“I was more afraid after I became a Seventh-day Adventist Christian than when I was Buddhist.”
Ming’s words hit us like a punch. How could someone be more afraid after giving their life to Christ?
When Ming was three or four years old, her auntie gave her a beautiful doll. One night, before going to sleep, Ming put the doll on her bed and left the room. When she returned she was shocked to see that the doll had moved and seemed to be looking at her. She recognized that a spirit was inhabiting the doll. Terrified, she snatched up the doll, ran outside and threw it into the trash.
The next day when Ming returned from school, she was shocked to find the doll back on her bed. (Many years later she learned that her mother had found the doll in the trash and returned it.) As she grew up, Ming’s secret fear grew into a serious phobia of dolls.
“When the Adventist pastor gave me Bible studies and baptized me, he taught me that the spirits that inhabit and possess people and things aren’t dead ancestors or nature spirits. He taught me about the great controversy and how a third of the angels were cast down to the earth with Satan. He said these evil angels became demons who pretend to be spirits of our ancestors.”
“So, how did you feel after the pastor taught you that?” we asked.
“I was more afraid than before,” she replied. “Demons sounded much scarier and more evil than my dead ancestors.”
By God’s grace, Ming’s story doesn’t end there. Several months ago, Ming came to our home and shared with us about her fear of dolls. She had just been at a shop and gone to use the restroom in the back. Feeling her way through a dark room, she found the light switch and turned it on, only to see a mannequin standing inches in front of her. Fear seized her, and she had a full-blown panic attack.
It wasn’t easy for Ming to share her secret with us. In Thai culture, people don’t talk about their problems. Mental health issues are an especially taboo subject. We prayed and talked with her for a long time. Then Jared felt impressed to ask her, “Ming, who is your King?”
“The King of Thailand.”
“No, I mean who is your spiritual King?”
“Oh, God is my King.”
“Do you think God, the King of the universe, is afraid of demons?”
“No, of course not.”
“And Ming, who is your father?”
“God is my Father,” she replied, catching on.
“Exactly. So, who are you?”
Ming sat quietly for several moments before she finally answered, “I’m a princess.”
“Ming, you don’t have to be afraid of demons, because you’re a daughter of the King. That means demons are afraid of you.”
Ming began to cry as the truth sank in. Then we all started to cry tears of joy.
A couple weeks later, Ming sent me a message with a picture of her holding a doll in a department store. She simply wrote, “I’m not afraid anymore.”
Ming is the top candidate for our Bible worker position. She has found the Truth, and the Truth has set her free. She has a deep desire to share that truth with others. Please consider making a pledge of monthly support to help us hire a local Bible worker who can help more of the Thai Buddhist people of Isan escape the bondage of fear.
