About a year ago, a 19-year-old girl named Chana and her mother pulled up in front of our little student-missionary house. Sokha, one of our student missionaries from this past year, came out to greet them. They wanted Sokha to tutor Chana in English. Not long after Chana began studying with Sokha, she told Sokha that she was studying English because she was engaged to a foreigner. Surprised that a village girl would have enough contact with a foreigner to marry one, Sokha began to ask a few questions. “How old is he?” she casually inquired.

“Well, he’s about forty,” Chana replied.

“How did you meet him? How long have you known him?”

“Well, I met him a few months ago when another man brought him to my house,” Chana said shyly.

“Wow! That wasn’t long ago. When did he ask you to marry him?”

Chana lowered her eyes a moment before answering, “The day he came to my house.”

Sensing Chana’s discomfort, Sokha asked gently, “Do you love him?”

Chana lifted her eyes to Sokha’s. “No. But my mother wants me to marry him.”

In this country, the law says that young women cannot be forced into marriage. But in this culture, obedience to parents is a core value, even for grown children. Chana was facing a huge dilemma. Should she marry this stranger so her mother would be happy (her mother was expecting money), or should she reject the marriage proposal and make her mother very angry?

Chana continued to study English with Sokha, and in the weeks that followed they became good friends. Sokha was able to share her concerns about the possible motives of Chana’s fiancé. But when Chana’s mother learned what Sokha thought, she forbade Sokha from speaking to Chana anymore about it. Sokha told Chana that Jesus could help her, and that our team would be praying for her.

In the weeks that followed, Sokha kept her distance but continued to pray that God would work on behalf of this young lady. About two months later, Chana came to Sokha and told her that she was no longer engaged. Her story tumbled out: She had prayed, asking God to help her out of her engagement while keeping her in good standing with her mother. As it turned out, her fiancé was deported from the country, and she was released from her engagement! She could hardly express her joy at how Jesus had helped her. We praise God that He sent Sokha to help direct Chana to the true Source of help in her time of need.

From that time on, Chana has desired to follow Jesus. However, her mother doesn’t want her to give up Buddhism, and she has been putting more pressure on Chana to stay away from Christians. So Chana is facing another dilemma: will she succumb to her mother’s pressure and continue to live in the Buddhist belief system, or will she follow this Jesus she has begun to love and risk making her mother angry?

Please pray for Chana as she again has to answer the question, “Do you love Him?” Pray that God will again make a way for her to follow her heart while showing respect to her mother.

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