About Us

OMF logoWe are missionaries to Thailand. Sent by our home churches, we work under the auspices of OMF International (originally China Inland Mission founded by Hudson Taylor), an international, interdenominational evangelical Protestant mission organization.

Karl and Sun have worked in Thailand since 2006, engaging in a variety of ministries including church planting, English teaching, theological education, and publishing. Karl has also written several books, book chapters, and articles, as well as numerous blog posts.

The family is currently living in Chiang Mai (northern Thailand) where Karl teaches at Chiang Mai Theological Seminary.

Who We Are

Karl became a Christian as a teenager through the ministry of a Presbyterian church youth group. During college, he was a student leader with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship and got his first taste of missions through a short-term trip to Poland.  Karl taught English and assisted with evangelism and discipleship as part of an OMF church planting team in Thailand for two years before returning to the U.S. to study for a Master of Divinity (M.Div) at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. He also holds a Master of Theology (Th.M) from Talbot School of Theology (Biola University) and a Ph.D. in World Christianity from the University of Edinburgh (read my thesis!). Karl is an ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA).

Sun and her family fled from the killing fields of Cambodia and arrived as refugees in California.  Sun heard the Gospel in Sunday school and later prayed to receive Christ.  After high school, Sun sensed the Lord calling her into missions and pursued a degree in Biblical Studies from Biola University.  Following graduation, Sun went on a short-term mission trip to Cambodia and then taught elementary school for a few years before returning to Asia to teach English in Laos.  During her four years in Laos, she also earned an M.A. in TESOL through Azusa Pacific University.  After Laos, Sun sensed God leading her to a very large Asian country where served for two years.  Sun and her team shared the Gospel with top university students and partnered with churches.

Karl and Sun were married in 2005 and have three children, Joshua, Caitlin, and John.  They did church planting ministry in Central Thailand during their first missionary term and then moved to Bangkok where Karl taught part-time at Bangkok Bible Seminary, assisted with editing and translation of Thai Christian books at Kanok Bannasan (OMF Publishers Thailand), and they both were involved with Grace City Bangkok, a church plant in downtown Bangkok. Currently, they live in Chiang Mai where Karl teaches at Chiang Mai Theological Seminary.

Five Solas

We affirm the five “Solas” of the Protestant Reformation: 

  • SOLA SCRIPTURA - The Bible alone can bind the conscience of believers and is infallible, inerrant and sufficient.

  • SOLA FIDE - Justification is by faith alone.  The merit of Christ imputed to us by faith is the sole ground of our acceptance by God.

  • SOLUS CHRISTUS - Christ is the only mediator through whose work we are redeemed.

  • SOLA GRATIA - Our salvation rests solely on the work of God’s unfathomable grace for us and in us.

  • SOLI DEO GLORIA - To God alone belongs the glory.

Doctrinal Statement

  • We believe the Bible is the written word of God, inspired by the Holy Spirit and without error in the original manuscripts. The Bible is the revelation of God's truth and is infallible and 
authoritative in all matters of faith and practice.

  • We believe in the Holy Trinity. There is one God, who exists eternally in three persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

  • We believe that all are sinners and totally unable to save themselves from God's displeasure, except by His mercy.

  • We believe that salvation is by God alone as He sovereignly chooses those He will save. We believe His choice is based on His grace, not on any human individual merit, or foreseen faith.

  • We believe that Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God, who through His perfect life and sacrificial death atoned for the sins of all who will trust in Him, alone, for salvation.

  • We believe that the Holy Spirit indwells God's people and gives them the strength and wisdom to trust Christ and follow Him.

  • We believe that Jesus will return, bodily and visibly, to judge all mankind and to receive His people to Himself.

  • We believe that all aspects of our lives are to be lived to the glory of God under the Lordship of Jesus Christ.

Donation Address

OMF International
10 W. Dry Creek Circle
Littleton, CO 80120

With your check, please include a note indicating support for "Karl & Sun Dahlfred"
You may also give online.