A Sad Story

I greeted her with a hug and the tears began to pour down my face. I said, “I don’t understand, Aunt Siang. Why would you throw God away? You have to explain this to me.”

Aunt Siang had come to visit our small group that met on Saturdays in her village. She had expressed an interest in the story of Christ. It wasn’t long before she believed and followed the Lord in baptism. For nearly two years we have watched her grow in her faith. She could quote scripture and oftentimes would have a scripture to share with the group. Keith met with the group weekly and often brought them together for extra training. Recently, Keith noticed that her countenance had become sad and restless instead of the happy and peaceful lady we had grown to love. Then one day she went to visit Ju, one of our group members, bringing her Bible with her. She told Ju that she was going back to Buddhism and was on her way to the temple to ask the monks to forgive her for becoming a Christian. She tried tempting Ju to come with her, but Ju would have no part in it. She handed Ju her Bible and left.
Money seemed to be at the heart of this decision. She told Ju that since becoming a believer, she had not won any money in the local lottery. This was a big surprise to us that she was betting in the lottery and something she had kept from everyone. She stated that having a good life now was better than worrying about life after death.
Today, she told me that her family’s constant harassment had worn her down. She said there were other things that I would not understand. The Holy Spirit began to speak things to my heart to say to my friend. I know it was His voice, because I honestly have no idea what I said. I hugged her good bye, told her that I loved her, and that I knew the Lord did too. This has been the biggest disappointment for me on the mission field. I have examined everything I ever thought I knew about her. I have questioned every part of what we (Keith) had taught and still nothing makes sense to me. The all-time evil question (at least in many things) of WHY keeps coming back. My thoughts on that will come in another blog as I think this is already too long.
Please continue to pray for Thailand and that God’s Kingdom would come to this land.
Tracy

Bangkok Mission Team

ENERGETIC! ZEALOUS! and LOVING! are words that describe the group of young people that came down from Charoen Krung Friendship Church in Bangkok.

We witnessed the truths of what we have prayed many times, “Lord, give the Thais a burden for reaching their people. They can do it so much better and faster.”
When Thai Christians visit our small groups, you can feel the instant bond that they have with each other. The connection that a familiar face and language brings helps to give the stories we’ve told credibility. To know there are others who believe as they do strengthens their faith.

Extreme temperatures greeted the team each day. Some were sick with fever and sore throats, but nothing deterred them from their mission. To share the gospel and love of Christ with those they would meet each day.

It was also a learning experience for most of them had never shared their testimonies or presented the gospel to anyone. Keith pushed them out of the ease of telling stories, singing and doing drama for children to sharing one on one with a stranger the love of Christ. It was encouraging watching them grow in boldness for the message.

Please pray that we would continue to see a heart for missions grow in the churches of Bangkok. Pray that God would give them the vision to send teams and individuals to work alongside us and other missionaries to reach this country with the message. There are still so many who do not know that through Christ they can be made right with their Creator.

Blessings
Tracy