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Takieng, the "lantern" converted to Christ, able to defeat disease
by Weena Kowitwanij
Sirinporn Kangsawiwat is 30 years old and suffers from myasthenia gravis, a neuromuscular disorder. Born into a Buddhist family, she was baptized on Christmas Eve of 2000. Her daily suffering and pain drew her closer to God. Faith she says, does not solve problems but can help "overcome difficulties."
Bangkok (AsiaNews) - The Christian faith does not exempt you "from the problems of everyday life", but the love of God and hope in Him helps you "overcome difficulties”, says Sirinporn Kangsawiwat, a 30 year old woman, converted from Buddhism to Catholicism, who was baptized on Christmas Eve of 2000. And her words are not only dictated by good intentions, but the fruit of suffering lived day by day, offered to the Lord and shared with other patients or those with disabilities. "Takieng" - the nickname chosen by the girl, which means "lantern" in Thai - suffers from myasthenia gravis, a neuromuscular disease often difficult to identify and appropriately treat.
Sirinporn Kangsawiwat spoke of her story in an interview on Fr. Vatchasil Kitcharoen, during the program "God is with us," transmitted by a Catholic television channel. She was born into a Buddhist family of five children, brothers and sisters, one of whom died long ago for the same disease, myasthenia gravis, which in some cases does has a life expectancy which does not exceed 20 years of age. Even as a child, she explains, parents had no high expectations for her and "to simplify my life" decided not to send her to school. She received her basic education in a foundation for people with disabilities included in the government hospital where "I went to for treatment from the age of 7."
After only three years the family was hit by serious financial problems and could no longer afford the "luxury" of maintaining the child within the hospital complex. Here comes the despair, the helplessness, the drama of a physical pain that does not seem to find peace: "I cried all night desperate - she says - complaining to God of my misfortune." The next morning she received a call from a disabled girl, foreign and Christian, who shared this motto with her: "God is taking good care of my life."
That call, those words seemed to respond to the cry of suffering and pain to God launched the previous night. She decided to study the catechism with her sister, who in the meantime had married a Catholic, then on Christmas Eve of 2000 both received baptism. The Mass and the Liturgy of the gave moments of "peace" and "inner strength", the Word of God and the homily of the priests seemed to answer to questions and doubts which raised by her inner torment. A friend also suffers from a disability, "Takieng" underlines, congratulated her, "because I changed deep within, from a rancorous person I have turned into a generous person."
"A quote from Mother Teresa also gives me strength - she adds - stating that 'we can not do great things on earth, but small things with great love.' These words impressed me enough to cause me to become a volunteer of the Foundation for People with Disabilities "and help so many like me who have problems or illnesses of varying severity. In these weeks of Advent, which prepares us for the birth of Jesus, Sirinporn Kangsawiwat confirms that faith does not eliminate the problems and difficulties, but God's love and hope are the means to face and overcome all difficulties.