Daeng has become my special friend even though her English is very limited and my Thai is almost nil. Our friendship has grown in the past two years, and we get together from time to time.
We first met Daeng and her blind husband, Mr. Lek, while on our regular walk around the lake near our home. We are always happy to interact with folks who like to stop and chat—whether to practice their English skills or whatever their reason.
On this day, we learned that Mr. Lek had been a teacher and principal of schools for the visually impaired during his active career. Before falling ill, he managed multiple schools throughout the Isan region of Thailand. But he was now struggling through chemo treatments for a very serious form of cancer. Learning that we were Christian missionaries, they asked if we would pray for Mr. Lek and his medical condition, which did not look very hopeful.
We also learned that Mr. Lek had been blind since the age of three due to an unfortunate accident. He then attended a Catholic school for the visually impaired in Bangkok, where he chose to leave his Buddhist heritage and become a Christian. Now, nearing the end of his career, his doctors had brought him the unfortunate diagnosis that seemed to abruptly end his working days. But Mr. Lek was not ready to give up on everything and wished to fight this battle with whatever he could. He was not a church-goer but believed in the power of a Creator God.
To our surprise, just a few weeks later, we learned that following our prayer on the side of the road, he went for his doctor’s appointment and discovered that the cancer was no longer present in his body. Our Healer God is so gracious! This family has repeatedly told us through translators that his healing came after that special prayer. There was no fasting, no anointing, no special calling of the elders. It was a faith-filled prayer for a stranger who requested a Christian pastor-missionary to petition heaven on behalf of this struggling child of God.
This precious man has resumed his service to the blind community, and he and his wife attend our church services whenever possible. We pray for a deepening relationship with this family as they have expressed interest in studying the Bible and growing in their knowledge of the Adventist message.
“And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up” (James 5:15 NKJV).
