Witnessing to Buddhist Priests in Thailand

“ABOUT a week after arriving in Lampang, Thailand, I started a study with a Buddhist priest. This priest speaks English and had been a former believer in Christianity, but had seen so many things wrong in it that he had become a Buddhist. After a few weeks of study in Basis for Belief in a New World he suggested that I meet with a group of Buddhist priests and study the same booklet with them.

“This was arranged and a study was started with about fifty Buddhist priests. Since all could not speak English I had one of the sisters go with me and translate each paragraph into Thai. During the course of the study the priest of the original study made it clear that there is a distinct difference between the teachings of Jehovah’s witnesses and those of Protestants and Catholics.

“The special representative of the Society, the circuit servant, made a brief stop at our home this week and I went by and arranged for him to talk to these priests. One hundred and ten priests listened for one hour on the talk ‘Who Is Your God?’ Many questions were asked afterward and in particular I noticed that two other priests, in addition to the one I was studying with, manifested genuine interest. As it was raining I offered to take these to their temples and on the way one of them said: ‘I hope the time will come when everyone will worship Jehovah the Creator.’ I am starting two studies with these priests and will tell you more about them in future letters.”

(Three months later.) “Remember the study with the yellow-robed Buddhist priests? Well, after some weeks of study it was manifest that only two or three were really interested in the message about Jehovah’s kingdom and the rest were only interested in learning English. Two of those that showed the most interest have quit their priestly profession. They come to our missionary home every Monday night to continue their studies. They both speak some English, the one who speaks it especially well translates for the other and they are making good progress. We look forward to their taking their stand fully with the New World society.”