One By One My Loved Ones Turned To Jesus

My family members used to be devout Buddhists. They believed that the Thai people should be Buddhists and Christianity is only for the foreigners. 95% of Thais are Buddhists and Christians made up only 0.5-0.7% of the population.

Praise God, I became a Christian in 1984 when I was 17 years old. I thank God for His salvation and praise Him that my parents accepted my decision to convert to Christianity. But to share with them about Christ and to ask them to turn to God was a giant task for me. Since my conversion in 1984, I have prayed without ceasing for everyone in my family to be saved. I also seized every opportunity to talk to them about Jesus; my greatest desire is for them to know God’s love for them and to accept Jesus as their Savior.

Every Christmas, some of my church friends would come to my home to sing carols and to pray for my family. My family members would welcome the church group and were even open to be prayed for, that God would bless them. But they would not open their hearts to Jesus or prayed to receive Him as their Lord and Savior.

In 2007, my grandmother was hospitalized and I visited her daily in the hospital. I took the opportunity to share with her about Jesus. I had to speak slowly so that she could read my lips. My grandma could see that I was telling her; “Jesus loves you” and “ask Jesus into your heart.” I praise God that my grandmother understood what I said to her. One morning, she told us that she saw a man in white standing by her bed, telling her that He loved her. I told her that the man who appeared to her was Jesus. Grandma was discharged from the hospital the next day and lived many more years before she went home to be with the Lord.

My mother was a loving and caring person and all of us loved her very much. She was a wonderful wife and mother to all of us and would go out of her way to care for the family. However, whenever I asked her to receive Jesus as her Savior, she refused.

In 2007, my mother was also hospitalized and many of my church friends visited her in hospital to pray for her and sang Christian songs to encourage her. She was very happy that the church members took the trouble to visit her and she could see the love of God in these Christians. One day, when I was alone with my mum in the hospital room, I asked her if she would ask Jesus to come into her heart and she said yes. I was in tears as I led my mother to pray the sinner’s prayer to ask Jesus to come into her heart. I praised God that my mum is now with God in heaven.

My father was a brave and strong man who loved his family very much. He brought all of us up well and made sure we had a good education. In year 2012, he prayed to ask Jesus into his heart. He was quite sick then and went home to be with the Lord soon after that. I miss him very much but I thank God that my dad and mom and grandma are all now together in heaven.

My siblings would politely listen to me whenever I told them about Jesus but they would not open their hearts to Him. Two years ago, I had to undergo a brain surgery to remove some cancerous tumors. I thank God for seeing me through the operation. My family members were concerned and some of them came all the way from Thailand to visit me. While they were here, I took the opportunity to ask them, my brother, his wife, my nephew, my sister and my niece, to turn to Jesus and to ask Him to come into their hearts. I shared with them how great Jesus is, He is the healer of my life and that Jesus loves them very much. I shared with them that Jesus would free them from their sins and they would be cleansed by His blood. After listening, they opened their hearts to the Lord and invited Jesus into their lives. Praise the Lord!

Three months ago, my husband Boon Hai and I were back in Bangkok to visit my family. My desire and prayer was for the salvation of my other siblings and also my brother-in-law. I asked God to give me an opportunity to share the gospel with them. During our time in Bangkok, my sister could not visit me because she was down with flu. She sent my brother-in-law instead to bring some fruits for us. That was the only time my brother-in-law had come to see us alone. I thank God for the wonderful opportunity and I shared with him who Jesus is, that He is not only the true and living God; He is a great healer as well. After sharing the gospel with my brother-in-law, I asked him to open his heart to Jesus and to receive Jesus as his personal Savior. Amazingly, he opened his heart to Jesus and said the sinner’s prayer. Praise the Lord!

I still have one younger brother who has yet to turn to Christ. We are still praying for him daily. I know in my heart and spirit that the day when he will invite Jesus into his heart will come soon.

I praise God that one by one my loved ones had come to know His love and salvation. I thank God for His love for each of us and for being such a wonderful heavenly Father to all of us.

Mrs. Kittima Lim-Onlahoong. (Kittima served with CBN Cambodia and was stationed in Singapore. Kittima and husband, Boon Hai, worshipped at the Saturday Service. She had stage 4 cancer and went home to the Lord on 4 Dec 2014.)

First published in The Courier, October 2014.

Photo: Kittima and her husband, Boon Hai.