Introduction
This blog serves as a short testimony to the mercy of the Lord in our family’s life. My wife, Ngamta, and I, Radu, met by the Lord’s mercy in 1989, as immigrants, in Vancouver, Canada. Ngamta was born in Thailand, while I was born in Romania. Through the mercy of the Lord Jesus Christ, we both became newborn Christians while living in British Columbia, Canada. On May 25, 1991, we were both baptized in water in the Vancouver Romanian Pentecostal church. By the grace of the Lord, we were also baptized in the Holy Spirit, experiencing the miraculous sign of speaking in other tongues as described in the Book of Acts. The Lord has blessed us with children, and, again by His mercy, we moved in 1998 from British Columbia to Ontario, Canada, where we currently reside. After years of walking with our Lord Jesus Christ, we were blessed by His mercy when He called us in 2013 to start the Bible Commentary Forever work.
Our mission at the Bible Commentary Forever ministry is to promote our faith in the Trinity of God and to share knowledge about the Word of God. We aim to accomplish this in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, through prayer and the guidance of the Holy Spirit. The primary purpose of the Bible Commentary Forever ministry is to inspire the human mind to view the Holy Bible as holy, word-by-word dictated by the Holy Spirit. Through our commentary, we aim to guide the readers to view the Holy Spirit as the sole author of the entire Bible and to promote our work as a guide from the Lord in learning the Bible.
The Folly of Idolatry
After getting married and receiving the Lord’s blessings of children, we took several trips with our entire family to visit relatives in Thailand and Romania. However, whenever we traveled to Thailand, my wife and I were always concerned that her family would ask us to accompany them to their temple. If we declined, we feared they might accuse us of disrespecting them. In Isaiah 44:9-20, we read about the folly of idolatry, a practice that becomes very real when you visit a country like Thailand. Idolatry is deeply woven into the fabric of Thai society; you encounter idols everywhere—in restaurants, hotels, people’s homes, and along the streets. We would like to highlight a couple of verses from this passage that became especially impactful during our travels in Thailand, where idols are placed throughout the landscape and people are seen burning incense and worshiping these idol statues.
Isaiah 44:12 The ironsmith makes an axe, and works it in the coals, and fashions it with hammers, and works it with his strong arm; he is hungry, and his strength fails; he drinks no water, and is faint. 13 The carpenter stretches out a line; he marks it out with a pencil; he shapes it with planes, and he marks it out with the compasses, and shapes it after the figure of a man, according to the beauty of a man, to dwell in a house.
However, the Bible teaches us all who the Lord God Almighty is. Specifically, Jeremiah 10:1-16 teaches us about the sovereignty of God and His greatness. We post here for reference a few verses:
Jeremiah 10:6 “There is none like Thee, O Jehovah; Thou are great, and Thy name is great in might. 7 Who would not fear Thee, O King of the nations? For to Thee does it appertain; forasmuch as among all the wise men of the nations, and in all their royal estate, there is none like Thee. 8 But they are together brutish and foolish: the instruction of idols! It is but a stock. 9 There is silver beaten into plates, which is brought from Tarshish, and gold from Uphaz, the work of the craftsman and of the hands of the goldsmith; blue and purple for their clothing; they are all the work of skillful men. 10 But Jehovah is the true God; He is the living God, and an everlasting King: at His wrath the earth trembles, and the nations are not able to abide His indignation. 11 Thus shall you say to them, The gods that have not made the heavens and the earth, these shall perish from the earth, and from under the heavens. 12 He has made the earth by his power, He has established the world by his wisdom, and by his understanding has He stretched out the heavens …”
As Christians, we believe that the Lord Jesus Christ is the Son of God and God in the Trinity of God. Only through His sacrifice on the cross of Calvary can we find forgiveness and peace with God the Father. As new Christians, we were worried about traveling to Thailand and spending time with my wife’s family. If we didn’t accompany them to the temple, my wife could face difficulties as their daughter. However, if we did go and didn’t participate in the worship, the situation could worsen. We tried to navigate this carefully. A couple of times, we refused to attend their temple festivities, which really upset them, especially since I was involved in converting their daughter to Christianity. On another occasion, we went to the temple grounds but did not enter inside the temple, which was even more troubling for them. People started asking why we wouldn’t go inside, and what kind of Christians we were. They compared us unfavorably to Catholics, pointing out that Catholic priests go to the temple, bow to the monks, and offer food to them. For many Thai people, being any kind of Christian often means being identified as a Catholic. Additionally, residing in my wife’s family’s house was challenging due to the presence of idols throughout the house, including a dedicated room to their idols, as well as numerous ancestor bones from their traditional burial practices.
Another concern we had while in Thailand was regarding the food, particularly whether it was dedicated to idols or if it contained blood. My wife informed her family that we couldn’t eat blood, so they made an effort not to cook with it for us. However, when dining at a restaurant, it wasn’t easy to know what we were eating and whether the food was contaminated with blood or if it had been dedicated to idols or not.
Before every trip, we prayed for the Lord’s guidance and protection as we sought to practice our faith in fear of the Lord and be pleasing to Him. The Lord saw our hearts and guided us to rely on 1 Corinthians 8:1-10 regarding idols and food dedicated to them. During our stay we would strive to show love without directly condemning anything, while still avoiding participation in anything that was inappropriate for our faith. We will highlight only a few verses from this passage for guidance.
