“ I just came back from prison,” Sumalee said nonchalantly. In fact, she has been to all the 130  prisons in Thailand. She is a familiar face to some of the prison wardens.

At 60-year-old, Sumalee is an RBC staff involved in prison ministry. When I met her in Chiangmai, she has just come back from visiting a prison in South Thailand. And the following week, she would be flying off again to another part of Thailand. Such is her life and ministry. We have not even crossed September, but her calendar for next year is already filling up. One wonders where she gets her boundless energy from?

She said, “My supervisor once asked me how long will I go on in this ministry? I replied, ‘When my tears stop flowing.’ ” As she said this, tears welled up in her eyes, and rolled down her face. She was thinking of the prisoners.

“In some prisons, the living conditions are horrendous. The prisoners are packed like sardines in the sleeping quarters. Children usually have such bright and lively eyes. But the kids born in the prison have sorrowful eyes.”

An overcrowded Thai prison.

She added, “Prisoners are humans too. And like all humans, we are sinners and in great need of God’s grace. I was just fortunate. I came to know the Lord before I was caught committing a crime.”

Sumalee’s main regret is that she didn’t come to know the Lord earlier, so that she could serve Him longer. As an unmarried woman, she stays alone in a rented apartment in Bangkok. She trusts in the Lord to take care of her daily needs.

She shared, “Sometimes, I wish that I could have a house of my own too. But it is much better to serve the Lord than to lay up treasures on earth.”

Sumalee hopes that she could serve the Lord till a wipe old age. And she believes that she will—if she allows God to chisel her.