We are very grateful for your support and prayers! God is answering your prayers and pouring His blessings on us!
One evening a few of our girls came to me and they had a surprising request. They were invited to participate in a special ritual with other young girls, and since they now believe in Jesus, they were not sure if this is something, they should be involved in. They explained that is a special ritual for young and beautiful virgins who are invited to someone’s house (those people who organize this ritual) and those people serve them for a few days. Feeding, caring, providing for all their needs and wants, during this time and they are not permitted to do any work, except participating in the ritual. This was a dilemma for our young girls, and Nai, one of them who had the courage to ask me: “Teacher, tell me, Yes or No, and I will do what you’ll say! Should I go?” It sounds like a fun activity, but later we found out that this is a ritual to prepare young girls as ”wives for the spirits”. Yes, for the spirits. Now it doesn’t sound like fun anymore. I asked: “When you do this, who are you worshiping to?” Satan – was Nai’s answer.
“What do you think now, would you still like to do it?” This question made her think. Later, that evening, Nai said that she will not go and participate in this ritual, even encouraged other friends not to do it either. Two days later, when we had a bible study and shared our blessings from the past week, this topic was one of the blessings, Nai was one of the first ones who wanted to share: “I am very glad I didn’t do the ritual, I thought about it and I want to worship God, not Satan!”
Another example of how our children show their faith is in school is that every day they start and finish school with a special prayer to Buddha. Now, since some of our girls are in middle school, they are supposed to be an example for younger children and were asked to teach and show how to pray and bow before Buddha in front of the whole school. The whole school is watching, and if they don’t want to do it, then they face serious consequences. The teacher said: “In our school everyone does it!” In the Asian culture, the word of the teacher is powerful, and shaming is often being used to make children obey. Nobody wants to be shamed in front of the whole school or even spanked. That was not an easy decision for Meek (one of our girls), when it was her turn to go up front, all the thoughts and the truth that she learned in Church were coming to her mind, but the word of the teacher was fearful and strong. She went up front and followed the teacher instructions, but when the turn came for another of our girls and she was faced the same questions, she went upfront but refused to follow the instructions of the teacher.
These are just a few examples of what young Christians are facing here. There are questions that come up again and again: Yes or No? Is this right before God? Will it please Him?
Our mission is to guide these young souls from the very beginning, so as they grow in faith, they would be ready to make the right decisions on their own.
“I really want to be closer to God!” – was Sen’s answer, when he was asked: “What is your biggest wish?”
God is working in the hearts indeed, and our prayer is for these teens to become strong followers of Christ!
Please pray with us:
- For our children to be strong in faith even when their families don’t support them.
- Thank you for the good news from our children who finished school and are now in universities, and that they found a church there and continue to grow in their faith
- For God’s wisdom for us as leaders
May God richly bless you!
Ministry in Thailand – San, and Anita
*The names of the children are changed