Please NOTE:The current web address for South East Asian Missions is http://seasianmissions.org/ 


This is the address shown in past newsletters. Prior domain names expired in December 2020 and January 2021. 
    Please click on the address hightlighted, or manually update your bookmarks, thank you: 

 SEAsianMissions.org (SEAM)  


This ministry was started by Dr. L. Thomas Rayner and was wisely intended NOT to send foreign missionaries
into places to spread the Gospel, but to first find true believers and assist them in their ministry, providing
needed support until they were self-sufficient.  This eliminated the problems associated with visas, vaccines, and
of course the inevitable political unrest in many areas that created serious problems for foreigners or those working
with them directly.  

Dr. Rayner's ministry was effective and widespread throughout much of South East Asia, with much emphasis on India, 
but also reaching into Nepal and neighboring countries.  The true extent of SEAM's influence is not fully known by 
those who have continued Dr. Rayner's work.  The good news is that those churches, schools,
hospitals and orphanages started or supported by SEAM have continued on and the work continues there and with their
outreaches. In the decades since Dr. Rayner went home to be with Jesus, the work and vision he started for the Lord
is continuing.  Dr. Patrick assumed the role of leadership and continued the work.  Unfortunately in moving the
ministry headquarters from Hawaii to Texas the non-profit status was not properly moved and is now lost. 

Faithful supporters continued to support the work after this happened, however because of Dr. Patrick's health problems
the work has not continued and some may find that their checks for donations have not been cashed. The information
on where to donate has been removed from this website until there is a decision made on how to proceed with this 
work from the board.  The good news of course is that God's work in Asia continues from the faithful actions of
both Doctors Rayner and Patrick.  Some of the churches they have helped in their early days are flourishing.  


 Please note that SEAM is no longer an accredited charitable organization. 
The process to restore that accrediation is under way. 
The accrediation was lost a few years ago when transferring the SEAM headquarters from Hawaii to Texas due to an administrative error.  



John Watanabe, Dr. Thomas Rayner and Chaplain (retired) John Patrick - Darmstadt, Germany 1979 



A BRIEF HISTORY OF SOUTHEAST ASIAN MISSIONS (SEAM)
Dr. L. Thomas Rayner
God's Calling

Many years ago, in the early 1900's, Dr. L. Thomas Rayner, the founder of Southeast Asian Missions, 
heard the call of the LORD to bring the Gospel to the millions of people in Southeast Asia who have 
never heard of Jesus. He wanted to be a medical doctor so that he could become a medical missionary. 
His wife, Eileen, had also trained to be a nurse. Eileen wanted to go to India to do medical missionary 
work, and Dr. Rayner agreed. They went to India before WWII.

After several years of language training, they worked with World Wide Missions at a hospital in 
northern India. They had been there for a number of years when Eileen contacted confluent smallpox in 1951.

Two weeks later Eileen died suddenly from the deadly disease. Dr. Rayner was with her, and described the event: 
"It was as if Eileen saw a vision of Jesus as she was looking through the ceiling, and said, "Oh, Jesus!" and 
then died."   Dr. Rayner was devastated by her death.

People at that time were afraid of smallpox in India since it was very contagious and some strains are very lethal. 
While Dr. Rayner and his adopted son, David, were up in the mountains burying Mrs. Rayner, someone had set their 
home on fire for fear of smallpox being spread. Only a few days later, David became ill, and died within a week 
from probable hemorrhagic smallpox.



Mrs. Eileen Rayner



Beginnings in India
Dr. Rayner was now at the lowest ebb of his life. All of his immediate family was dead, and the fire had destroyed 
nearly all of his possessions. For all their years of labor in India, they had seen relatively few who had accepted 
Christ. He was brokenhearted and felt that his work had been a failure. He contemplated suicide, but the Lord spoke 
to him and told him he must continue to bring the Gospel to the unreached.

Dr. Rayner then decided to go back to Australia where his grandmother lived. After arrival, he felt the need to fast 
and pray. After 3 days of prayer and fasting, Dr. Rayner saw a vision of his wife and his two sons, and they were 
saying, "Come back to India."  He received a phone call from his grandmother saying that she had a similar vision. 
He felt strongly that the Lord was leading him to return to India. This time, he went alone with no sponsoring 
missionary organization other than a few Christian friends and family. He was not really alone, however, since the 
Lord has promised that He will never leave us nor forsake us.

