“Why am I suffering?” and “How can I escape from suffering?” Those are the big questions that drive Buddhism.  The answer provided is that suffering is caused by desire, and one can escape suffering by detaching oneself from the world through right thinking, right speech, and right action.  It may sound fine in theory but in practice most Thai Buddhists find it very difficult.  Many Thai Buddhists will admit that they find it a great challenge to keep even the Five Precepts, the most basic moral rules of Buddhism.  Being a good person is really hard and even for the most moral of people, suffering still comes.  And when it comes, how should we make sense of it?  In our own lives? In the lives of others?  How can we have hope in the midst of suffering?  These are all important questions.  But for most people, satisfying answers are elusive.  Buddhism says, “Avoid suffering by trying to be good” or “Just suck it up because your suffering is caused by bad karma from a past life.”  As the prosperity gospel gains a hearing in Thai churches, quick-fix preachers promise people, “If you have enough faith and do the right things, then God will make you healthy and wealthy.”  Some are sucked in by these charlatans, but the promises of the prosperity gospel come up empty and in the end give people a warped and inaccurate impression of Christianity.

Everyone who becomes a Christian has a unique story.   The ultimate cause of salvation is God convicting a person of sin and graciously turning their heart to himself so that they might exercise faith and repentance.  However, the secondary reasons that people are initially attracted to the Gospel are much more varied.  For some people, a crisis in their life leads them to reach out for help.  For others, they are impressed by the love and welcome of the Christian community.  And still others have burning questions about the origin and meaning of life.  One of the most unique and peculiar accounts that I have encountered is the story of Nān Inta, the first convert in the ministry of Daniel McGilvary.  Regarded widely as the Father of the Church in Northern Thailand, McGilvary gives the following account in his autobiography:

Like most people, I don’t like going to the doctor or even listening to the doctor because I know that I am going to be told to do something that I don’t want to do.  Like get a test, give some blood, take medicine, or get a further test for something that feels fine (just to double check, of course).  I’d like to think that I have better things to do with my time because unless I am in severe pain, then everything is fine.  For missionaries, or anyone else in Christian ministry, there is the added temptation to ignore doctor’s advice because it will take time away from the Lord’s work.

I ran across a story in the autobiography of Daniel McGilvary that reminded me that doctors are sometimes ignored with dire consequences.  McGilvary was a 19th century missionary pioneer to northern Thailand and we pick up the story as he returns home to Chiang Mai from an extended evangelistic tour through the jungles of Northern Thailand.

The title of this article may seem like an overstatement but it is not.  Some may object, “But surely the sinner’s prayer has worked for some people. Even if many have fallen away after praying to receive Christ, not all have.”  I happily concede the point that there are many Christians who continue to walk with the Lord and grow in their faith many years after having said the sinner’s prayer.  But what I question is this, “Was it really the sinner’s prayer that converted them?”  19th century revival preacher Charles Finney, who is largely responsible for popularizing the use of the altar call and the sinner’s prayer, would probably have said yes.

The Thai church is growing faster than it ever has in the past and there is much reason to rejoice at how God is working in Thailand.  Yet, as a new year begins, there is still much need for prayer.  Still less than 1% of Thai people are Christians and the challenges to the spread of the Gospel and growth of the church are many. 

For those who want to pray for Thailand in the new year, I have put together a brief list of prayer needs. This list is not exhaustive but I believe that it hits upon some of the major needs of the nation and the church.  Read it below or download the PDF, print it out and stick it in your Bible to pray for Thailand this coming year.

 

Most of the Christmas evangelism that I have seen (and have participated in) here in Thailand has focused on the birth narrative of Jesus.  Mary, Joseph, shepherds, and wise men have all had prominent parts.  However, when I helped out with a Christmas outreach at the Phrabaht Nursing College the other day, Pastor Jareun of the PhraBaht church took a different approach to the Christmas story and I think he may be onto something.

Instead of starting with the angel visiting Mary, Pastor Jaruen started with God creating the world.  Then he moved on to talk about Adam and Eve, the fall into sin, the wickedness of the human heart, the judgment of God, and our inability to save ourselves.  Therefore, the need for Christmas: the need for God to send a Savior to rescue us from sin.  After briefly mentioning Jesus’ birth (and entirely skipping over Mary, Joseph, shepherds, and wise men), Pastor Jareun went on to give a couple illustrations of how we are unable to save ourselves and need a savior (bridge illustration and boat illustration).