Kirk and Suzie
CBF field personnel, Southeast Asia
These words were penned not by a saint of old, but by a young man who has come to be an incredible blessing to us. We first met Som almost 25 years ago, when we moved into a bamboo and thatch house across the street from his place in a village in the mountains of Southeast Asia. He was in high school then, and shyly came to our house to ask for help on his English homework—which turned out to be translating some heavy metal songs that contained many words we felt should not be translated!
Som had a rough childhood. His father often fell into alcohol-fueled rages, beating his mother mercilessly before abandoning the family. The trauma of that and other abuse sometimes left his mother in a listless state, unable to care for herself or her son. By age seven, Som was doing the cooking and other domestic chores. Free public school in Som’s area only went through grade nine, but a CBF-connected Korean church in Houston made it possible for Som and several of his friends to continue their studies at an agricultural junior college and then university. On the weekends and during school breaks, Som and this group of friends began working with us to produce literacy materials in the local language and translate the New Testament and portions of the Old Testament.
Working on the translation team for over 10 years gave Som the opportunity to become deeply acquainted with Scripture and the person of Jesus. Yet he could not quite come to a place of personal faith—saying that he would believe if only he could experience a miracle. When the New Testament was published, he went on to other employment. Several years later, Som called us on the phone, his voice full of excitement. The night before he had experienced something that felt more real than any ordinary dream. He saw a white bird coming down upon him and felt an overwhelming sense of peace and love. He woke with the sense that he had encountered Jesus. He felt that the miracle he had been praying for had indeed happened—not a miracle of healing or seeing water turned into wine, but a miracle of a changed heart. He asked to be baptized.
Som, fearful of the social consequences that he knew would follow, asked that we not tell other villagers about his decision to follow Christ. But as time passed, villagers noticed a change—and Som felt emboldened to be open about his faith. Now, almost weekly, Som posts about his faith on Facebook. He even wrote a short book to share with friends, narrating his life from the early days of emotional trauma and poverty to the new life and hope he has found in Christ. His observations about Scripture and walking with Jesus are profound and inspiring to us.