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| Congregation at ECB [Source] |
Question: Do you find any repression of the Christian faith in Thailand or are they pretty free to worship like us?
The word "Thai" actually means "free." Thailand prides itself on being the land of the free. People are free to do almost anything here--legal or illegal if you're willing and able to bribe law enforcement. The same applies with religious freedom. People are free to practice whatever they want and however they want. Most often, this is Theravada Buddhism. They are Buddhist because everyone else is Buddhist; their friends, family, classmates, co-workers, etc. are all Buddhists. While they may be free under the law to choose to become Christians, often this decision is made difficult by people in their community, chief of whom are their parents who hold a remarkable amount of sway over their lives. However, when Thai people choose to accept Christ, while they may be alienated from their families, they find joy in being a part of the body of Christ--the local and universal church.
I hope in the future to feature some stories from my Thai friends who converted to Christianity. They have a unique perspective to offer on a topic about which I can only speak in generalities.
Also, great news! The student I just started to tutor today is a Christian who goes to New Vision Church (the church on the 5th floor of the BSC). I had a wonderful time talking with her. She wants to improve her English so that she can better serve at the church plant the New Vision team visits every Saturday. "Ad" is a nurse in the ICU and I told her that as we were finishing, I felt like I had only scratched the surface of her stories and experience. I am SO excited to get to spend more time with her and hopefully encourage in her faith. Please pray with me for her to have more opportunities to share the gospel at work where peoples' lives hang in the balance every day.
She told me one story in particular that I want to share here on this blog: When the tsunami hit the south of Thailand in 2004, she went with the Red Cross to aid people who had been affected by it. Ad told me how one of her friends from church who is a Christian had been persistently witnessing to her mother who wasn't a believer but her mother was resistant to Christianity. However, the mother's house was near the beach that was hit and water filled her house so that she could only hold her head above the surface of the water near the roof. It was completely dark and in that moment, the mother remembered what her daughter had told her about God and she prayed for the first time, "God, if you're real, please help me survive this." As soon as she finished praying, she saw light coming through roof and she was able to swim towards the light and get on the roof. The mother is still a believer to this day. During the time that Ad was in the south working with the Red Cross, she got to share about Jesus with English-speaking victims. What an amazing God to reveal His miracles to us and bless that daughter in seeing her mother come to Christ!
