Last Sabbath, after having sabbath school and church at home, we were trying to decide on our next activity when Pawkuhmooeydee asked if it would be OK if she were to go over to the blind grandma’s house and tell her a story. Of course we consented, and Roy and several of the other kids came along too. Grandma was happy to have company this time, and readily consented to hearing a story. Pawkuhmooeydee then proceeded to tell her about Daniel 1-3. Grandma liked it a lot, and when asked if she would like to join us for church next week, she agreed that she would like to come. Pawkuhmooeydee came back to the house beaming from ear to ear. She is quickly learning the joy of sharing Jesus with others.

The joy on Pawkuhmooeydee’s face was not lost on the other students. Thunduh, who is our quiet, thoughtful girl, went to Travis that evening and told him that she too wants to be a missionary. But first, she needs to know something about the bible and what we believe.  She was baptised last year after one brief afternoon of instruction. When we asked her where her father was that died when she was little, she replied, “burning in hell”. She knew absolutely nothing about the State of the dead, or indeed of most of the bible. Travis proceeded to give her a bible study that lasted way into the night, and covered a lot of different subjects.

To me, it seemed that Thunduh had not been real interested in spiritual things…until recently. I learned that since she could not speak English or Karen, she just did not understand our worship talks, or anything else that was going on. She decided that she had to learn these languages so that she could also understand. So, unknown to me,  she has been studying Karen until now she can understand the bible when Travis explains it to her slowly. (Travis is very good at language learning, and is now translating for us really well)

Last night, Roy asked the kids what they wanted to do for the evening. Would they like a short bible study? Thunduh replied, “No Daddy, LONG bible study”. We went through the bible and explained what happens to people when they die. Thunduh was lost in thought a lot, and we would have to wait for her to come back to the present. But, she was so happy when we finished. She has spent her whole life believing that her father was burning in hell, and now that she finds out that he is just sleeping, it is a relief to her. (he was very much into spiritualism, so she has no hopes that he will be saved)

What really strikes me is that Thunduh wanted to be a missionary even though she does not yet understand the bible. The way she is learning to live her life is so completely different from what she has always known. When they realize that Jesus makes all the difference,  they are so excited that they  feel that they just have to tell someone. Thunduh told us that there are no missionaries to the Mon people. She speaks Mon fluently, so she wants to reach them. Please pray for Thunduh as she learns more about Jesus, and pray that God would open the way for her to be a witness for Him.