Confronting Gee

On her knees, higher-than-head "wai" position with her hands, and bowing her head to the ground. I didn't expect that, but knowing Thai culture, it didn't surprise me too much. She was shocked that I knew she had been stealing all along. She said, "I am so ashamed of myself and embarrassed. Please give me another chance." I had just told her I knew about all the things she had stolen from us. She was sobbing and I tried to console her.
I made my words loving and gentle, told her I forgave her already, she can have another chance, & that I'm not mad at her. I told her to tell me truth, if she really believes in Jesus Christ or not, because if she didn't, I wasn't going to think any worse of her. I just need to know the truth. She assured me she really does believe, she gave away her amulets already and reads her Bible every day. She wants to get baptised on Sunday with the other baptisms.
So, it was bittersweet. I am thankful our relationship has been restored and that she does indeed believe in God. I also realize today was very painful and shaming for her. I rest in the fact that God gave me the strength and self-control to deal lovingly with her at every turn these past few months, including today, the day of the confrontation.
She knows we love her, we have shown it all along. My only concern now is that she may be too ashamed to return to us. We will keep praying for her.

Comments

Anonymous said…
gracias por compartir tu experiencia, creo que ella si cree en dios, pero no ha leido biblia, enseñale como hacerlo.
translate this is your work.
greetings from chile,southamerica.
ricky.
6/8/07 2:34 PM
Oceanicthai said…
I'm sorry, Ricky, I don't speak Spanish! Yes, this is our work, if what you mean is that this is the kind of thing we should expect working here.
6/8/07 5:55 PM
Anonymous said…
Wow, I can just imagine how tough that was! Has she come back?? What a testimony to the church it would be if she can get past the cultural way of dealing with the shame!
8/8/07 8:50 AM
Oceanicthai said…
Hi Irene, thanks for your comment! Yes, she did come back. I conferred with my Thai friend first before I confronted her, and when I confronted her, it was with a lot of gentleness and love. She came back and has been back every day. She has asked to be baptised this week. :)
9/8/07 1:25 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Our Airport-Closure Adventure

We knew that time was tight between the end of our conference in the Northern end of Thailand and our flight out of the country from the Southern end. We figured that since we would be flying there would be no problem getting home in a day and giving ourselves 2 full days before our flight to the U.S. We were scheduled to fly back to Southern Thailand on December 1st and get on our flight to the U.S. on December 4th. We flew to Chiang Mai with no inkling that the beautiful new airport we transferred at in Bangkok would be seiged by protesters just a few days later. At our conference we realized that we were not going to be flying back. The alternatives were train, bus, rent a car or rent a mini-van with a driver. Being economical we chose the train or bus, and in the end, due to scheduling, it had to be the bus. It would be a grueling 20+ hour trip home, but we weren't overly concerned because Thailand has beautiful VIP buses that are really nice to ride in. Unfortunately ther...
Read more

Red-Necked Keelback Snake

This is our "snake of the month," this time just a few steps from our kitchen door. I found it Monday afternoon, a strange pattern unlike the grass surrounding it. I yelled for the kids and our guest to go upstairs, handed them the dogs, and got my cell-phone and snake book. Kennedy, Trevor (Dean's intern) and a handyman all came to help, and the Thai handyman killed it. It was a very pretty snake, I'll upload a picture later. It is venomous, with rear-fangs. Most keelback snakes are not venomous, (we just got lucky?)
Read more