History of S.A.L.T. Ministries (Mission Work of Virgilio & Esther de los Santos)

In 1967, LaVerne Morse of South East Asia Evangelizing Mission presented to the Cruzada Church of Christ an urgent need for Asian missionaries to Asian people particularly in Thailand. After much prayers and consultation withthe elders of Cruzada Church and American missionaries, J. Willis Hale and Barton McElroy, Virgilio & Esther de los Santos accepted the challenge to go to a foreign mission field.

This mission endeavor would be a joint venture between the South East Asia Evangelizing Mission and the Cruzada Church of Christ as the sending church. Prior to their departure, they formed the Thailand Mission Churches of Christ with the counter mission of the sending church, the Lupong Misyonero ng Iglesia Ni Kristo sa Cruzada (Missionary Committee of the Cruzada Church of Christ).

On August 20, 1970, Virgilio set foot in Thailand. A few months later, on December 19 of that same year, his wife Esther and their two sons, Tim and James followed him. This made them the first Filipino missionaries officially sent by a Filipino church to Asia. In Thailand, the Lord blessed them with two more children, John Mark and Hannah. In 1991, they changed the mission's name to SALT (Sharing the Amazing Light in Thailand) Ministries. In March 2003, SALT Ministries was incorporated.