On Tuesday night, May 4, 2010, just 3 weeks ago, I received an urgent phone call from Kit. One of Kit’s closest friends named Attapon from his home village in Chiang Kam overdosed and the doctors said he would not make it through the night. Kit is Phet’s younger brother. Many of you know Phet who serves as my Administrative Assitant at Baan Athitaan Church. Kit and Phet were both shocked because Attapon had such a bright future ahead of him. He graduated from Chiang Mai University several years ago with honors and was a very gifted and talented artist and only 26 years old.
We did not know the details of what happened that day with Attapon but knew that we needed to pray for him. I asked Kit to come to the church office and several of our staff gathered together that night to pray and ask for God’s touch. First thing the next morning, we were glad to hear that Attapon had made it through the night and felt that God would have us go visit him. So, Kit, Phet, and myself set out on a two hour drive to go visit Attapon.
When we arrived at the hospital, we all realized the severity of the situation. This wasn’t your typical overdose of medicine. The previous day, Attapon made a very deliberate choice to end his life. He went and purchased two different kinds of herbicide. One type of herbicide kills grass and weeds from the outside. The other type kills grass and weeds from the roots as the herbicide is absorbed in the system. After Attapon bought these two types of herbicide, he took them home and poured 3 full glasses mixing the herbicide together and drank all three of them.
Literally within minutes, Attapon’s body began the death process. When we arrived at the hospital some 18 hours later, the doctors reported that Attpon’s kidneys had already failed and it would not be long when all of the other internal organs began to fail.
When we visited Attapon, Kit was able to share a little with him and Attapon had changed his mind and did not want to die…but it was too late. The consequences of his choice to drink this herbicide were set in motion and within another 18 hours, Attapon breathed his last breath before entering eternity and as far as we know, an eternity without our Lord Jesus.
My heart still hurts when I think of Attapon. Why do people who have such a bright future ahead of them lose their desire to live and willingly take their own life? I am convinced that one primarily reason is that they do not know why God put them on the earth and what God’s Word says about how to live our lives. I will be sharing this story this Sunday at Baan Athitaan Church along with begining a fresh 40 look living a purpose driven life and need your prayers.
I am reminded of what the Apostle Paul once wrote in in 2 Thessalonians 3:1. “Finally, Our friends, pray for us that the Lord’s message may continue to spread rapidly and be received with honor, just as it was among you.”
Please remember to pray for our teaching ministry at Baan Athitaan Church located in Chiang Rai, Thailand in the heart of the 10-40 Window.
God has given me the privelege of Pastoring an awesmoe church that began in our home almost 9 years ago. One of the most significant things that I do every week, is to faithfully, boldly, gently, and clearly teach God’s truth every Sunday morning to over 22 different people groups mostly from the heart of the 10-40 Window.
Reaching, Teaching, Discipling, Equipping, Training, and Serving God’s World in compassionate ways is what NTIM, Baan Athitaan Church, and all of our related ministries are all about.
Your Servant to the Nations in and around Northern Thailand,
Michael
http://www.gontim.org/
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I also send out devotional thoughts on Facebook from time to time through a group called “Pastor Michael’s Messages and Devotional Thoughts in Engilsh. If you would like to receive these, you can join this group on facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/?tid=1280305323606&sk=messages#!/group.php?gid=190077294798
If you would like to receive the Thai version of these, you can join the group on faceebook called การหนุนใจจากพี่ไมเคิล, you can join this group on facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/?tid=1280305323606&sk=messages#!/group.php?gid=210961298920
