We want to first of all thank you for your prayers. Please forgive us for the slow reply, we have had some major issues with our internet provider over the past couple of days and were not able to give you an update right away.
As I shared with you, Aaporn was one of Kit’s closest friends and we received a phone call Tuesday night that Ataporn overdosed and the doctors said that he would not make it through the night. God responded to your prayers and we were able to have a great visit with Ataporn on Wednesday.
We took him the Purpose Driven Life and was able to share with him the love of Jesus and prayed for God’s special mercy. We got a chance to share some even with some of the family members but at the same time we found out his situation was much worse than we had expected.
On Tuesday afternoon, Ataporn was ready to end his life. He wrote a letter saying that he no longer had any hope in life and he was tired of all the relationship problems with his family and after writing the note, he drank 3 glasses of herbicide. By the time he was taken to the hospital, the herbicide had been in his body over an hour and even though he was able to throw up most of what was still in his stomack, much of the herbicide began to be absorbed in his body. When we arrived at the hospital on Wednesday morning to visit, he was still throwing up from time to time and his body was extremely hot. He was somewhat coherent while we talked to him, but it was clear that apart from some miracle from God Ataporn would not be with us much longer. The doctors said that his kidneys had already failed and the herbicide was beginning to destroy the rest of his internal organs.
We had a good visit with Ataporn. Kit and Phet were able to say their “goodbyes” to Ataporn and to share the love of Jesus with the family and we prayed one more time for Ataporn before we left to come back to Chiang Rai. How much he understood and how much he received, only God knows.
Yesterday morning (Thursday), we received a phone call from relatives that Ataporn was no longer with us.
Ataporn was only 26 years old. He graduated with honors from Chiang Mai University and was a very gifted and popular artist. He was someone who had a great future ahead of him but because He did not know Jesus, he did not know how to respond to the problems that each of us face in our lives and chose to end his life. By the time we got to the hospital, he had changed his mind and wanted to live…but it was much too late.
Please hear my heart. Over 99% of the 66 million people living in Thailand do not know Jesus as their personal Savior and many of them have never even heard the message of Jesus. There is much work to be done. Please hear my heart. God wants to use YOU and ME. There is much work to be done and we are in need of laborers who will help us take the message of our Great Savior to these precious people. Would you consider coming? Would you consider giving so someone else can come? Would you consider encouraging someone else to come? Would you consider praying that God will raise up more laborers for these fields?
With tears.
Your Servants to the Nations in and around Northern Thailand,
Michael
NTIM – Taking the Love & Message of Our Great Savior To the Heart Of The 10-40 Window Through Compassionate Action
All of your donations to NTIM are tax deductible and help us take the gospel and love of Jesus to people and places where millions have never heard. Checks can be made out to NTIM, P.O. Box 26115, Birmingham, AL 35260 or online giving can be made at www.gontim.org