By Suzie
Dao was one of 15 children in her family. She tells early memories of being tied to the front porch with her toddler siblings while her parents went to work in the fields. They didn’t have daycare; that was just the way things were done.
Her father was a local school principal and her mom was a village health worker. Her father believed in Jesus through the witness of a friend in a neighboring village, and through the years their family had tremendous Gospel impact in the wider community. Fast forward to 1998, when we were new residents in a nearby B village, with two children under the age of four, and struggling to learn the B language. We realized we needed help caring for our home and new baby while I was learning language and homeschooling our eldest, so we asked the local church leaders in the lowland villages for guidance in finding a helper.
A few days later, Dao arrived at our home, shared her life story, and we agreed that she would come to work with us. We then took a walk around the village, introducing her to our B neighbors and telling them she would be coming each weekday. We were concerned that our B neighbors wouldn’t be happy with an outsider spending the days in the village because they are quite wary and fearful of strangers (and for good reasons).
As we walked and she chatted with neighbors, many of the elderly B grandmas began hugging her and even crying as they realized whose daughter she was. When the B people were hunter gatherers, with no land to farm rice or settle, they often walked down the mountain to Dao’s village to trade forest foods for rice. Most Thai lowlanders made fun of them, calling them “dirty mountain people” or making fun of their language. They were often cheated or given very little rice. But Dao’s parents, with 15 children to feed, gave them double or triple the asked for amount of rice, and treated them with respect and concern. Dao’s mother treated various illnesses or provided common medication.
One B grandma said that they treated them like “true human beings.” For this reason, they were thrilled that Dao was coming each day. While I was homeschooling our son, Dao spent each afternoon visiting sick and elderly neighbors with our daughter, sharing the hope and love of Jesus. She became a vital teammate in the work as we sought to be the hands and feet of Christ through Bible translation in the B language. Even when we aren’t living in the village full time, she still tends a garden in our yard and prepares the house for visitors and other people in ministry who come to stay.
Dao is a vital partner in ministry, providing sound advice and insights. She is prayer warrior, with a deep desire for the B and other ethnic peoples to know the hope and healing that only Christ can bring. We had no idea that God would pave the way for this continued ministry years later, through a practical need and the Holy Spirit’s leading. God’s plans are so much higher than ours, and simple acts of kindness and generosity can make a lasting impact far beyond what we could ask or imagine!
Kirk and Suzie are Cooperative Baptist Fellowship field personnel serving ethnic minority people throughout Southeast Asia. For over 30 years, they have sought to testify to God’s power to transform lives through their work in literacy, Bible translation and advocacy. Click here to learn more about their ministry.