Faith of a Child

“If I die right now, could your God raise me from the dead?”

Ten-year-old Kyaw woke up at 5:00am on Saturday, just like he did every week. He read his notebook of Bible verses from the children’s outreach he attended, got dressed, did his chores. and ran to the Christian’s home. There he joined a houseful of children studying a Bible lesson, singing worship songs, and praying—all things he could not do at home as the only Christian in a Buddhist family. When he returned home that evening, he added the day’s Bible verse to his notebook.

One evening a thought occurred to him as he looked at the family’s Buddha image. “We don’t need this statue,” he said to his father. “We can pray to the real God.” His father laughed and asked why Kyaw thought his God is the real God. Kyaw replied, “He answers prayer and rose from the dead.” His father retorted, “If I die now, could your God raise me from the dead?” Kyaw confidently answered, “Jesus is in heaven, but one day He will raise us all from the dead.”

Soon after, his father was in a serious car accident and doctors were not hopeful he would survive. Kyaw and his Christian friends prayed for healing, and the very next day Kyaw’s father came home from the hospital with only a scraped leg and a sore shoulder. Kyaw told his dad, “God healed you! God protected you from death!” His father has not yet turned to Jesus, but believes he was saved from death.

Now nearly 14 years old, Kyaw is in the church worship band and feels called to ministry. Parents of his classmates recently came to his house and threatened his life for speaking against Buddhism. His parents sent him to live with a family at a nearby home church to keep him safe.