believers left their faith.

Elijah is married to Nii and they have a daughter named Esther.

The "Church"

In an area of 3 Khmu villages all near to one another, it is no coincidence that the church is entirely Khmu people. With the village being located so remote and in the mountains, the church is predominantly farmers.

The live simply and share generously with one another.

Many of the believers have come out of animism into their faith which can create much social pressure to keep believing in Christ. The believers of this church embody a rich faith as they cling to the Truth that they know and experience in God.

History

Context

Worship Services

Decades ago there was a church in Song Khwae. After the pastor left the church to move to Bangkok for work, the remaining believers abandoned their faith and returned to animism.

In 2017 a teenage believer from the time of the first church, Elijah, felt compelled to return to "re-plant" a church in his village. It has been difficult to rebuild people's trust in Christ due to their history with the first leader that left, but Elijah and the new believers are loving their community well and rebuilding what had been lost.

The church is in a remote Khmu village along the border with Laos. The village is predominantly animistic farmers. Many of the homes are simple, small houses with multigenerational families living in them.

The people are hunter gatherers, and live off the land. There is a small elementary school in the village for kids to have access to schooling up to grade 6. To go to high school, kids will have to travel down the mountain to the nearest town to attend.

Without a building to gather in, the church currently worships in homes. Simple music with a guitar, Khmu songs of worship, teaching from the Word and praying together is what happens every Sunday morning.

In 2025 a member of the church donated a piece of his land in order to have a place of worship. The congregation and other local churches all pitched in to build a road up to the land and clear a spot for the church building. One day this church will be worshiping on that mountain top surrounded by God's beautiful creation.