(Sept. 23, 2015 - by Harold Goerzen)  Apsara* was ready to ingest the deadly potion in front of her—a glass of water she’d laced with insecticide. Struggling with depression, she began writing two suicide notes—one to her mother and one to her two children.

She thought about her difficult childhood, reared by a single mother in Thailand. She also remembered her two older brothers—both father figures to her—who had died in tragic accidents, one shot to death during a military training exercise and the other perishing in a motorcycle crash.

Apsara eventually married, but her husband abandoned her just three days before she gave birth to their second child. “I was stunned and hurt,” she said. “Tears mixed with the rain on my face…. After the baby was born, I had to quit my job and return home to raise my children alone.”

Although she earned some money from her own small business, it wasn’t enough, forcing her to go into debt. On top of this, she became ill. A medication that she’d been taking since childhood had compromised her immune system and weakened her bones, affecting her walking.

Then one morning she woke up with her body covered in painful, itchy hives. “I went to the doctor and was admitted to the hospital for a week,” she recounted. “I was in so much pain the first three days that the doctor gave me morphine every six hours.”

Upon returning home, her recuperation was slow, and her debt kept mounting. “The money in my bank account went to family, medical bills and credit card debt,” she explained. “Walking from the front of our house to the back could take hours. I suffered both physically and mentally and felt like no one could help me. I began to wonder what the real truth in life was.”

Seeing death as the only escape, Apsara was about to drink the deadly poison when she noticed the words the pastor was saying on the local community radio station, started with the help of Reach Beyond.

She first heard the broadcasts only days earlier. It happened while she was listening to her favorite music station at FM 93 when the community station at 92.75 bled over to the frequency that her radio was tuned to, replacing the signal.

“Although I didn’t know what it meant, I kept listening,” she related. She admitted that she continued to feel “isolated and depressed” despite the positive messages she was hearing. This time she paid attention to the radio preacher’s words and decided to call the telephone number he’d left for discouraged listeners.

“Through tears I told him everything about my family, children, debt and physical health,” Apsara shared. “After I finished talking, I still almost drank the insecticide, but the broadcaster said something that made me stop: ‘God loves us. We can give our pain to God.’”

Apsara said she “didn’t understand much” but tried to do what the man said. “I don’t remember much about this, but I do remember thinking, ‘If my life changes, everything else will change.’”

The pastor invited Apsara to visit a local church; however, since she wasn’t yet a believer, she was hesitant to go. “I didn’t know anybody, but I went anyway, and it was wonderful. I had never known anyone like the people at the church. Everyone was so sincere and friendly.”

As a result of coming to the church, hearing the broadcasts and meeting the announcers at the community radio station, Apsara gave her life to Jesus.

“I have changed now,” she noted. “I know where I can find happiness. I know what love is. I accepted Christ and realized God gave me life…. I have my family back, and my family laughs and smiles.”

Even her estranged husband came back to help care for her and the children. “On Valentine’s Day he surprised me with some roses and a ring, and he apologized for the things he’d done,” Apsara exclaimed. “In 12 years he’d never done anything like that!”

She can’t imagine what would have happened if she hadn’t discovered the Christian broadcasts when she did.

“I don’t know if I would have drunk the insecticide, but I think I still would have felt hopeless,” Apsara said. “I thank God for the radio station. I’m thankful for every announcer and speaker who encourages the listeners. I’m able to fight against all my obstacles and problems now because of what I’ve heard.”

*Name changed for security purposes

Source: Reach Beyond