Malee had tried to keep smiling. But after years of abuse of every kind, after years of slavery to drugs and alcohol (first begun to help her cope with the abuse), which tyrannized her body, mind, and soul—she could not smile anymore. In fact, she was slowly going out of her mind.
Sometimes she would be able to stand outside herself, and see herself, a tall, wiry woman with angry eyes and mouth, shouting at her neighbors, recklessly riding her motorcycle, wearing a frying pan on her head, gesticulating as she marched down the street. Other times she would “come to,” picking herself up off the ground of her shack where she had fallen the night before. Sometimes she remembered her nightmares; other times, she wished her nightmares had come true, rather than the circumstances of the past thirty years.
But the worst part was her utter loneliness. Malee’s neighbors didn’t greet her, hardly looked at her, and pulled their children closer when Malee walked by. Malee’s parents had moved to another province several years ago, and she no longer knew where to find them, or her siblings.
I just want my life to end, Malee dully thought. She sat on her sleeping mat, staring into the darkness. I just want my life to end.
How will Malee’s story end?
• Will a Thai Christian see her with the eyes of Christ, and share with her the Story so good and so true?
• Does Malee live in a neighborhood where there is a Christian?
• Is there even one Christian in the sub-district to which her neighborhood belongs?
• Will Malee ever know the smile of Christ, and learn to smile again?
Dawn felt the sun had set on her life. She was depressed. She was so far in debt that she felt the only way out was suicide. She worked out how she would end her miserable life. But before she did it, she turned on the TV.
It was early in the morning, and the program was about the foreigners’ religion, so she was not paying much attention. But then she heard these words, “If you are going to kill yourself, call this number before you do!” She quickly wrote down the number on the screen and called it. The person told her about how Christ can give you a new life and asked Dawn if she would like some Christians to visit her. She said yes and put off her suicide.
The next day, a pickup truck pulled up to her house. Out stepped some smiling Thai people and some foreigners from the provincial capital over 20 miles away from her village. They shared with her about Christ.
The Thai people shared how Christ had changed their lives, and they had learned to smile again. Dawn believed. From deep within her, something began to grow. It was a smile.
Pray to God to send out laborers into his harvest field.
Pray for Thai churches to plant new churches in areas without a church.
Pray for efforts to share the gospel using radio, TV or the Internet. Pray that these ministries can find ways to link interested people to Christians who live nearby them.
Pray for these ministries to be creative, to be funded, and to do follow up well.
Pray for church planting training programs to be effective.
Pray for Thai prayer movements aimed at helping Thai churches pray daily for a sub-district without a church.
Pray for the Thai who can’t smile because life seems so bad. Pray for the hopelessly in debt, the addicts, the abused, and those trapped in despair, to learn to smile again because they have seen the smile of our loving Lord Jesus.