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His wife's arms wrap tightly around Baharn's
waist as he slows to a smooth stop. Pastor Baharn smiles,
picturing his lovely Vidura, perched up behind him, on her
little, black motorcycle seat. He knows she takes leap of
faith each time she climbs aboard—she's scolded him repeatedly
for taking things too fast.
But then Baharn, too, knows what it means to
live by faith—he's putting a lot of it in his wife right now.
After all, where would a blind man be without his faithful navigator to guide him?
Silencing the skeptics
When Baharn applied to be a church planter,
he wasn't without his skeptics. Baharn has a limited ability
to see things directly in front of him, but he is completely
without peripheral vision. Bible League trainers wondered
how he would be able to perform some of the most basic functions
as a pastor—getting around his Thailand village, processing
his training material, even reading the Bible!
But Baharn knew, and he passionately convinced the doubters, that God had called
him to be a pastor. If his Creator had a purpose for Baharn's life, who was he to question?
God would work out the details.
Growing curiosity
Over the past three years, God has used Baharn and his wife to make a tremendous impact on their predominately
Buddhist village. (More than 92% of Thailand's population claims this as their religion.) Just over a year ago,
he began leading Bible studies and forming a worshipping congregation in one of the most unlikely of locations:
Baharn's church stands directly facing a large Buddhist temple and monastery.
Across the street, villagers tirelessly seek life's meaning, while his congregation is finding it in Jesus Christ. Under Baharn's leadership, more than 60 people have accepted Christ as their Savior!
The curiosity of villagers outside of the church is continuing to build. Vidura leads a group of children through Bible study every afternoon, and this group is steadily growing. For one thing, the children are so excited about the Bible lessons that they are sharing them with their friends. Moreover, as the children accept Jesus, their behavior dramatically improves. Neighbors are noticing the changes and tell Baharn they too want their children "enrolled" in these classes.
Questioned existence
Baharn is currently facing one of the greatest challenges he has ever had in his ministry. In Thailand, each citizen is given an identification card that not only proves his residence, but also his existence. In order to buy, sell, travel, or own anything, you must have this card. Without an ID card, you can do nothing.
Recently, Baharn's ID card was stolen, and the village chief has alleged that Baharn sold it to the people of Laos. Ironically, the card was stolen by a local government official and was sold to a family within the village. Since Baharn has no evidence to prove his case, it is literally his word against that of the official.
Leading the way
Through it all, Baharn continues to trust in
God. He knows that he has a mission
here on earth, and that is to bring more people to Christ. In
fact, his goal is to establish an evangelical church in a
village nearby. But first he must find workers willing to
go—there is no Christian presence in that village.
Baharn continually prays for strength and asks God to lead him every step of the way. His only desire is to be where God wants him to be. After all, where would a blind man be without his faithful Navigator to guide him? |
To read more about the work of the Bible League in the another Southeast Asian country,
click
here.
To help provide Bibles to the millions without them, click
here.
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Blind among the Buddhists