1 Corinthians 8:4 “Concerning therefore the eating of things sacrificed to idols, we know that no idol is anything in the world, and that there is no God but One. 5 For though there are indeed those called gods, whether in heaven or on earth; as there are many gods, and many lords; 6 yet to us there is one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we to Him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and we through Him.”
The Lord’s Mercy Protects Us
We all remember the tragedy of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami, which also struck Thailand on December 26, 2004. In the summer of that year, my wife and I planned to visit her family in Thailand during the Christmas holidays in December. We looked forward to spending time with her family, unaware of the tragedy that would soon follow.
We typically traveled to Thailand during Christmas season when the temperatures were more moderate, usually around 26 degrees Celsius or higher. During our planned visit in 2004, my mother-in-law suggested taking our family to the popular tourist destination of Phuket. The trip would include my mother-in-law, a couple of her friends, my wife, and our six children, with the oldest being 14 and the youngest just 8. We were set to stay at the Patong Beach Resort, as my wife recalls, and celebrate Christmas there. Since we had never visited Phuket—a well-known destination for tourists—during our previous trips to Thailand, the idea was quite appealing to us. However, we didn’t pray and ask the Lord about our itinerary; we trusted my wife’s mom about this. So, my wife’s mom arranged our family trip to Phuket for Christmas in December 2004. They paid for all our tickets and supported all the travel expenses. However, after they had arranged and paid for everything, about a month before we were due to leave, I experienced a deep distress within my soul, and I found no peace; a fear of going to Phuket overwhelmed me. This fear lingered in my heart to the extent that I was completely against traveling to Thailand unless the plans were changed. The Lord used my weakness to instill this fear, redirecting our vacation plans. I told my wife that I simply couldn’t go to Phuket, and if she didn’t work with her mom to change the trip, we wouldn’t go to Thailand at all. During this time, I truly experienced the meaning of 2 Corinthians 12:9: “And He said to me, My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is perfected in weakness.”
My wife called her mom to let her know that we did not want to go to Phuket. This led to a big argument because the trip for the entire family had already been arranged and paid for, and her mom would lose the money if we canceled. However, my wife stood firm, stating that if we went to Phuket, we would cancel the entire trip. Her mom became very upset, feeling that I was controlling the situation, and she expressed her frustration by saying it was foolish of her daughter to marry a white man who is Christian and poor.
Although we don’t recall all the details of the difficult conversations my wife had with her mom, eventually, her mom agreed to give away the hotel reservations to some friends. She then arranged for us to visit the northern part of Thailand, specifically the mountainous area. Our itinerary included visits to several zoos, some famous temples, the Queen Mother Palace in Mae Fa Luang District (Chiang Rai), and the Hall of Opium Museum in the Golden Triangle area, Chiang Saen District (Chiang Rai).
We traveled to Thailand in December 2004 during the Christmas season, and while it was a lovely trip, it also had sad moments when the tsunami struck. This was actually our last trip to Thailand as a whole family. The following year, in 2005, my wife’s mother sadly passed away while we were visiting my parents in Romania.
Tragically, on December 26, 2004, a tsunami struck the southern region of Thailand, particularly affecting the Phuket area. The hotel where we were supposed to stay was also impacted by the tsunami’s waves. Fortunately, we were traveling in the northern part of the country at the time and only heard about the disaster after we were far away.
Although the number of deaths in Phuket wasn't exceedingly high, being there with six young children on the beach—or anywhere nearby—would have been dangerous. We believe that the Lord’s mercy was bestowed upon our entire family, protecting us from any potential harm. We are deeply saddened by the disaster that occurred during that time, and we still extend our heartfelt prayers to all those affected by the tsunami tragedy.
Conclusion
After our trip, my mother-in-law made a remarkable statement to my wife. She acknowledged that our God had protected us, saying something like, “The God of your husband saved all of us.” Although none of them seemed to embrace Christianity through our testimony, we were grateful that they recognized the Lord’s protection over us. The lesson we learned is that, as Christians, we must remain steadfast in our faith, regardless of the environment and the peer pressure we may face from friends or family. Moreover, before making any decisions—whether big or small—we need to pray, seek guidance, and be attentive to the voice of the Holy Spirit speaking in our hearts. Unfortunately, we didn’t pray or seek direction regarding the trip’s itinerary; we let our family in Thailand make those decisions for us. Nevertheless, the Lord, in His mercy, protected us and took care of us.
When we returned to Canada, someone I worked with knew we had traveled to Thailand and was concerned about our safety. He even checked with the Canadian embassy regarding our status; oddly enough, he informed me that we were listed as missing there. However, by the Lord’s mercy, we were all safe.
While we may not always understand why the Lord allows tragedy to befall the earth, as Christians, we must always glorify His name and ask for His mercy in all situations.
Meditation Tasks
- We invite all readers to check out our blog article titled “Who Is Your God?”
- Pray for the Lord’s mercy upon those who face tragedies in their lives.
- We invite all readers to visit our ministry website, Bible Commentary Forever Ministries, and our Bible commentary website, Bible Commentary Forever.