Church grows among
Thailand’s ‘sea gypsies’

Based on reports by Dr Stephen Pattemore, UBS Translation Consultant, and Tasanee Yanasiddhi, Thailand Bible Society

Mee-em Changnum was one of 17 Urak Lawoi people baptised in January 2006 in the sea off Lanta Yai Island. He became interested in Christianity after the tsunami because churches and Christian organisations helped him to replace his boat and fishing equipment. Thailand. Photo: TBS/Rath Lekhavat (THA06DJ-1.JPG)

THAILAND — Mee-em Changnum lives with his family in Sang-ga-hu village on Lanta Yai Island. Like most Urak Lawoi people he relies on the sea to provide for his family, and his boat and fishing equipment are among his most prized possessions.

On December 26, 2004, these were swept away when the tsunami slammed into the coasts of southeast Asia – a small loss in comparison with the many thousands who died that day, but a loss, nevertheless, that left him without a source of income. He was also not unscathed by the shock and trauma that affected the whole Urak Lawoi community as they reflected on their narrow escape from the deadly waves. Many lost homes and livelihoods but not a single life among them was lost.

Relevance?

When he became very ill with a liver disease, the Christians visited him and prayed for healing. He quickly recovered and felt very strongly that God had healed him. He gave his life to Jesus and today is being trained to become a Christian leader in his village. He hosts a weekly Bible study in his house, and is keen to tell others about his new faith.

Etim Pramongkit is the sole translator of the Urak Lawoi Old Testament, which he has been working on for 10 years. Last year, he learnt to use the UBS translation software, Paratext, to help him in his work. In 1986, he became one of the first people in Ko’Sirey village, Phuket, to become a Christian after a diving accident left him paralysed from the waist down. Many others in the village have lost legs and been left with various other disabilities in similar incidents. Mr Pramongkit’s house was severely damaged by the tsunami, but has since been rebuilt. [Photo: Asia–Pacific Area Service Center/Dr Stephen Pattemore (THA06DJ-12.JPG)]

Mee-em is just one of hundreds of Urak Lawoi people who have become Christians since the tsunami. Over the last year, as people up and down Thailand’s coastline have been rebuilding homes, infrastructures and lives, a remarkable change has taken place among this minority group that has in the past been very resistant to the Christian message.

“What has happened since the tsunami is amazing – God has been at work building his Church,” says UBS Translation Consultant Dr Stephen Pattemore, whose family has had a long association with the Urak Lawoi people.

“The Urak Lawoi people were first contacted with the Gospel by David and Doreen Hogan in 1965, and it was 10 years before the first person expressed faith in Christ.”

In 1994, nearly 30 years later, there was just a handful of Urak Lawoi Christians, and only in Phuket, according to Dr Pattemore. This grew steadily, and by Christmas 2004, the day before the tsunami, about 200 people gathered in Rawai village, Phuket, to celebrate.

Stream of people

But when Dr Pattemore travelled to Thailand seven months after the tsunami he saw that the growth of Christianity among the Urak Lawoi had accelerated significantly.

Ah Lin Hardsaithong is an Urak Lawoi pastor from Rawai village, Phuket. On December 26, 2004, he was in Ko’Sirey village to preach. People were just starting to gather for the service when he received a telephone call from his daughter warning him that a giant wave was approaching the area. He was able to evacuate the whole village before the waves struck and no lives were lost. Without this warning, many people could have died, particularly those who have been disabled in diving accidents. [Photo: TBS/Rath Lekhabat (THA06DJ-4.JPG)]

“By July 2005, 35 to 50 Urak Lawoi people were meeting regularly in Ko’Sirey, 40 on Phi Phi Island and more than 100 on Lanta Yai Island,” he says. “In Rawai, there is a continual stream of people coming to faith and there are plans to extend the church building. We have been encouraged by the sudden demand for the Urak Lawoi New Testament, which was published in 1998, and other reading materials we prepared in the 1990s. We can certainly witness that God is at work among the Urak Lawoi communities in a way that has not happened in the past 40 years.”

Open-hearted

On Lanta Yai Island the Thailand Bible Society has been working with local churches to provide both practical help and Scripture resources. It has also partnered with Gospel Recordings and the Urak Lawoi church in Phuket to produce recordings of songs, testimonies and Scriptures to help the emerging Urak Lawoi church on Lanta Yai and in other locations. The Bible Society has seen the effect this has had on the people on Lanta Yai.

“Before the tsunami, there were no Bible study groups and people paid no attention to Christianity on Lanta Yai Island,” comments Tasanee Yanasiddhi, who heads the Society’s fundraising department and who visited the island in December. “Since the tsunami, about 200 people there are Christians or are interested in Jesus Christ. There are 8 Bible study groups that meet regularly, each with about 20-30 members.”

Baptised in the sea

In December, 17 new believers were baptised in the sea off Lanta Yai. It was a special day that none of them will ever forget. As they walked into the sea with their robes, tourists gathered to watch them commit themselves to God. Afterwards they gathered to sing and pray.

Seventeen Urak Lawoi people and two southern Thais were baptised in January 2006 in the sea off Lanta Yai Island. Since the tsunami there has been significant church growth among the Urak Lawoi, who have in the past been slow to respond to the Christian message. Thailand. Photo: TBS/Rath Lekhabat (THA06DJ-2.JPG)

The Bible Society provided each one of them with a Bible and other Christian literature to help them continue their journey of faith.

To encourage and support these new believers, volunteers from Trang church visit the island each Thursday. One volunteer, Ms Orapin, is particularly interested in helping the children of Lanta Yai to learn about Jesus. She is learning the Urak Lawoi language and each Thursday afternoon visits the school in Baan Sang-ga-hu village to tell the children Bible stories and teach them songs. Many have responded very positively and have given their lives to God. They tell Ms Orapin that they pray every day for their parents to become Christians too.

Positive

“As a community the Urak Lawoi people have been seriously affected in many ways by the tsunami and its aftermath,” he says. “While there has been lots of short-term aid, long-term income generation from the sea continues to be a problem. Perhaps the most disturbing aspect is the disruption of their relationship with the sea: in living memory, it has been their only source of livelihood, but now it can no longer be trusted, and anxious eyes are watching from the beach at all times. Perhaps it is this fracture of their world view which has led to their greater openness to the liberating message of the love of God.”

Dumin Pramongkit was alone in his home in Phuket when the tsunami struck. Having lost both legs in a diving accident 20 years ago he would not have survived the giant waves had it not been for one of his relatives who ran to his house to carry him to safety. Mr Pramongkit, who has been a Christian for many years, has in the past helped with the translation of the Urak Lawoi Old Testament by checking it, but his eyesight is now not good enough for him to continue. He and his wife host a church service each Sunday and a Bible study group during the week. [Photo: Thailand Bible Society (THA06DJ-14.JPG)]

Many Urak Lawoi people have the same surnames. This is because they only took surnames in the early 1960s and entire villages adopted the same name, usually related in some way to their connection with the sea. Pramongkit, for instance, means ‘Fishing occupation’,  Changnam means ‘Water expert’, while Hardsaithong means ‘Golden sand beach’.

Fishermen in Tok Ba Liew, an Urak Lawoi (‘sea gypsy’) village on Lanta Yai Island, Krabi province, where representatives of the Thailand Bible Society delivered boat engines and fishing nets in November 2005. Homes and fishing boats in this village were destroyed by the tsunami that hit on December 26, 2004. Photo: Thailand Bible Society (THA06DJ-134.JPG)