The other day our house helper was holding our baby Caitlin while I (Sun) grabbed a bite of lunch. She suddenly realized that Caitlin had a double cowlick on her head and, after confirming that the baby was born on a Monday, foretold that Caitlin would be feisty and strong-willed just like one of her sons who had similar traits. The week before she had told me that as an infant her son was so strong-willed and hard to please that she went through a Thai ceremony in hopes of making her son more manageable. With a group of elderly people around, the ceremony required her to ask aloud, “Who’s baby is this? Whatever spirit or ghost or demon out there that owns this baby, come and claim him.” At this point, the group of elders assuming the role of a “Mae Seu” (แม่ซื้อ) would respond by saying, “He’s ours and we will take him.” This ceremony is supposed to make the baby be less difficult to raise. However, it didn’t work for her, she confessed. He was still keeping her up all night from 7 pm to 7 am and sleeping during the day for a long, long time.

A fellow missionary friend here in Thailand recently shared the following story about the influence of evil spirits on Thai people and I think that those of you who pray for us and for the Thai people will find his story insightful. He writes:"In the west, we often don't think much of what it would be like to be under the domination of spirits. Fear and manipulation of spirits is a constant theme for many Thai.Late yesterday afternoon, I got a phone call from one of the church members. He was at the church with a high ranking military officer and his wife, who were asking for prayer [although neither of them are Christians]. She claimed that someone had hired various spirit doctors to possess and attack her. She reported having various visions that I'd rather not go into, and that the spirits were taunting her and telling her she was going to die. There was a look in her eye of emptiness and fear, and her husband had a deep look of concern in his face. As we prepared to pray for her, he asked if he should take off his amulets, and we said yes. He proceeded to take off 4 or 5 necklaces filled with amulets and talismans - one necklace with about 15 small amulets, another with 3 or 4 large amulets, and so on. Some of these amulets are

This Monday, Dec 4th, we'll be flying to Thailand and arriving at the newly constructed Bangkok airport, which opened in September 2006. The construction of it was plagued by a series of accidents and the Thai authorities decided to bring in a bunch of Buddhist monks to chant over it for good luck. The following excerpt from the Bangkok Post (Sept 24, 2006) tells of the bizarre event that happened during the chanting ceremony and gives some insight into the spiritual realities that shape the lives of Thai people.

 

“Last Saturday there was a large ceremony held at the new Bangkok International Airport which is due to open this week. Ninety-nine Buddhist Monks chanted on masse to improve the luck of the new airport. Half way through the rite, a man appeared quivering and began to speak in a commanding voice claiming to be the guardian spirit of the airport land. He ordered that a proper spirit house be built at the airport to allow for its smooth operation. The man, who was unidentified, later passed out and woke up to find the spirit had left him” (Bangkok Post article, 24th September, 2006)

 

The spirit world is very real to Thai people. Please pray that they would understand the true nature of the principalities and powers of this dark world and would come to saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.