Ba Nuan’s story

If you asked Ba Nuan about her childhood, she’d say that life felt very ordinary. Growing up as one of eight siblings in rural Thailand, it made sense to Ba Nuan that her parents, struggling to make ends meet, would ask their children to help wherever they could. When Ba Nuan’s grandmother became too elderly to take care of herself, the family chose Ba Nuan to go and live with and support her. And so it was that Ba Nuan, though still a young girl, would grow up far from home, taking on the responsibilities of both caregiver and breadwinner in one. Life was tough – but so was Ba Nuan.

Ba Nuan went to school during the day and spent all her free time labouring or collecting branches for roof thatch to earn money. There was no time to dream about her future: the health and happiness of her little two-person household rested entirely on her young shoulders.

As she grew older, Ba Nuan’s strong work ethic continued. She opened her own restaurant and also began working as a medium to cure people believed to have been cursed by black magic – a practice passed down by her grandmother. Married with two children and with a stable career, poverty gradually lost its grip on Ba Nuan. But happiness was still a long way away.

One day, Ba Nuan’s world came crashing down around her. She was heartbroken to discover her husband had been unfaithful – and that this wasn’t the first time. Her business began to crumble as her marriage fell apart. Then, four years ago, Ba Nuan’s husband tragically took his own life. Alone and in despair, Ba Nuan couldn’t see a way forward. That’s until a neighbour visited her, and told her about a man called Jesus.

Ba Nuan was invited by her friend to the church run by BMS World Mission workers Helen and Wit Boondeekhun in a small village called Wang Daeng. There, Ba Nuan encountered unconditional love, from God and from her new community. “God transformed me,” says Ba Nuan. “I didn’t have any hope, my life was in despair, and I didn’t want to live. But now I have found a new life, new happiness,” she continues. “I’m so happy indeed that I found God. I know that he loves me, and I want to live my life for him.”

The people who attend the church in Wang Daeng each have a story like Ba Nuan’s – a story of a life searching for hope, and finding it in Jesus. The village has gone from being a place where no-one would have called themselves a Christian, to a community with a thriving church where eight new believers were baptised just last year. Excitingly, Ba Nuan was one of them. The BMS team asked Ba Nuan whether she had a message for supporters in the UK. She replied: “Love God with all your mind, soul and strength, because God is powerful, and he can help you, and he loves you so much.”