Saved Under Grace

“The thief comes only to steal, and kill, and destroy; I came that they might have life, and might have it abundantly” John 10:10, NASB.

Pang grew up the eldest of four children in a Hmong village in Northern Thailand. Her family was the first to follow Christ in her village. This notoriety often left Pang feeling isolated.

“Other children would make fun of me, and my family would be excluded from social events like funerals and celebrations,” said Pang. “The children would tell me that as a Christian I’d have to eat stones after I died.”

When Pang looked at the faith of her parents, it didn’t seem that attractive to her. Her mother was as faithful to Jesus as she knew how to be, but her father vacillated between following Christ and the atheism of the communistic beliefs he held before accepting Christ. She wondered why the faith of her grandparents wasn’t just as good as the Christianity she saw her parents living.

Her grandparents followed the animistic beliefs of the rest of the village. They worshiped ancestors and made offerings to the bad spirit to ward off any calamity. Pang thought that following this path would help her to fit into her village; she didn’t like being an outsider.

In order to continue school, Pang moved to a neighboring city and lived in a Christian dormitory called Under Grace. At the dorm she saw strong and mature Christians living out their faith. She learned about the Bible, and came to understand what it meant to be a Christian.

Pang began to compare following Jesus to her grandparents animistic belief in the bad spirit. She noticed that God wanted to love her and help her, while the bad spirit only wanted to destroy her and own her. As a 17-year-old living in the dorm, Pang decided that she wanted to follow Jesus.

Pang is now 28 years old. She is part of a team of dedicated believers who share the Gospel and help with community development among the Northern Hill Tribes, which includes her people, the Hmong.

Pray that:

God will bless the ministry of Christian dorms, and that many students will come to know the LORD as they get their education.

God will call many of these believers from the dorms to return to their people and share the Gospel and start village churches.

God’s Hand of blessing will be on Pang’s ministry to the Hmong.

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