Wednesday 15 Feb
Mae Phan is now one of the Ethnic Thai faith community leaders.
When our team met Mae Phan, she was the breadwinner of her family and primary carer for her chronically ill husband and aged father. She has two sons, one married and the other in high school - both incapable of supporting their parents financially. In the time we have known Mae Phan, her husband and father have both passed away. She now lives on her own, a rare practice in community-oriented Thai culture.
Her husband was one of the first followers of Jesus in their village. Initially Mae Phan did not want to get involved, but was soon moved by the kindness and love of Global Interaction workers as they cared for her husband while she worked in the city during the week. As her husband could not read, she helped him learn the Bible stories and she began to attend the faith community meetings and finally opened her heart to receive the greatest gift of all.
Today Mae Phan is one of the key leaders in her faith community. She often talks about responding to fear, stress and sadness by praying and reading her Thai Bible. She teaches the Word every second week and ministers to her neighbours who are sick.
Mae Phan experiences ridicule for her new faith, including at her husband’s funeral as she chose to have a memorial service in the name of Jesus. However, transformation is evident as she chooses to love those who curse her. As a widow, she could be quite lonely but being part of a faith community means she belongs to a bigger family journeying towards oneness in Christ.
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