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[PCUSA NEWS <pcusa.news@ecunet.org>]

GA99010    Communion Table Tells a Tale of Persecution 
                       and Persistent Faith 
 
        Thai Pastor Was Imprisoned for Sharing the Gospel 
 
FORT WORTH -The communion table being used for the daily worship services 
of the 211th General Assembly was provided by the Thai Presbyterian 
Fellowship of Forest Hill Presbyterian Church in Fort Worth. 
     The table reflects the dream of one man   The Rev. Boonyune Nataneti, 
an ordained Presbyterian minister who had been spreading the gospel in his 
native Thailand for decades.  He suffered many hardships -- including 
imprisonment -- in his native country, which is predominantly Buddhist. 
     Boonyune also had a vision to share the Christian faith with the many 
Buddhists who were migrating to the United States from Thailand, and so he 
sent his children to this country for education and to establish Christian 
outreach to Thai immigrant communities. 
     In 1986 the Thai Presbyterian Fellowship was started by Boonyune's 
family and a few friends, offering prayer, singing and Bible reading in 
Thai.  With the help of Forest Hill Presbyterian Church, a portion of its 
fellowship hall was converted into a chapel for the Thai group.  Shortly 
thereafter, after 32 years of ministry in Thailand, Boonyune retired and 
came to stay in the United States with his five children in Fort Worth. 
 
 
 
     In June of 1996, the Thai Fellowship celebrated its 10th anniversary. 
As an act of praise and thanksgiving, a special communion table was ordered 
to commemorate the anniversary.  It took an artisan in Chiengmai, Thailand, 
three months to carve the table out of teakwood.  There are two matching 
end tables that complete the set. 
 
by Angie Hare 
Committee on Local Arrangements           

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