Dr. Rayner started working closely with Indian Christian pastors and evangelists. Several of his friends in India 
encouraged Dr. Rayner to start his own mission and recommended naming it Southeast Asian Missions (SEAM).


    To watch an oral history video on Dr. Rayner by the late Suzie Peters please click here.

Japan
Dr. Rayner worked tirelessly in India. Eventually, he decided to move to Japan where he could not only rest, 
but could help the Japanese Christians after WWII. In Japan, he met Yoshiro (John) Watanabe and was actually 
involved in saving John's life. He saw him lying on a bench at the train station, due to a heart problem, 
and got him to a hospital just in time to save his life. This really touched John's heart, and as a result he 
accepted Christ, and continued to help Dr. Rayner and the missionary work for many years.

Initially, Southeast Asian Missions was essentially an Indian Mission, with some additional work in other countries, 
including Nepal, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam, and Japan. Other work, including several children's homes, was added 
as time went by. The headquarters was in Japan until the Lord led Dr. Rayner to leave Japan in 1976 and move the 
missions to Hawaii. John Watanabe followed to be his assistant until Dr. Rayner's death in 1984.

Meeting Dr. Patrick and Moving to Hawaii
Prior to moving to Hawaii, Dr. Rayner had been invited to visit a church in Portland, OR in the early 1970's. 
It was here that Dr. Rayner met Dr. & Mrs. Patrick. The Patrick's quickly became close friends with Dr. Rayner 
and began helping him in the mission outreach. During Dr. Patrick's years in and after medical school and his 
years in the US Army, the spiritual bond between Dr. Rayner and the Patrick's grew immensely. Dr. Patrick 
requested the US Army to move them to Hawaii to work in the military there, and also to make it possible to 
work with Dr. Rayner.

The Patrick's moved to Hawaii in 1977 and stayed there for over 22 years until after Dr. Patrick's retirement 
from the Army in 1996. Dr. Patrick went on a number of mission trips with Dr. Rayner from the 1970's until 
Dr. Rayner's death in 1984. Dr. Patrick continues to work tirelessly both in and out of the medical field and 
to faithfully help the growing work of SEAM on the mission field as well as here in the U.S. Dr. Patrick has 
been the acting President of Southeast Asian Missions since Dr. Rayner's death in 1984.

Official Non-Profit Status lost in the move
Shortly after Dr. and Mrs. Patrick moved to Hawaii in 1977, Southeast Asian Missions became officially 
incorporated as a 501c3 non-profit organization. It was Dr. Rayner's vision that 100% of donations go to 
the missions field as designated, and it was adhered to that goal today.   HOWEVER, the accrediation
was lost during the move and has not yet been recovered.  Because of of the declining health of 
Dr. Patrick the funds may not get distributed as quickly as in the past. Faithful supporters may
even find that their checks have not been cashed. The future of the mission is up to the Lord at
this point, but the work started by Dr. Rayner continues without problems in the areas of need by
faithful local pastors and workers.

(NOTE: March 2023 - the non-profit accreditation was lost due to an administrative error when 
the headquarters was relocated from Hawaii to Texas. The legal process has been underway to have it restored, 
but the accreditation is not yet completed, and there is no estimated time of restoration, so 
until then donations are not tax deductible.)

Death of Dr. Rayner
While Dr. Rayner and John Watanabe were in Kathmandu, Nepal, on a mission trip in 1984, Dr. Rayner had 
a fatal heart attack and died at age 66. Dr. Patrick was to meet them in India but had to change his 
flight plans to go to Nepal since Dr. Rayner's remains could not be flown out of the country. Dr. Rayner 
was buried in the British Embassy Cemetery in Kathmandu, Nepal, with Dr. Patrick giving the funeral service. 
There were close friends in attendance, including our beloved Dr. Rao, John Watanabe, plus many other SEAM 
workers from India and workers and orphans from Nepal.

It was Dr. Rayner's wishes that Dr. Patrick become the acting President upon his death. John Patrick, 
Dr. Patrick's brother, became the Vice President. John Watanabe continued as the Secretary-Treasurer 
until 1985 when he resigned due to his failing eyesight and other health problems. After turning over 
his duties to Mrs. Patrick, he moved back to Japan that same year.

