Star became my language teacher in January of this year. Although I have only met her via Zoom, her patience and encouragement make me eagerly anticipate our 30-minute sessions. She enjoys practicing her English at the beginning of each class, and I enjoy learning about her day-to-day life. Star loves animals—especially her little dogs. Also, because there are no sons in the family, she helps her father support everyone. 

“How do Tai-Kadai parents feel about their daughters marrying foreigners?” I asked Star one day. She had just told me about a northern province where many Tai-Kadai women are married to foreigners and speak English well.

“Some parents are happy for their daughter to marry a foreigner because they think the foreigner is rich and will take care of their wife’s family. But other parents worry that their daughter will leave the religion of their ancestors if they marry a foreigner,” she explained. “That’s the reason my mother really does not want me or my sisters to marry foreigners.”  After a moment’s pause, Star added quietly, “But I left my parents’ religion anyway. Two years ago, I became a Christian.”

Star, who is 25 years old now, is single. Like most single Tai-Kadai women, Star still lives with her parents. “How do your parents feel about your decision to follow Jesus,” I asked.
“At first, my mom was very sad and upset,” she explained, “but now that she and my dad see that I still love and respect them, they are okay with my decision. I am so grateful that there is peace in my house, even more so since I became a Christian,” she reflected.

Just a few short weeks after this conversation, Star’s faith was severely tested. During class time one Friday, she told me that her father’s mother had died quite suddenly. Tears glistened in her eyes as she shared her childhood memories of this beloved grandma. As I knew that she was concerned about attending what would be a Buddhist funeral, I had prayer with her as our Zoom class ended that day. The following Monday, Star was bubbling over with enthusiasm. She could not wait to tell me her testimony. I was so encouraged by her story, and I thought you would enjoy hearing it too. 

From the day that I started to know who God is until I accepted Him into my life, I had lots of worries. None of my family members are believers. They are Buddhist. Every time I thought about the difference between the two beliefs, a big fear haunted my mind. What should I do if someone in our family passed away?

As you already know, after someone in the family passes away, the family members need to be monks or nuns on the last day, the cremation day. This is to pay our last respect to the dead one. I was very worried for many years about this thing. And the day that I feared the most finally came. My grandmother, who I loved very much, died.

So I prayed very hard about this thing. I prayed that God would prepare and provide everything. I prayed that the Father would go before me and make everything go smoothly. I prayed that within the family and the cousins, we would not have any conflict or defense or fight about who I am now and about why I couldn’t be a nun in the funeral.

Star participating as a nun would have conflicted with her new life in Christ and Christian beliefs—upholding Buddhist beliefs and practices she no longer held. These actions would have been magnified during the funeral, where Buddhist nuns lead group prayers and chants, read from the Sutras (writings) and are available to visit with those paying respect to the dead.

Thanks be to God that He went before me and prepared everything. The day before my parents left for my dad’s village, my mom prepared the white uniform for the nun for only two people—that is for my two sisters, but not for me. This was because she already knew that I can’t do those things anymore since I accepted God into my life. My sisters already know it well, too.

But what about my cousins and my dad? On the day of the cremation, my sister asked my dad if he knew that I could not be a nun. “No,” he answered, then came to me and asked me, and I said I would not.

Then my mom came into the room and told my dad that since I became a Christian, I could not become a nun for anybody—“not even when your turn or my turn comes,” she added. It was a very tense moment.

Then I replied, “Even though I can’t be a nun to show respect to you all, I will still help with other things.”

After this, my dad stopped asking any questions. Instead, he went out of the room to ask if there was anyone else that wanted to be a nun that day.

And the cousins? There were many people who asked me if I would be a nun or not, but after I said no, they didn’t ask me anymore.

I thank God again for preparing everything for me. He went before me so well that I felt so much wonder and felt that His Grace is very amazing!

When my parents left for the village, I was still at my workplace. I did not know what they took with them that day. I arrived the day before the funeral. My aunt called my mom to ask if she had brought enough white clothes for me. My mom replied that she brought only two white outfits, one for each of my younger sisters. She remembered that I could not have a role in such a ceremony. At that moment, I realized that God had indeed prepared the way! And I felt very thankful to Him. I am thankful that He never leaves me alone and always hears my voice—because before I asked Him, He prepared the way for me to be true to Him.

I am so grateful that language learning has caused Star’s path to intersect with mine. I am so grateful that we have discovered a common foundation in our love for Jesus. I praise God for this wonderful testimony He has given Star. Please join me in praying for Star. Pray that my friendship and connection with her encourage her to grow in her relationship with God, and pray that she can truly be a bright star in her family, pointing to the true Light of the world.

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