Jesus gave her shattered life a COMPLETE makeover!

 Mike & Malika

 

 

      Thailand is known as ‘The land of smiles’ and Malika could easily be the Thai poster girl for that particular slogan. Her face always wears a smile and her life radiates joy, unfettered enthusiasm and boundless energy. It is difficult to imagine her any other way but Malika has come down a very long and harsh road and the smile that now announces her presence in the room was not always there.

 

   Malika is the eldest of 9 brothers and sisters. She grew up knowing serious poverty and was keenly aware even as a very young girl that she needed an education if she was going to have any hope of escaping a life of misery later on. In her part of the world, learning to read and write is a privilege and not an automatic right. It required sacrifice for her family and also hard work on her part. Her day started at around 4:30am when she would be woken up to accompany her mother to the local vegatable wholesalers where they would buy vegetables, which they would in turn sell later in the day , hopefully, for a profit. As the oldest, she had the responsibility of also taking care of her younger siblings. She was not 'allowed' to go to school until all of her home duties were finished. Some days she was not able to go to school at all. But if there were tests on a particular day, she would go to school even if it meant kicking and screaming to get there. She sometimes had to literally fight for her education. She was diligent in her studies and helping her mother but as she grew older she also had to help her father with his work of cutting down and clearing away trees to make room for building.

 

   One day when she was about 10 years old, she heard a sound off in another area of the forest, which indicated that there were new people in the area. She and her sister hopped into a canoe and went to investigate. As they got closer, she was surprised to see that the new people were foreigners. She was even more surprised when they began waving for her and her sister to come over and talk to them. The people were missionaries and they gave the girls candy and some gospel literature with a picture depicting a man named Jesus with a very kind face. It was the first time Malika had heard the name of the person who would later totally change her life.

 

   Although that early encounter left seeds planted deep in her heart, it was not until many years later that they would begin to take root and bear fruit in her life.

 

   Eventually, marriage to an American brought her out of Thailand to a new life in the States. At first, it seemed like a dream come true. She was able to leave a life where she was barely able to scratch out a living to the most prosperous and plentiful land in the world. But it didn’t take long before her dream dissolved and was replaced by a nightmare of abuse. At least back home, she could find people to talk to. In her new land, with very limited English in those days, she was trapped because she had no way of knowing where to turn for help.

 

   Her life continued to spiral downward for the next 14 years until she reached a point of total depression and was seriously contemplating suicide. She was tired of the verbal and emotional abuse. She was tired of not being able to communicate with people that could understand her and help her. She was tired of being isolated and cut-off from her family back home and others living in the states.

   When it seemed her life could not possibly get any worse, it got much worse. She was pregnant with her third child and the pregnancy developed serious late term complications. She began to hemorrhage severely and very nearly died. At that time when she found herself stuck in a strange dilemma. On one hand, she was afraid to live. She was tired of life and just wanted to die. On the other hand, she wanted to live but she wanted to live for real and not merely exist.

   She wasn’t sure where the thought came from or why she did it, but she just called out in her heart to Jesus. It is a strange thing for someone who had been raised as a Buddhist to do but she knew somewhere deep inside that Jesus was the one to call on. She had always known in her heart that there must be a creator around somewhere because the world and life itself clearly were created and could not possibly be an accident. She had been to a Baptist church once but other than that and her encounter as a little girl with the missionary, she had no logical reason to turn to this ‘Jesus’ in her greatest hour of need- but she did. She did not know what it meant to put her trust in Jesus and make him her Lord and savior, but she had a sense of peace in her heart that he had heard her cry and it would eventually be alright.

   She had found herself at the very end of her rope. She knew that she was going to have to get help and it was also clear that she could not continue living under the abuse that she had been living with. When her health permitted, she made her way to Alaska where she had family support. Her limited language skills and lack of resources made it impossible to fight the legal system and win a custody battle. When her kids were once and for all torn from her, all she could do was wish that she had died earlier when she had the chance.

 

   For the next 14 years, she was a lost wandering soul with no sense of purpose or direction. She was able to cut hair and make a living but she had no idea of what she was living for. She was not homeless and out on the streets but she felt like a homeless person because she felt that she was just living an aimless empty life. She was just living, waiting to just get old and die. She had no hope of anything more. She worked three jobs during those days but it had nothing to do with the need for money. She just wanted to fill her time with business so there would be no time to think.

 

   Something in her heart though kept nudging her. The name Jesus kept coming into her thoughts. She had thought about him more and more of late and at last she knew that she needed to turn to Jesus and really get to know Him. She had gone to church a few times as a kind of ‘therapy’ but she really didn’t want to get into Christianity too deeply for fear of making a commitment to anything that may let her down again and make her feel pain. But Jesus was calling her and she knew that He could be trusted to never do anything that would break her heart again. For the first time in her life she called out to Jesus and completely placed her heart in His capable hands to lead her and guide her.

 

   That was in 1997 and the change that has taken place since then has been nothing short of absolutely miraculous! She began seriously pressing in to God’s word and going to church was no longer about therapy but about wanting to know her Lord and savior more. It was soon after that that she met the man who would not only treat her with respect and kindness but would share with her the dream of living a life full of purpose and impact as led by the love of Jesus. Mike and Malika are a true example of a real Christian couple and exemplify what it means to have a partnership in the gospel as a man and wife.

 

 Malika now enjoys strong relationship with all three of her sons who have all become followers of Jesus largely because they see what God has done in the life of their mother. She has seen two of her sisters also become followers of Jesus.

 

   Malika has been instrumental in starting a Thai bible study group in Anchorage, which meets every week at her born again sister’s home just down the street. The Bible study started with just two people and now regularly has more than twenty people gather each week. They are now in the process of creating Anchorage’ first Thai/Lao church.

 

   Malika was recently featured in the newspaper with a big smile on her face as she was called on to represent Thailand in a celebration highlighting the various cultures and people groups that make up Anchorage’ population. She performed a traditional Thai dance routine using recorded Thai gospel music of scripture reading from the gospel of John.

 

   If you are fortunate enough to have Malika cut your hair, you will find Gospel posters and signs on the wall that she has deliberately placed there to stimulate conversation about the love of God and salvation through Jesus. 

 

   When Malika prays for a lost soul, she prays with intensity tears and tremendous faith. Several people in the Thai bible study have been miraculously healed of various serious diseases, including her sister who was so amazed by what God did in her life that she became a believer and is a powerful follower of Jesus herself. She loves Jesus. She loves life. She loves Mike. She loves her kids. She loves cooking and serving Thai food. She loves her church family. She loves her extended family. Malika’s life revolves around love.

 

   One of the greatest loves of Malika’s life is her homeland. She loves Thailand very much. Mike and Malika have worked hard to help with the building of a church in Thailand by contributing both financial resources as well as work on the building with their own hands.

 

   They will be leaving soon on a mission’s trip to Thailand where they will be helping teach kids in remote areas about dental hygiene. They hope that they will be able to show the love of Jesus to hundreds and even thousands of kids who will be able to learn through their ministry about this person who knows them and loves them and died for them but was raised from the dead to change their lives just as he did for Malika. They are making plans now to retire from work here and enter full time in ministry service back in Thailand permanently in the next couple of years.