Update 2024
The wisdom of Dr. Rayner in establishing this ministry so it was NOT dependent on foreign missionaries
and with the plan to support a church, school, orphanage or other ministries until they could become
self sufficient has continued the spread of the GOOD NEWS OF JESUS CHRIST and the forgiveness of sins
despite the problems of administration here in the states.  

That wisdom has permitted the work to continue in places hostile to Christianity, and to continue
despite the challenges present in those places put forward by government or local leaders.

Continued Growth
With the LORD's blessings, Southeast Asian Missions has continued to grow. 

As of about 2020 or so there are over 4,000 churches, that have been established or supported,
with pastors and evangelists, hundreds of thousands of new believers, orphanages, schools, and many other 
mission-related ministries. This work that the Lord has given us now extends to 12 countries. We believe 
that the coming years will be the greatest years ever for the mission with continued support and God's 
generosity and desire for our continued growth. 

 A vocal history of South East Asian Missions - an mp4 file 


For Bible translations used in Asia here are links to versions that include English:
 South East Asia Translations 

 India - Hindi Translation
IN.txt.html - Indian - Hindi translation - entire Bible - HTML

 Indian Revised Version - available under terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-SA 4.0) license. (IN)
उत्पत्ति 1:1 ¶ आदि में परमेश्‍वर ने आकाश और पृथ्वी की सृष्टि की। (IN) 


26137 यूहन्ना 3:16 क्योंकि परमेश्<200d>वर ने जगत से ऐसा प्रेम रखा कि उसने अपना एकलौता पुत्र दे दिया, ताकि जो कोई उस पर विश्वास करे, वह नाश न हो, परन्तु अनन्त जीवन पाए। (Hindi)
26138 यूहन्ना 3:17 परमेश्<200d>वर ने अपने पुत्र को जगत में इसलिए नहीं भेजा, कि जगत पर दण्ड की आज्ञा दे, परन्तु इसलिए कि जगत उसके द्वारा उद्धार पाए। (Hindi)
26139 यूहन्ना 3:18 जो उस पर विश्वास करता है, उस पर दण्ड की आज्ञा नहीं होती, परन्तु जो उस पर विश्वास नहीं करता, वह दोषी ठहराया जा चुका है; इसलिए कि उसने परमेश्<200d>वर के एकलौते पुत्र के नाम पर विश्वास नहीं किया। (Hindi)
26140 यूहन्ना 3:19 और दण्ड की आज्ञा का कारण यह है कि ज्योति जगत में आई है, और मनुष्यों ने अंधकार को ज्योति से अधिक प्रिय जाना क्योंकि उनके काम बुरे थे। (Hindi)
26141 यूहन्ना 3:20 क्योंकि जो कोई बुराई करता है, वह ज्योति से बैर रखता है, और ज्योति के निकट नहीं आता, ऐसा न हो कि उसके काम(Hindi)ष लगाया जाए। (Hindi)


 India OT - Hindi - HTML

 Indian Revised Version - available under terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-SA 4.0) license. (IN)

उत्पत्ति 1:1 ¶ आदि में परमेश्‍वर ने आकाश और पृथ्वी की सृष्टि की। (IN)

उत्पत्ति 1:2 पृथ्वी बेडौल और सुनसान पड़ी थी, और गहरे जल के ऊपर अंधियारा था; तथा परमेश्‍वर का आत्मा जल के ऊपर मण्डराता था। (IN)

उत्पत्ति 1:3 ¶ तब परमेश्‍वर ने कहा, “उजियाला हो,” तो उजियाला हो गया। (IN) 

 India NT - Hindi - HTML

 Indian Revised Version - available under terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-SA 4.0) license. (IN)

मत्ती 1:1 ¶ अब्राहम की सन्तान, दाऊद की सन्तान, यीशु मसीह की वंशावली। (IN)

मत्ती 1:2 अब्राहम से इसहाक उत्‍पन्‍न हुआ, इसहाक से याकूब उत्‍पन्‍न हुआ, और याकूब से यहूदा और उसके भाई उत्‍पन्‍न हुए। (IN)

मत्ती 1:3 यहूदा और तामार से पेरेस व जेरह उत्‍पन्‍न हुए, और पेरेस से हेस्रोन उत्‍पन्‍न हुआ, और हेस्रोन से एराम उत्‍पन्‍न हुआ। (IN) 

