Out of that population only around 1 % are Christian.
800,000 of those people live in a province called Kanchanaburi.
Just this past week the structure of a church building was completed.
The only one in the whole province.
This is the story behind the structure.
Both her and her parents had moved to Bangkok because of financial reasons and Pang began going to a university there. She happened to be living near a ministry by Youth With A Mission (Also referred to as YWAM. It is an international organization that has reached millions around the globe for Jesus. www.ywam.org) called ‘House of One Heart’.
A friend that lived at ‘House of One Heart’ introduced Jesus to her and at the age of 19 Pang began her relationship with Jesus. She moved into the ‘House of One Heart’ that same year.
Pang on her reasoning behind switching from Buddhism to Christianity: “Inside I felt empty. In Buddha there is no relationship. I was trying to be a good Buddhist but there were so many rules to follow. I started to look at the lives of the Christians I knew and not only did they have more freedom but they were so different from everybody else!”
The changes that were made in her life after the decision: “I wasn’t empty anymore. I felt completely new and fresh. My relationships with others and God began to get deeper and deeper.”
Both of Pang’s parents started seeing all the changes in their daughter’s life. After two years of observing they also decided to give their lives to Jesus.
Arun was born in 1979 into a Buddhist family as the youngest of seven children. His father died when he was 3 months old and he grew up in tough conditions as his mother did the best she could to take care of all her children.
Arun attended at Buddhist school growing up and even served as novice monk for about a month. In 1996 he began studying at a university in Bangkok. This is where he first about Jesus from a group of students involved with YWAM.
He struggled for eight months before he decided to put his faith in Jesus Christ. He was the first person in his family, village and district to believe in Jesus.
Arun says, “For me the story of Jesus was totally different than anything I had studied and it was not easy for me to accept because I had grown up for 20 years with Buddhist teaching.”
“I began to believe because Christians were the only people who could answer the difficult Christians were the only people who could answer the difficult questions in my life.”
Pang and Arun met at ‘House of One Heart’. They both participated in a year long training program for Thai Christian University students by YWAM called University Discipleship Training School. After the program they became YWAM staff. They married in 2000 after knowing each other for 2 ½ years.
In 2003 they returned to Arun’s childhood home, Kanchanaburi, to start the first Christian church and ministry in the area. Pang’s parents, new Christians themselves, decided to move out to this rural area with them to help with the ministry.
Arun has been dreaming about what God could do in his former childhood home since 1996 when he accepted Christ. In fact I could see his passion for the people out in everything he did. It’s a beautiful thing!
Personally, it was a privilege to be with their family for the month and to see what God has done in their lives and what He is doing through their lives.
Their story is a testimony to the faithful, loving God we serve!
It’s the beginning of a whole community changed for Christ, missionaries being sent out and the darkness of Western Thailand transforming to light.
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