Burmese man condemned for preaching Christianity to Buddhist novices
A Thai Buddhist academic criticised a Burmese man and a Thai woman for posing as English language teachers to preach Christianity to novices at a temple in the central province of Ang Thong.
Thai academic Jaturong Jong-asa shared pictures posted by the Burmese man on Facebook on Friday, September 20. The pictures showed a group of young novices raising their hands in the air, with the Burmese man and his Thai assistant standing in front of them. The Burmese man stated in the caption…
“Monks are getting saved in Thailand. Praise Jesus. One of the monks was healed from a broken heart while we were praying for healing. Glory be to God.”
Jaturong criticised the actions of the two.
“What is the monk committee in Phothong district of Ang Thong province doing now? Why do you allow these young novices to shout hallelujah to the god of another religion like this?
“This Burmese man, or this pastor, is a truly bad person. Don’t you know your boundaries? You don’t respect other religions by doing this. What about your visa? Healing? Damn!”
The Burmese man’s post also included videos of him discussing Christianity-related topics with the novices. One of the novices came forward to share his experience of heartbreak and said that praying in the Christian way helped him recover.
“We did not do this (cure the novice). Jesus did this.”
Channel 3 later reported that the incident took place at Tha Khlong Temple in Ang Thong province. The abbot, Sarawut Tanwaro, told the media that the foreign man had offered free English language lessons to the novices at the temple. He found it useful, so he allowed the Burmese man to conduct the class.
The abbot stated that he did not expect the Burmese man to secretly preach Christianity during the class. The abbot promised to stop such actions and hoped this would be a lesson for other temples.