TRANSLATIONS:
Terjemahan Baru Copyright Lembaga Alkitab Indonesia (Indonesian Bible Society), 1994.  Released for non-profit scholarly and personal use.
======= Genesis 1:1 ============
Genesis 1:1 Pada mulanya Allah menciptakan langit dan bumi.
======= Genesis 1:2 ============
Genesis 1:2 Bumi belum berbentuk dan kosong; gelap gulita menutupi samudera raya, dan Roh Allah melayang-layang di atas permukaan air.
======= Genesis 1:3 ============
Genesis 1:3 Berfirmanlah Allah: "Jadilah terang." Lalu terang itu jadi.

SEAsianMissions.org: NASB, Vietnamese Cadman - Public Domain
======= John 1:1 ============
Jn 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
John 1:1 Ban đầu có Ngôi Lời, Ngôi Lời ở cùng Ðức Chúa Trời, và Ngôi Lời là Ðức Chúa Trời.(VN)
======= John 1:2 ============
Jn 1:2 He was in the beginning with God.
John 1:2 Ban đầu Ngài ở cùng Ðức Chúa Trời.(VN)
======= John 1:3 ============
Jn 1:3 All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.
John 1:3 Muôn vật bởi Ngài làm nên, chẳng vật chi đã làm nên mà không bởi Ngài.(VN)
======= John 1:4 ============
Jn 1:4 In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men.
John 1:4 Trong Ngài có sự sống, sự sống là sự sáng của loài người.(VN)

TRANSLATIONS: Maori Bible This Bible is in the Public Domain.
======= Genesis 1:1 ============
Genesis 1:1 ¶ He mea hanga na te atua i te timatanga te rangi me te whenua.
======= Genesis 1:2 ============
Genesis 1:2 A kahore he ahua o te whenua, i takoto kau; he pouri ano a runga i te mata o te hohonu. Na ka whakapaho te Wairua o te Atua i runga i te kare o nga wai.
======= Genesis 1:3 ============
Genesis 1:3 ¶ A ka ki te Atua, Kia marama: na ka marama.

SEAsianMissions.org: CHAPTERS in English, French, Spanish, Chinese, Russian, Arabic, Hindi, Portuguese and English in this order:
Gal 5:1 It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery.(nasb)
Galates 5:1 C'est pour la liberté que Christ nous a affranchis. Demeurez donc fermes, et ne vous laissez pas mettre de nouveau sous le joug de la servitude.(F)
Gálatas 5:1 Estad, pues, firmes en la libertad con que Cristo nos hizo libres; y no os sujetéis de nuevo al yugo de esclavitud.(rvg-E)
加 拉 太 書 5:1 基 督 释 放 了 我 们 ， 叫 我 们 得 以 自 由 。 所 以 要 站 立 得 稳 ， 不 要 再 被 奴 仆 的 轭 挟 制 。(CN)
К Галатам 5:1 Итак стойте в свободе, которую даровал нам Христос,и не подвергайтесь опять игу рабства.(RU)
(Arabic) ﻲﻃﻼﻏ 5:1 فاثبتوا اذا في الحرية التي قد حررنا المسيح بها ولا ترتبكوا ايضا بنير عبودية.
गलातियों 5:1 ¶ मसीह ने स्वतंत्रता के लिये हमें स्वतंत्र किया है; इसलिए इसमें स्थिर रहो, और दासत्व के जूए में फिर से न जुतो। (IN)
Gálatas 5:1 Estai, pois, firmes na liberdade com que Cristo nos libertou, e não volteis a vos prender com o jugo da escravidão.(PT)
Gal 5:1 Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage.(nkjv)

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      ASV.txt                 2024-11-24 21:06  4.5M  
      ASV.txt.html            2024-11-24 21:06  4.6M  
      CN-NT.txt               2024-11-24 21:06  1.2M  
      CN-NT.txt.html          2024-11-24 21:06  1.2M  
      CN-OT.txt               2024-11-24 21:06  3.6M  
      CN-OT.txt.html          2024-11-24 21:06  3.6M  
      CN.txt                  2024-11-24 21:06  4.7M  
      CN.txt.html             2024-11-24 21:06  4.8M  
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