Persecutor Converted

“Then Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked letters from him to the synagogues of Damascus, so that if he found any who were of the Way, whether men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.” Acts 9:1-2, NKJV.

Ceco did not like Christians coming to his village. Whenever they came he would take stones and throw them at their vehicle and scream and yell at them until they left. He was an older man in his Mien village, which gave him social status. No one dared to challenge what he did to the Christians.

He remained hostile to the Gospel until the day he learned that his wife was terminally ill. He took her to the hospital, but the doctor said she had no hope. A believer at the hospital told him that God could heal her if she became a Christian. While Ceco did not like Christians, he was desperate to save his wife so he agreed to allow her to become a Christian.

God did heal her, and for the next several years Ceco observed his wife. He could not argue that she had been healed, and that she seemed to be a more peaceful and happy person since becoming a Christian. He decided that he too would follow Jesus.

After his decision to become a Christian, a dramatic change came over his life. He stopped being short-tempered and violent. He had peace in his life. He even started teaching other villagers about the Jesus way of living. He is currently the village pastor in Wang Pai. Everyone who knew him before knows that Jesus must be powerful to make such a transformation in a person’s life.

Pray that:

God will use Ceco’s testimony and ministry to bring many Mien to faith in Jesus.

Persecutors of the Christian way will be converted and, like Ceco, become a dynamic testimony to the life changing power of Jesus.

Believers will not allow persecution to keep them from sharing the Gospel with the Mien people.

Pacific Rim is a region of the International Mission Board, SBC.