Her pulse beat uncontrollably as she drove on....it was the church building, no doubt. Her hands shook as she phoned the fire brigade. Time seemed to have stopped. Finally the helpers arrived. With much water they managed to extinguish the fire.

There was much damage.

When everybody had left, she sat there and couldn‘t fight back her tears. “Why LORD, why?” she cried. She left and went to the nearby beach to privately release her emotions.

“Do you love me at all?” she cried out “Because of this Tsunami I have lost everything I ever possessed. The father of my boys has become violent towards me.. and now even the church building, the place I love so much, has burned down. Do you even care?” She wasn‘t even able to lift her head while her tears dropped into the sand. But then she saw it: a heart shaped piece of coral. She stopped, picked up her find and felt an embrace. “Yes, you care, you still love me“, came into her mind.

Back at the church building, a friend had come and started boarding up broken windows and the wall. After the traditional greeting, Ying went back to the table and saw the heartshapedcoral she had picked up on the beach. It was lying right next to a big nail. She couldn‘t help but think of the nails which Jesus had to endure at the cross in order to forgive not only her sin but that of every-body who believes in HIM.

Peace and even joy beyond compre-hension filled her heart. Now she truly knew HE cares and HE loves her even in the middle of a burned-down church.

Elke Schoch, a community development worker in Thailand for 19 years, now helping Thais in Portugal. For more information about Thai culture or communication issues with Thai, please contact orawanmiwang@gmail.com subject line Thai-Info