Rob and Judy Griffioen , missionaries with Operation 2nd Wave team in Thailand , met Nung when they were studying the Thai language in Lopuri. Nung was a neighbour and quickly became a good friend. 

When the missionary couple entered Nung’s life she started to see miracles happen! One day she came home exclaiming that her friend’s son had been badly injured. He fell backwards off of the balcony and it looked like he would be paralyzed for life. Aware that the foreigners were Christians, Nung asked them to pray for her friend’s son. They did, and one week later the boy was learning to walk again.

A few months later Rob and Judy were on the way out to their fellowship when Nung stopped them and said, “Pray for my son. He’s just been hurt in a motorcycle accident.” Stopping by the next day they saw just how serious it was. All of the flesh from the boy’s arms and legs had been torn off. His open wounds were becoming infected. His legs were in such bad shape that he couldn’t even straighten them. Judy went over to the boy and prayed for him. As she did, both Nung and her son stared at Judy in wonder. They became incredibly intrigued and began asking a wealth of questions. Rob and Judy gave them each bibles which they eagerly accepted.

Every day the wounds on the boy’s body would heal more and more as new flesh would grow over the skin. Every day they watched God perform a miracle as the infection cleared up with no help from a doctor. Judy had urged Nung to take her son to the hospital but Nung refused. She said that he didn’t want to go back to the hospital, so this was going to be all about God. She whole-heartedly believed that God would heal her son. In a matter of days the wounds were completely healed – and it was all Jesus.

After this miracle Nung’s faith began to grow in huge ways. One day she was talking with Judy in the kitchen and started asking her about prayer. She wanted to know how she was supposed to hold her hands when she prayed. Thai Buddhists have a very specific approach to prayer. Positioning of the hands is of significant importance. Nung was amazed to learn that it didn’t matter how she held her hands! This was a God more powerful than anyone she knew!

As Nung was moving through this process of believing in Jesus, the Thai language school was wrapping up for Rob and Judy. Judy was upset because she knew she wouldn’t be able to minister to Nung anymore. But God reminded her that his arm is not too short to save. He has been working in Nung’s life, and he will continue to do so, even if Judy isn’t there to see it happen. So she connected Nung with Jum, her Thai teacher, a woman who had encountered the transforming power of Jesus.

Eight years earlier, Jum was in a market one day when some teenagers on a mission trip handed her a tract. Jum read the tract and she wanted to know this Jesus. She called the phone number for the church listed on the back of the booklet and snuck out of her house on three separate occasions to go to the church. She received Christ, her life was changed, and today she is a leader in her church.

When Nung heard Jum’s story she was moved to tears. As a little girl missionaries came to her small village and showed the Jesus film. This was her very first exposure to Christ, and it was the first in a chain of events God used to bring believers into her life.

As Nung cried, Jum reminded her that God had been pursuing her since she was a child. He brought Judy into her life, and now he brought Jum. God chose her, and he wasn’t finished with her. He would continue to pursue her until she chose him too. Praise the Lord for his steadfast love!

Watch the Griffioens videos.