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Death of Celebrity Causes Largest Christian Outreach in Thailand

Nida Patcharaveerapong - Death of Celebrity Causes Largest Christian Outreach in Thailand

Even in death, the Lord can use us to propel the Gospel forward. We see it throughout the Bible and throughout history. And according to a recent story from Christianity Today, it happened at Thai actress Nida Patcharaveerapong’s funeral.  

Patcharaveerapong, better known as Tangmo, was raised by her Christian father into the faith, despite the country’s less than 1% Christian population. According to Christianity Today, the actress attended church three times a week and “wanted to be a ‘full-time minister of God.’”

Tragically, she died earlier this year in a speedboat accident at the age of 37. And when Tangmo’s funeral was livestreamed from Liberty Church in Bangkok, millions of Thais tuned in to the service—where they heard worship songs and pastor Thongchai Pradubchananurat preach on John 13:1 and Philippians 1:21.

“God opened a door through the death of a woman who loved God immensely,” Pradubchananurat said at Tangmo’s funeral. “Tangmo’s life was not perfect, but she was saved by Jesus.”

Thailand is overwhelmingly Buddhist, so the Gospel presentation during Tangmo’s funeral was a new message to millions—one that many of people desired to know more about following the sermon. Following the funeral, “several hundred newcomers visited Liberty Church.”

Christianity Today notes the impact Tangmo’s Christian testimony had on Pimduan “Duan” Nagaviroj, specifically, whom God called to Himself through Tangmo’s memorial service. Following the service, Duan began attending a church and its online evangelism program. “After only a few lessons, I accepted Jesus Christ as my Savior and I wanted to be baptized,” Duan said.

For Christians, death has lost its sting, as it only brings us into eternal joy, worshipping in the presence of God forever. And through Tangmo’s death, God has brought the message of salvation to His chosen in Thailand.

kennedy-unthank
Kennedy Unthank

Kennedy Unthank studied journalism at the University of Missouri. He knew he wanted to write for a living when he won a contest for “best fantasy story” while in the 4th grade. What he didn’t know at the time, however, was that he was the only person to submit a story. Regardless, the seed was planted. Kennedy collects and plays board games in his free time, and he loves to talk about biblical apologetics. He doesn’t think the ending of Lost was “that bad.”

3 Responses

  1. -Nice, this is what I like to see from PluggedIn–World News. We need to remember the billions of brothers and sisters living radically different lives in other countries!

    1. -Absolutely agreed, especially when Christianity is all too often wrongly associated, both for good and for ill, as being synonymous with America (i.e., as if the material prosperity of either depends on the other) instead of being a worldwide faith, not a nationalistic one. And as an Asian, I wanted to thank Kennedy for being so respectful of Patcharaveerapong’s family name. Thank you for sharing the link to the wonderful Christianity Today article and to the funeral (YouTube – watch?v=1NSsoWQX39M ).

  2. -This is amazing that God Almighty works through pain and suffering and wow what a beautiful way to share the Gospel. Praise be to Him and my condolences go out to Tangmo’s family. 🙏