News He Promised Fortune-Tellers but Sent in Dentists

By Karen Suvankham, communication coordinator for Mission to the Cities, and Andrew McChesney, news editor, Adventist Review


"We will bring fortune-tellers in to help you!” the American pastor declared in the Thai language.

The Thai pastor leaned over and gently corrected him.

“The word is ‘maw fun,’ not ‘maw fun,’” he said, using a different tone to correctly say the Thai word for “dentist.”

The American pastor, E. Douglas Venn, laughed aloud. He had meant to tell the Bangkok slum dwellers that the Seventh-day Adventist Church was ready to bring in dentists to treat their needs but had inadvertently offered them a very different set of services.

Venn, known to friends as “Pastor Doug,” quickly corrected himself. He and the group, still chuckling, began what proved to be a meaningful friendship. Read More . . .