BANGKOK – Ardoon Sam-aon is a talented 14-year-old. He plays the piano and the guitar and participates in the youth program and praise team at Mae Sai Grace Church where he accepted Christ in March 2018. He has a 3.94 GPA as an eighth-grader at Ban Wiang Phan School. He is an avid volleyball and soccer player.
Although he was born in Myanmar and moved to Thailand when he was seven, he speaks and understands the English language very well.
Knowing English may be one of the skills for which he and many others are most thankful. You see, Ardoon is a member of the soccer team that was trapped in an underground cave in Thailand – a story that gained international attention as the world prayed for their rescue.
The first divers to reach the boys in the cave were British. Ardoon was the team member who was able to communicate with the divers, understand their questions, and respond to them correctly.
The members of Mae Sai Grace Church held prayer meetings asking for their safe return. Pastors and members of other area churches gathered with them as they continued to lift up prayers.
Ardoon is a sponsored child of Compassion International. The international, faith-based NGO currently supports over 48,000 children who are registered with more than 180 child development centers.
A Compassion International photojournalist was able to interview Ardoon’s mother who said, “Thank you so much for all prayers and all the encouragement. Thank you to God. I’m really thankful that they found my son and all 13 are alive. I’m so happy and so thankful to see my son again. Thank you so much to everyone that has been praying for us and the boys and helping us; thank you.”
Ironically, another Compassion International beneficiary, Surayut Puengpadung, an 18-year-old member of the Chiang Rai Rescue Academy Team, was one of the first people to enter the water to search for the boys.
Currently, the boys are hospitalized in Chang Rai where doctors are treating them for signs of histoplasmosis and other water, air, and vector-borne diseases. Histoplasmosis, also known as “cave disease,” is caused by prolonged exposure to bird droppings and bat guano.
A British missionary who lives nearby said, “[This] really is a miracle and a result of prayer . . . I pray that their testimonies and the things they say and do after this that God will use for the nation of Thailand.”
Ardoon is now as certain as his parents are who declared that “There is nothing that God can’t do.”
Sources:
- The Christian Institute, Parents of Thai cave rescue boy give thanks to God
- Church Leaders, Parents of Boy Saved In Thai Cave Rescue Thank God
- Premier, Christian parents of boy rescued from Thai cave: ‘There’s nothing God can’t do’
- CNN, Thai cave rescue: What we know about the Wild Boars soccer team
Image Source:
- Mae Sai Grace Church Facebook page
