Saaw and Dtang: Freeing a friend

By Chad Loftis | Thailand in Pacific Asia

In the Isaan region of northeastern Thailand, Dtang had to drive past Saaw’s house on her way to the rice field each day. So, she told her about Jesus. Saaw said, “She’d come and park … As soon as I heard her coming, I would tell my husband, ‘Don’t tell Pii Dtang I’m here! I don’t want to hear about Jesus!’ I would grab my granddaughter and hide where I could look out.”

Dtang is a member of an SIM partner church, and SIM church planter Rina Renthlei said, “We train our new believers to share how they came to faith and to share their testimony.”

Dtang certainly does that with persistence. She said, “If she wasn’t here at lunch, I would come back in the afternoon. If she wasn’t there, then I would come back at 8pm.”

Saaw said, “I used to be a spirit medium. I used to read the planets to tell fortunes, make holy water for people, and consecrate spirit shrines.” Woot, Saaw’s husband, said, “We never got anything from her work as a medium. We fought a lot because whenever we made money, we had to give it to the monks.”

Saaw said, “I had a monk come and write [an inscription] to protect the house. We had to pay about ten thousand Baht for this (350 USD). The spirits never gave me anything; they just took from me. I was [also] really sick and I couldn’t find a way out of it.”

Dtang said, “I told her about Jesus. How he created the world. She was annoyed with me! She said, ‘Don’t talk about Jesus.’ That’s what she said! So, I just talked to her about medicine. I work for a medicine company so I brought some. I said, ‘Try this and see if it helps.’ I visited her every day. I would say, ‘How are you? Getting better?’ She said, ‘I’m getting better!’ And then every night I prayed for her. I asked God to go in and touch their family.”

Saaw said, “Dtang gave me the medicine and said, ‘If this helps you, you have to come to church with me!’ After four weeks, I didn’t go to church with her. When she came to see me, I would hide. ‘Is she gone?’ that’s what I used to say! But I couldn’t withstand Dtang’s stubbornness anymore. So, I decided, ‘I’ll try it!’ I saw things there I have never seen. Who were these people who welcomed us and served us like this? All of them there looked after us. They never looked down on us, even though they knew what kind of work I do. It shows that their religion is truly good. I said, ‘Now, I know that Jesus is real.’”

“After Woot and I got baptized, we held hands and prayed that this house and this land would be as it is in heaven. We still have problems, but they are lighter now. Jesus has changed my life. Before I thought he would only change 10 per cent. But now it’s a full 100 per cent.”

And these days Saaw stops by her own neighbours houses to tell them stories about Jesus.

Pray for

- Dtang as she disciples Saaw, that she would depend on God and seek to equip her as a sister in Christ.

- Saaw and Woot as they grow as followers of Jesus. Pray for Saaw's continued healing.