I have been so overwhelmed in Thailand by the brokenness I see in people and in families, but within that brokenness, I have been even more overwhelmed by God’s goodness, grace, and love for the Thai people.  I can sense how much God wants to know these people and I have seen how God provides everything over and over again in order to carry out His plans.
I have been with the CHANGE program which ministers to women who are former bar girls.  I have been so blessed to hang out with one of the girls in particular.  God used my inability to be independent in Thailand so that I could be dependent on Maem.  Maem is a woman who was really resistant to the Bible, she would find Bible classes boring and would continuously avoid class in one way or another.  She was also avoiding her relationship with her mother because her mother would pressure her about returning home.  She was also very influenced by her friend, Oi, who was a girl she had worked with in the past and with whom she had joined the CHANGE program.  Maem would always tell me she was confused about God and about her and it would bring tears to her face.  I could sense God really wanted her to know Him.   

Maem accepted Jesus into her life during a week that was focused on healing and reconciliation and immediately Maem changed.  You could even tell physically she was released from her past worries and hurt and that she had found freedom in her heart and mind.  You could sense a joy that radiated from her.  If anyone were to tell me that God doesn’t transform lives, I would tell them that they don’t know God.  I have seen the power of God with my own eyes through Maem.  She is not the same person she used to be.  She says that she didn’t used to like reading about the Bible, but now I’ll see her stay up past 2 in the morning reading the Bible.  She says that she used to avoid her phone calls with her mom, but now she talks to her regularly.  She says that she used to hate doing outreach in the slums, but now she reminds herself that the children in the slums are like her own son who is not with her and who doesn’t have a father.  She now is no longer brought down by her close friend who is still struggling against knowing God.  People who have known her before and after accepting Christ have commented on how visibly different she is.  I am so blessed to have been here to see God work in her life.   

Connie Hwang