Overactive rainy season presents Gospel opportunity

Thailand (MNN) — Floodwaters are beginning to recede in parts of Bangkok as officials intensify drainage operations. Weekend rains inundated the city, forcing thousands into evacuation centers and leaving travelers stranded for hours.

Commuters and local residents navigating through flooded walkways near the Lak Si transport hub in Bangkok on September 27, 2026. (Zawzawaungthwin, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons)“We went through probably at least three miles of flooded road, and cars stopped all along the way,” A3’s Joe Handley says, speaking to MNN from a hotel in Bangkok.

“My one colleague from Japan waded across the street to get dinner tonight; he was up to his knees in water.”

Flooding strains food access

September is the peak of Thailand’s rainy season, but many Bangkok residents say this year’s flooding seems worse than previous episodes. Authorities declared a city-wide disaster on Saturday after nearly 48 hours of heavy rain in Bangkok.

“It’s monsoon season, and usually Bangkok is really well equipped for rains, but in this case, the rains were so much that it overflooded the city,” Handley says.

The deluge left entire neighborhoods swamped, trapping at least 80,000 people inside their homes.

“I have colleagues who live here, and they tried to wade through the water just to get food to survive for the last few days. And when they got to the market, virtually all the shelves were empty,” Handley says.

“Travelers may also struggle to find meals, including those attending A3’s leaders’ meeting in Bangkok this week.”

“We’re not even sure if the hotel itself will be able to get food in a timely manner to feed the group [or if] we can get everyone across the street or to the different malls to have meals that are not on site,” Handley says.

3 ways to pray

Pray that A3 leaders and associates will arrive safely in Bangkok for the annual meeting.

“All of our national directors from 22 countries, plus a few extras, are going to be coming in the next few days,” Handley says.

“We’ve got people coming from Africa, Latin America, the Middle East, Asia, and all of them are worried about whether or not they’re going to be able to make it here.”

Pray the meeting can take place as planned, giving A3 leaders the tools they need to succeed.

“We’ll be spending – Lord willing, with the rains and the floods – Tuesday through Friday together, focused on collaboration. We’ve invited in a group called Vision Synergy to lead us on daily equipping skills to prepare our national directors and working teams to do deeper dives with collaboration,” Handley says.

Pray that a local leader can travel safely to meet Handley and discuss launching A3’s work in Thailand.

“Even this week, we had planned to have a meeting with a Thai national leader to talk about launching our work here,” Handley says.

“Please pray that the fellow can make it here with all the chaos that’s going on in the city, so we can meet with him.”

Listen to the broadcast (top story)

Direct Link: https://a3leaders.org/images/audio/mnn/4-5min-Sep29-2026.mp3

Call to Action

• Pray that A3 leaders and associates will arrive safely in Bangkok for the annual meeting.
• Pray the meeting can take place as planned, giving A3 leaders the tools they need to succeed.
• Pray that a local leader can travel safely to meet Handley and discuss launching A3’s work in Thailand.

More Information

• This story by Katey Hearth was originally published on 29-Sep-2026 by Mission Network News:
  https://www.mnnonline.org/news/a3-leaders-navigate-bangkok-floods-food-access/
  
• Image credits:
  • Header image is a representative stock photo. 
  • Inset: Commuters and local residents navigating through flooded walkways near the Lak Si transport hub in Bangkok on September 27, 2026. (Zawzawaungthwin, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons)

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